I Think Toy Story 5 Quietly Spoiled Its Big Plot Twist (& It Makes So Much Sense)

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Technology Will Likely Have Replaced The Toys In Bonnie’s Affection

Andy May Become The Toys’ Owner Again

2026 marks the release of Toy Story 5, a franchise that has demonstrated some impressive longevity. Pixar’s animated films have taken the toys on various entertaining escapades, from a visit to the Pizza Planet restaurant to a traveling carnival. Although mostly focused on the friendship between Buzz and Woody, the franchise has grown to incorporate many colorful characters, including Mr. Potato Head, Rex, and Hamm. Alongside Woody’s cheerful toy buddies, Toy Story is known for featuring a few of animation’s best antagonists. The likes of Stinky Pete and Lotso have made life difficult for Andy’s toys with their villainous schemes, and their lively vocal performances by actors Kelsey Grammer and Ned Beatty have been applauded by Toy Story fans.

Toy Story 5 will introduce a new villain to the Pixar franchise. The company recently confirmed that Toy Story 5’s primary antagonist will be a kid’s tablet named LilyPad. LilyPad is set to clash with Buzz, Jessie, and the gang on how to cater to their owner Bonnie’s needs. This intriguing development feels like a novel concept for the series, focusing on how modern children have become obsessed with electronic devices over children’s playthings. I also believe that Pixar’s LilyPad reveal may have spoiled a big plot twist, regarding Andy’s grand return, which would make perfect sense as a future development for the Toy Story franchise.

Technology Will Likely Have Replaced The Toys In Bonnie’s Affection

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Image via Pixar

When Toy Story 5 releases, it will have been seven years since Toy Story 4. In the time period between Toy Story movies, Bonnie will likely have lost interest in her toys. In the modern era, technology has taken over the lives of many children worldwide, with toy sales being said to have dropped by 1% in 2024 in comparison to the previous year. Buzz and Jessie will probably feel threatened by tablets like LilyPad, due to Bonnie leaving them in the toy cupboard more frequently while she uses her child’s tablet. Their character arc could be similar to Woody’s in Toy Story 4, who witnessed Bonnie growing less interested in him while she played with Jessie and Forky. This is also hinted at in the plot synopsis, detailing how Buzz and Jessie, and LilyPad have “a different perception of what’s best for Bonnie.” Buzz and Jessie may exhibit some strong jealousy towards LilyPad, seeing the kid’s tablet having unceremoniously replaced them in Bonnie’s affections.

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These feelings of inadequacy may lead Buzz, Jessie, and the gang to leave Bonnie behind. The toys will no longer have a place in Bonnie’s digital world, as they find themselves unable to compete with the tablet’s many fancy mobile games. Toy Story 4 already showed Woody making a similar decision, following Bonnie’s indifference towards him. Toy Story 4’s climax sees Woody and Bo Peep say an emotional farewell to Buzz and the others, having decided to stay behind at the traveling carnival to help unite lost toys with children who need them. Jessie has also already experienced being rejected by her owner, with her backstory in Toy Story 2 revealing how she was abandoned by her original child in a charity box. Fearing the possibility of being completely abandoned by Bonnie, Jessie may prefer to leave the child before history can repeat itself, and her owner outgrows her again.

Andy May Become The Toys’ Owner Again

The most obvious candidate for the toys’ new owner would be Andy, whom I would be thrilled to see return in Toy Story 5. Upon returning from college, Andy will probably have developed some deep nostalgia for the toys from his childhood. The college student had developed many fond memories from his childhood of playing with these children’s playthings, creating adventures where Mr. Potato Head is cast as the devious Western outlaw One-Eyed Bart, and Porky plays the nefarious Doctor Porkchop. Andy’s nostalgic recollections of growing up with his toy collection may drive him to visit Bonnie, in the hope of seeing his toys again. This would give Buzz, Jessie, and company the perfect opportunity to sneak into Andy’s car and return home with him when he leaves Bonnie’s home.

Adding further credibility to this Toy Story theory is how many toys tend to be aimed at the adult collector’s market nowadays, rather than being made primarily for children. BBC News recently reported how one in five toys is now bought by those over the age of 18, for their own enjoyment rather than for their children. Toy Story 5 could act as some interesting social commentary on how a toy’s place in modern life has moved from being a child’s plaything to being an adult collectible. This angle was previously touched upon in Toy Story 2, when Woody was found by the adult collector, Al McWhiggin, but would feel even more timely within a 2020s context. Whereas in Toy Story 2, Al planned to sell his collection to be displayed in a museum, Andy is unlikely to make the same decision. Andy has always been defined by his wild imagination, making it much more probable that Andy would use his old toys for online stop-motion animations, paying tribute to Toy Story’s iconic sequences of Andy playing with his toys. Popular YouTubers such as Mondas Productions and Jude Miller TV have used their toy collections based on franchises like Doctor Who and Batman to tell their own adventures. These adult toy hobbyists feel closer to the kind of collector Andy is likely to be.

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Another possibility for Andy’s comeback could involve Woody, who is already confirmed for Toy Story 5. Woody and Andy have always held a special connection, with Woody having been a beloved family heirloom passed on to Andy by his parents. As a child, Andy spent hours playing with the cowboy doll, envisioning several wacky Western high jinks where Woody is the sheriff of a Wild West town. As a result, Woody has felt a special bond with Andy, which Bonnie could never fulfill. When Toy Story 5 releases in 2026, it will have been sixteen years since Andy left for college. It’s possible that he could have had a child during this significant time gap, who may be interested in visiting the traveling carnival where Woody and Bo Peep are located. Andy’s child may find Woody during their visit to the funfair and decide to take the cowboy home with him. Andy would recognize Woody as the toy he grew up with by checking Woody’s shoe, where Andy’s name was inscribed. If Woody were to be located by Andy and his son, and taken to their home, Woody would then possess the knowledge of Andy’s location, which he could pass to Buzz and the others at Bonnie’s house.

If Andy is to be reunited with his toy collection in Toy Story 5, I would be thrilled to see the Toy Story cast joined by their original owner once again. Toy Story 4 did not feel the same without Andy as the person in possession of the toys, as the passion and creativity displayed by Andy during his play sessions provided much of the charm of the original Toy Story movies. It would also be nice to see Andy and his son play together with Woody and the gang, in a scene reminiscent of Toy Story 3’s ending with Bonnie. Toy Story 5 climaxing with Andy introducing his son to his childhood collection would be a fantastic way to bring the franchise full circle and to show the toys being passed on to a new generation. Whereas Bonnie may have grown tired of the toys, Andy’s son will likely love and cherish them because of how they hold a deeper personal connection to his father, Andy. Andy may have also raised his child to exercise their imagination and introduced them to toys from a young age, rather than exposing them to tablets, which limit their creativity.