The Toy Story franchise is a minor miracle, critically acclaimed and commercially successful in equal measure. Pixar still finds things to say about growing old, healing trauma, and finding family, and they do it without being preachy. At their core, these films are unpretentious, silly tales about toys that magically come to life. And that keeps the kids laughing—hopefully, hard enough that they don't notice the adults bawling their eyes out.
Toy Story 5 launched in theaters this past weekend, seven years after the release of Toy Story 4 in 2019. The creators have always said they wouldn't greenlight a new entry unless they had the idea and script to justify it, and Toy Story 5 fulfills that promise. It tells a worthy, reflective tale, directly addressing technology and its effect on children. And audiences showed up, pushing the film to a $312 million opening.
As is Pixar tradition, Toy Story 5 is loaded with Easter eggs and trivia references. Here are the best ones we uncovered.
Sully Color Scheme
During Bonnie's imagination sequence near the beginning of the film, Rex is “poisoned” and turns blue with purple spots. This is the same color scheme as Sully's fur in Monsters Inc. (2001).
When She Loved Me
The film uses the instrumental for the song "When She Loved Me," sung by Sarah McLachlan, as a recurring motif. Composed by Randy Newman, the song was the emotional lynchpin for Toy Story 2 (1999), expressing the trauma Jessie felt from being abandoned by her first owner.
Toy Story 5 features Jessie as the lead character, and it places the healing of that trauma front and center.
Man With No Name
Woody's poncho is a callback to Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy from the 1960s. Clint Eastwood's stoic gunslinger, the Man With No Name, also wore a poncho as his signature outfit.
Bald Spot
There's a clever joke about Woody's age near the beginning of the film. There's a spot on the back of his head where the paint has faded, making it appear as though he has a bald spot. This is the same spot that the toy repairman from Toy Story 2 repainted when he restored Woody. Maybe another visit is in order?
Sammy #3?
We see Sammy, Bonnie's pet lizard, in his tank. The toys inform Woody that this is actually Sammy #2; the original Sammy died and was replaced. In the visuals that roll over the end credits, we see a Sammy #3, implying that Sammy #2 died shortly after the events of the movie.
Tactile Touch
One of the more clever gags is that the toys cannot interact with Lily's touchscreen due to their plastic hands. So they use Sammy’s lizard paw instead. Very resourceful.
Search Your Feelings
When Buzz tells the army of Buzz Lightyears that they're toys, he follows up by saying to them, "Search your feelings, you know it to be true." This is the same thing Darth Vader told Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) after revealing he was Luke's father. This is not the only Star Wars reference in the Toy Story franchise; a recurring joke is that Emperor Zurg is Buzz Lightyear's real father.
Sentient Toys
The internal logic that governs the Toy Story universe has always been a point of contention. What are the rules of being a toy? When can you break the rules (like moving when humans can see you), and when can you not? The movie answers some of these questions. The 50 Buzz Lightyears freeze upon encountering a human in the wilderness. They later discuss how they froze involuntarily and resolve to avoid humans going forward.
Thus, it seems that toys are hardwired to freeze around humans, at least when they're newly out of the box. Perhaps they gain more control over their bodies after developing greater self-awareness.
Bambi
In the forest, the Buzz Lightyears encounter a stag and bunny rabbits, accompanied by a choral score. This is a direct homage to Disney's Bambi (1942), which was famed for its pastoral beauty.
GPS Destination Ball
Atlas, the GPS device that Blaze played with as a kid, uses the Pixar Luxo ball as its avatar. The Luxo ball first appeared in the Pixar short Luxo, Jr. (1986) and has since appeared in most Pixar feature films.
Conan’s Hair
Conan O'Brien guest-stars as a potty-training device named Smarty Pants. Conan has an iconic haircut that sticks up in the front, which the Pixar animators allude to with the device's handle.
Apocalypse Now
The eye-level shot of the Buzz Lightyears breaking the water's surface is a homage to Apocalypse Now (1979), a movie about the brutal horrors of the Vietnam War.
Celebrity Voices
There are several celebrity voice cameos worth noting. In addition to returning actors like Tom Hanks (Woody), Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear), and Joan Cusack (Jessie), they're joined by newcomers like Conan O'Brien (Smarty Pants), Greta Lee (Lilypad), Bad Bunny (Pizza with Sunglasses), Craig Robinson (Atlas), Alan Cumming (Evil Bullseye), and Ernie Hudson (Combat Carl). Hudson replaces Carl Weathers in the role; Weathers died in 2024.
Velveteen Rabbit
There's a scene in a tent, where a family is reading a book aloud to their kids. The book is The Velveteen Rabbit (1922) by Margery Williams. It's a children's novel about a stuffed rabbit who wishes to become real through a child's love.
Pizza Planet Truck
The Pizza Planet Truck makes a cameo in every Pixar feature film, including this one. It appears on the road at the very end of the film, during the scene when the toys are attempting to rescue Lily from the donation truck.
Flying (With Style)
The most famous moment of the first Toy Story film is when Woody and Buzz are flying over Andy's car, and Buzz quips, "This is falling, with style!" The two characters reference the iconic line in Toy Story 5 when the high-tech Buzz Lightyear drones take flight—only this time, it's, "This is flying, with style!"
Hair Tie
Jessie learns, via a buried keepsake box, that her first owner, Emily, named her daughter after her, proving that Emily never forgot about what Jessie meant to her. One of the items in the keepsake box is a hair tie with beads—presumably, it belonged to Jessie (the daughter). During the final chase scene, we see Jessie (the cowgirl toy) wearing the beads in her hair, symbolizing her healing.
Taylor Swift Single
The song that plays over the end credits is "I Knew It, I Knew You," by Taylor Swift. Composed for the film, the song is a throwback to Taylor's early country days.
Mid-Credits
The mid-credit scene shows the 50 Buzz Lightyears descending from the sky onto a school playground, where they're claimed by a class of happy children. Considering how expensive a high-quality drone is, it's no wonder that even the teacher decided to snatch one for himself.
End Credits
If you wait around until the very end, you can watch the Toy Story characters rapping over the final scroll. This is a reference to the beginning of the movie, when Lily demonstrates that she can transcribe Jessie's words into English or Spanish, or into a syncopated rhythm over a rap beat.
