Bob Iger is greenlighting what “works” at Disney with sequels to the “Frozen”, “Zootopia”, and “Toy Story” franchises. Did we really need “Toy Story 5”? I used to look forward to every movie released by Pixar, but they are now obsessed in making sequels — there’s ‘Inside Out 2” coming out next summer.
Tim Allen appeared on The Tonight Show and, during his interview, confirmed that Disney contacted him and Tom Hanks about reprising their iconic roles as Buzz and Woody for “Toy Story 5”.
According to Allen, “one of the creators of the original series” is in charge of the new script. “Bob Iger, head of Disney, said it was on and actually said it was going to happen,” Allen said. “They have reached out to Tom and I to reprise the roles. They’re not saying anything about it…You wonder if four was too many. Is five going to be too much?”
Allen added, “According to the scuttlebutt, the writer that’s doing it wrote one of the better ones and said, ‘If I didn’t get this right, I wouldn’t do it.’ It could be a very, very interesting way to reunite it.”
The brilliance of “Toy Story 3,” and the way its ending seemed to resonate so perfectly, so deeply, made it, by all senses of the term, a perfect trilogy capper. “Toy Story 4” injured the integrity of its predecessor. There was no sense of relevance. Just the usual and familiar theatrics.
It’s not that puzzling to believe that Pixar/Disney want to milk this franchise for whatever it’s worth. A fifth movie is in the works, according to Variety. No release date has been set, but I assume it’s top priority.
This coming off the disappointment that was “Lightyear,” a prequel to “Toy Story”. An origin story that was was not needed, and, much like many Pixar’s these days, was not that good. Reviews were mediocre.
The words “sellout” and “cash grab” will be uttered by detractors, but it pains me to firmly plant myself in that direction. The narrative of “Toy Story 4” rang hollow at almost every turn — each ‘Toy Story’ movie built up on the momentum of the previous instalment, but this was the first time in the franchise’s 24 year history where irrelevance had very much entered into the equation.
Can we just pretend like the franchise ended with “Toy Story 3”?