Pixar has always been an animation trendsetter, but Toy Story 5 will mean the film series becoming truly unique among the studio’s past works. Currently, another Pixar property is leading in one impressive category, but the fifth Toy Story movie will break this record when the movie is released in 2026. The return of Buzz and Woody could represent a much-needed financial win for Pixar, with 2017’s Coco being the last original movie from the studio to make an impact at the box office. However, financial achievements aside, Toy Story 5 will set the bar in other ways.
The Toy Story 5 confirmation came as a surprise, with the story seemingly wrapped up at the end of both the third and fourth movies. However, every Toy Story movie has been a smash hit for Pixar, so it’s no surprise they want to keep the franchise going. In fact, every Pixar sequel (and prequel) falls among the studio’s most profitable efforts. However, if a Pixar movie gets a second movie, that’s usually where it ends. Toy Story is one of the film series that doesn’t abide by this trend, along with one other Pixar franchise.
Currently, both Toy Story and Cars share the record with the most Pixar movies in a confirmed shared universe, with five each. While Toy Story initially held the title, the successive releases of Cars 2, Planes, Planes: Fire and Rescue, and Cars 3 meant that the Cars franchise took the record until Lightyear was released in 2022. While this leveled the playing field, 2017’s Cars 3 was the movie to set the new milestone of a five-movie run. As such, by the time Toy Story 5 takes back the title in 2026, it’ll be breaking a nine-year record.
The Toy Story spinoff movie, Lightyear, is something of an outlier among the respective movies of both franchises. While every other Cars and Toy Story movie is inarguably part of their same respective canons, Lightyear takes a much more meta approach to tying itself into the Toy Story universe. The movie’s opening text states that Lightyear was the movie that Andy saw in 1995 that made him want a Buzz Lightyear action figure. So, while it’s an unusual entry into Toy Story lore, it still makes the cut.
The Planes movies share a bespoke place within Cars canon. While all the main Cars movies were produced by Pixar, the Planes movies were not. However, while Planes and Planes: Fire & Rescue weren’t released under the Pixar banner, the Disney personnel behind the spinoffs did have strong ties to Pixar and the main Cars movies. Not only that, but the Planes movies are based on characters and ideas taken from lesser-known areas of the Cars universe – like the Pixar shorts. Disney has also replicated the animation style without Pixar’s direct involvement.
One of the key Pixar figures involved in 2013’s Planes movie was John Lasseter, who wrote the story for the movie. Lasseter has been tied to every Toy Story movie so far other than Lightyear, serving as a writer, director, or sometimes even both. While Lasseter’s involvement with the Planes spinoffs was limited to just the first movie, it’s impossible to deny the influence of Pixar, as well as the involvement of the studio’s biggest names, like John Lasseter. So, while the Planes movies may not be officially Pixar properties, their origin makes them part of the Cars universe.
Movies like Lightyear and Planes need a surprising amount of explaining to justify their places in their respective timelines. However, it’s all arguably made a lot easier if a common Pixar theory is accepted as fact. The theory in question suggests that every Pixar movie exists as part of the same continuity, creating a long and convoluted timeline that attempts to explain the vast differences between the settings of the various Pixar stories. However, for many reasons, the Pixar theory doesn’t work.
Pixar does like to connect their movies with hidden references, with many of them foreshadowing upcoming projects. For example, Boo hands Sulley a Nemo toy in 2001’s Monsters, Inc., but Finding Nemo wasn’t released until 2003. Similarly, a Mr. Incredible comic book can be spotted in Finding Nemo, despite The Incredibles not arriving until 2004. So, while almost every Pixar easter egg may give the illusion of a larger shared universe, it’s more likely that they’re nothing more than nods to the studio’s other projects. It’s even possible Pixar has already foreshadowed elements of Toy Story 5 in another movie.
