Toy Story 5's mid-credits scene perfectly tees up the Toy Story 6 adventure

Fair warning: spoilers for Toy Story 5 are coming up, so if you want to stay pure, you might want to look away now.

Let’s be honest, Toy Story films have always had this knack for ending on a note that feels, frankly, final. Time and again, you’re left thinking, 'Right, that’s the perfect place to leave these characters – if we never see them again, it’s fine.' But somehow, Pixar keeps finding a reason to pop the gang back out the toy box.

Here we are with Toy Story 5, and once again, nobody’s in a place that screams out for another sequel – but the door’s wide open, just in case Disney fancies a bit more merchandise cash. There’s no Toy Story 6 lock-in yet, but you can bet your bottom dollar the cast and crew are dropping hints that they’d love to come back.

So, What’s Going On in Toy Story 5?

Flashback: I went to see the original Toy Story with my dad in ‘95, made him take me back multiple times, and we’re still quoting bits of it whenever the mood strikes. The trilogy finished so neatly I sort of winced when Toy Story 4 came along, thinking it’d ruin a good thing—but then, against the odds, it pulled off that whole Woody-can’t-let-go-of-Andy feeling without embarrassing itself.

Toy Story 5, though, had to work a bit harder to justify its own existence. Does it manage? Against all reasonable logic, yes—it’s entertaining, smart about its themes (maybe a bit too obsessed with tech), and like all the best Toy Story instalments, it sneaks in a solid loose end as sequel bait.

That Mid-Credits Scene: Seeds for Round Six?

The new film’s got three main threads:

• Jessie (Joan Cusack) making an unexpected return to her previous owner's place.
• Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) throwing herself into the digital world, wrestling with online life and what that means for her toys.
• An army of high-spec Buzz Lightyears, all convinced they’re headed to Star Command, but mostly just wandering around after washing up somewhere random.

The Buzz Lightyear subplot definitely stands out as the odd one here. They’re full of clever nods, tie into the film’s 'toys competing with smart gadgets' angle and all that, but for much of the runtime, they’re just meandering about in the background. Frankly, with how heavily Disney teased this storyline, I was expecting more.

Things pick up nicely near the end when it turns out these new Buzzes have drone capabilities—all very modern. It’s a satisfying visual, seeing a load of flying Buzz Lightyears actually able to take to the skies for once. Trouble is, they still feel a bit like an add-on, a convenient bit of techy window-dressing.

Then comes the real kicker: the mid-credits scene. Suddenly, the army of Buzzes lands in the laps of a bunch of extremely excited kids (clearly too young for their own smartphones), while a new, tricked-up Zurg shows up for the encore. In hindsight, seems obvious, but I still didn’t see it coming.

'The Buzz subplot feels less like a main course and more like Pixar using Toy Story 5 as a test flight for something seriously Buzz-centric.'

With all that on the table, the sequel possibilities are pretty much begging to be picked up, and honestly—it was the first time in Toy Story 5 I really sat up and paid attention.

Technology, Forgotten Toys, and the Franchise 'Problem'

One thing Toy Story 5 doesn’t shy away from: kids growing up with smart devices instead of sticking to teddies and plastic spacemen. There’s a smart speaker called Lily Pad (voiced by Greta Lee) that drives this home. Once you go down this rabbit hole, there’s really no turning back—playtime’s now digital, with toys often left to gather dust unless you’re under the age of five or your parents are holding out on tablets.

Usual Toy Story rules have already covered what happens when kids dump their childhood toys—it's been done so thoroughly, you start to worry even Pixar's run out of original ideas. They’ve milked every angle of lost, given-away, abandoned toys that you could possibly want to see animated.

But then you get that mid-credits drop: the new Buzzes are scooped up by kids who are probably just hitting that 'first toy' age. Except now, the toys themselves are techy enough to connect with other devices and each other—think mesh Wi-Fi but for talking action figures. It suggests a future where Zurg, now souped up as well, has the same digital powers, leading to the potential for battles and drama that happen when their little owners aren’t watching. At least that’s a more interesting angle than yet another 'lost toy' retread.

Time to Let Buzz Shine (and Maybe Fix That 'Lightyear' Mess)

Can we just take a second to address Lightyear (2022)? It wasn’t unwatchable, but let’s be honest—it sat at the bottom of the Toy Story pile. Premise was too convoluted, felt out of place, and the connection to Buzz as we know him only made everything feel even more detached. Lightyear is technically the film that the Andy character saw as a kid, which inspired his obsession with the toy—not confusing at all, honest.

What really did my head in, though, was the 'plot twist' that Zurg was actually Buzz from the future. Thankfully, Toy Story 5 ditches that for the old classic—the Zurg who’s basically Buzz’s dad, going full space opera villain a la Star Wars again.

I half-expected Pixar to sneak in some cheeky reference to Lightyear’s spectacularly bad box office, but no—they just get on with business and deliver Buzz as he always ought to have been, while keeping the upgraded Buzz toys mostly background players for now. That includes Bonnie’s own Buzz, for what it’s worth—he’s barely involved.

It’s pretty clear Buzz deserves his own moment, and if Pixar wants to atone for subbing in Chris Evans and sidelining Tim Allen in Lightyear, letting Allen voice the smart, new-age Buzzes could go some way towards making amends—even if it means our original, Andy-era Buzz doesn’t actually come back for number six.

The Cast

Here’s who’s along for Toy Story 5:

• Tom Hanks as Woody
• Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear (the original, though see above for context on the Buzz replacements)
• Joan Cusack as Jessie
• Greta Lee as Lily Pad (the AI/smart speaker character)
• Scarlett Spears as Bonnie