Toy Story 5 is one of those 2026 movie releases we can’t wait for, especially for the return of Tim Allen’s Buzz Lightyear and Tom Hanks’ Woody. The Buzz Lightyear voice actor has shared his experience wrapping on the role recently, and I didn’t realize how different it is saying goodbye to a role in an animated movie versus a live-action one.
Allen announced last week that he had wrapped on the film, and saying goodbye to the role really “affected” him along with sharing he loves the “story” of the new Pixar animated film and is “blessed” to be Buzz Lightyear for “so many years.” Here’s what he said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon about the experience:
It’s a sad day, because it’s not like a movie [and] they go ‘Tim’s wrapped for the movie’ and people clap.
On most movies and TV shows, when it’s someone's last day playing a role there will usually be a whole fanfare associated with it among the cast and crew. However, since the making of the movie Toy Story 5 is a totally different process, it’s just not the same. As Allen continued:
They just got ‘Okay, that’s it. Thanks, Tim.’ He goes, ‘Your part’s done.’ There’s like eight people behind a window. Just ‘Thanks very much. Good work, get out.’
It also sounds like Tim Allen didn’t really have a chance to see his longtime co-star and friend Tom Hanks during the recording process either. During the talk show appearance, he said he was visiting Hanks while in New York City since the Woody voice actor is starring in a stage show called The World of Tomorrow until December 21.
Perhaps the real fanfare of Toy Story 5 will come once Tim Allen, Tom Hanks and the rest of the cast have their press tour in the summer of 2026. Also among the cast are Joan Cusack once again as Jessie, Tony Hale as Forky, and Conan O'Brien as new character Smarty Pants.
There’s also the element of the Toy Story franchise crying wolf over the movie being the last film multiple times before a new sequel is announced, so who knows, Allen could be back in the vocal booth next year! Andrew Stanton, the director of Toy Story 5 , spoke to this recently, sharing why he thinks “nobody’s being robbed of their trilogy.”
The first Toy Story 5 trailer came out earlier this month. You can check out below:
It’s not a lot to go off of, but it definitely sets up the next movie. In the age of technology we’re in right now, the toys will be fighting for attention with a tablet named Lilypad. It’s the first Toy Story movie since the fourth movie came out in 2019 and made over $1 billion worldwide. You can catch Toy Story 5 in theaters on May 1.
