Toy Story 5's Strange Opening Scene Is A Huge Departure For The Series

What's the future of Pixar? With a track record as extensive as theirs, this question tends to come up with greater frequency than anywhere else. Still, the well-respected animation giant seems to have weathered Hollywood's various stops and starts over the last several years better than most. When the pandemic reared its ugly head, the studio was forced to navigate the new reality of straight-to-streaming releases for tentpoles originally meant for theaters. When Disney led the subsequent charge into the digital space, Pixar played ball and made their first-ever foray into streaming television with the Disney+ series "Win or Lose." And when their parent company abruptly reversed course and reprioritized the theatrical experience, the studio once again put on its superhero cape and turned "Elemental" into a sneaky box office hit, just when exhibitors everywhere needed it most.

Yet, that's done little to quell endless debates over Pixar losing its mojo or becoming over-reliant on sequels instead of the innovative originals that used to be its bread and butter — and so the biggest test may still be on the horizon. Take "Toy Story 5," for instance, which might as well be the poster child for Hollywood's ongoing IP-grabbing tendencies and inability to let things end. What makes this a story worth telling after the third film brought such satisfying closure to the series back in 2010 and the fourth one miraculously wasn't terrible in 2019? How are Pixar execs corralling the various movies currently in the pipeline and figuring out the right mix of originals versus more franchise extensions? And, most importantly, can we look forward to any new innovations from such a forward-looking industry leader?

Recently, /Film attended a special Pixar presentation in New York City showcasing the company's upcoming slate, where Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter addressed these pressing concerns (and more) with quite a convincing display of confidence, from hosting an early screening of the soon-to-be-released "Elio" (stay tuned for our review next week) to unveiling the surprising opening sequence of "Toy Story 5," to teasing upcoming originals "Hoppers" and especially "Gatto," a never-before-revealed project that might just be our sleeper pick for Pixar's most exciting title currently in the works.

After the original "Toy Story" arrived on the scene in 1995 and changed the landscape of animation for good, here we are on the cusp of its 30th anniversary — staring down the barrel of a fifth film that somehow needs to keep this property as vital and creative as ever. It helps that franchise stalwart Andrew Stanton returns as co-writer and co-director with Pixar veteran McKenna Harris, alongside much of the original cast including Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz, Joan Cusack as Jessie, and more. We've also known that "Toy Story 5" would center on the idea of kids dealing with the prevalence of touch-screen electronics as opposed to playing with physical toys, with Pete Docter cheekily summing it up as "Toys meet tech." But is all that enough to help justify its existence this time around?

That's where the unexpectedly bold opening of "Toy Story 5" comes in. The first few minutes of the movie paint a picture of something that feels utterly unlike anything we've seen in "Toy Story" before. The footage begins on a purposefully disorienting note: A Buzz Lightyear toy wakes up on some beach, fresh out of his packaging, with no idea how he got there or why. Guided only by a foreboding score and no actual dialogue, we're left to put the pieces together ourselves. This Buzz was part of an entire shipping container full of other Buzz toys, apparently having fallen off a cargo vessel and washed up on this tiny island far from home. The group despondently resigns themselves to their fate ... until the first Buzz looks up at the dusky sky and, like those monkeys in "2001: A Space Odyssey" learning to use tools for the first time, gradually remembers their orders to, "Rendezvous with Star Command." Cue an ending montage of all the Buzzes building makeshift rafts and sailing out into the open ocean with a newfound passion. Destination? Unknown!

For those expecting a hackneyed scene about kids and their darned cell phones these days, it's fair to wonder how a veritable army of fresh-faced, factory-reset Buzz Lightyears lead into a movie all about existential fears about technology. What's certain is that this big tonal swing was enough to get my curiosity and attention. "Toy Story 5" hits theaters June 19, 2026.

What comes next should give Pixar fans even more reason to believe. As important as "Toy Story 5" is, Pete Docter made it clear he's feeling bullish about the lineup of original productions in the years ahead. He'd know best, after all, having directed "Monsters, Inc.," "Up," "Inside Out," and "Soul." After this month's "Elio," which looks like a delightful surprise in the making, the next two films on the docket look both fresh and exciting ... in more ways than one.

Docter set the stage with 2026's "Hoppers" (directed by Daniel Chong), unveiling several extended scenes for us and describing the basic premise as, "'Avatar' meets 'Mission: Impossible' meets 'Planet Earth.'" Singer/former Disney Channel star Piper Curda voices main protagonist Mabel, a nature-obsessed college student who takes action when a nearby glade in her Pacific Northwest hometown comes under threat of destruction by local Mayor Jerry's (Jon Hamm) ambitious highway construction plan. The only solution is Mabel's chance discovery of technology that allows scientists to "hop" their minds into robot animal bodies — a handy trick allowing Mabel to go undercover as a beaver and convince the animals' leader, King George (Bobby Moynihan), to band together. The footage we watched felt charming and hilarious, effortlessly blending various genres together and adding all sorts of world-building wrinkles into the mix. Let's just say that the circle of life is treated as a given by the animal community in the glade, which instantly makes this feel like one of Pixar's most mature and grown-up kids films yet.

Most thrillingly of all, however, was our first official look at "Gatto." Directed by "Luca" filmmaker Enrico Casarosa, the Venice-set adventure follows a black cat named Nero and a human street musician named Maya who share a deep and abiding love of music. Although light on story details and still very much a work in progress, the concept art and animatics we were shown went out of their way to highlight the artistry inherent in Venice. That will be reflected in as big a departure from Pixar's "house style" of animation as we've ever seen. Every visual retains the look of noticeable brushstrokes, adding a sense of depth, dimension, and "painterly texture" (in Docter's own words) unlike any Pixar movie before it. Keep an eye on "Gatto," releasing in the summer of 2027.