With Toy Story 5 set to release on June 19, director Andrew Stanton has revealed that early brainstorming sessions have already unearthed enough story material to sustain at least one more feature-length adventure, aka Part 6.
Andrew Stanton teases how Toy Story 6 and 7 could happen
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Stanton explained why the series can continue without forcing its characters into repetitive scenarios, and hinted at what a potential Toy Story 6 might look like.
Stanton, who has been with Pixar since 1990 and is currently the vice president of creative, admitted that the creative team never operated with a grand master plan for the series. Instead, a pivotal realization during the development of Toy Story 3 cracked open the storytelling possibilities. “What broke my brain was that we can embrace time. Other stories don’t have that luxury,” Stanton stated.
Where most animated franchises keep characters frozen in amber, Toy Story allowed Andy to age out of childhood and pass his toys to Bonnie. That same principle, Stanton believes, can carry the franchise forward again. After just two months of exploring the mundane elements of a toy’s lifecycle for Toy Story 5, he concluded there is enough story material for two more movies. Toy Story 6 could continue following Bonnie or be about a different child entirely. “That’s why I feel like it can keep going,” he said.
Despite his enthusiasm for the franchise’s future, Andrew Stanton was unequivocal about his own role moving forward. “This is probably the last one I’m gonna do,” he said of directing Toy Story 5. Stanton cited the amount of time commitment required for Pixar films, comparing the production cycle to newborn babies turning “3-and-a-half years old.” Now 60 years old, he said he wants to experience time differently after spending decades on what he calls “rock time”—the slow, all-consuming pace of animated filmmaking.
That does not mean Stanton is leaving Pixar. As vice president of creative, he intends to remain involved in shaping the studio’s output, advising younger directors on future projects, including any potential sequels like Toy Story 6 or 7.
