For over 30 years, Toy Story has been one of the most important and acclaimed film franchises in Hollywood. Putting Pixar on the map back in 1995, what sets the series apart from its contemporaries is its remarkable consistency. The Toy Story movies aren’t just good for animated family films; they rank among the best movies of all time in general. This is why fans always express concern when Pixar moves forward with a new installment, such as this summer’s Toy Story 5. There’s a fear that the next film won’t be able to live up to the incredibly high bar set by its predecessors. In a way, that happened with Toy Story 5, but the reviews are still great.
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As of this writing, Toy Story 5 has a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 93%, with 92 reviews submitted thus far. Remarkably, that figure is the lowest mark for a mainline Toy Story entry (spinoff Lightyear has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 74%). To get an idea of how Toy Story 5 stacks up against the others, check out the table in the space below:
| Movie | Rotten Tomatoes Score |
| Toy Story | 100% (161 reviews) |
| Toy Story 2 | 100% (174 reviews) |
| Toy Story 3 | 98% (309 reviews) |
| Toy Story 4 | 96% (457 reviews) |
| Toy Story 5 | 93% (92 reviews) |
What Critics Are Saying About Toy Story 5
Toy Story 5 is now Certified Fresh, meaning there is a critics consensus available on Rotten Tomatoes. It reads, “Proving that old toys can learn new tricks while reckoning with an era of endless screen time, Toy Story 5 largely sidesteps franchise fatigue by reaffirming that children everywhere still got a friend in these lovable characters.” Scanning over the published reviews illustrates how Toy Story 5 was able to earn that write-up. Just about everyone is in agreement that once again, a Toy Story movie delivered a powerful story that combines heart and humor to entertain. Pitting the core group against a new obstacle in technology was a smart move, as it allowed the filmmaker to tap into current real-world concerns, allowing the franchise to evolve with the times.
Promoting Jessie to the role of main character is another reason why Toy Story 5 is receiving so much acclaim. The fan-favorite cowgirl doll was a standout in Toy Story 2, but she was largely pushed to the side in the previous two installments in favor of Woody’s story (which made sense, since Woody was always the protagonist of Toy Story). But now, the shift in perspective injects some fresh life into the long-running franchise, giving Pixar the opportunity to properly flesh out one of the most beloved Toy Story characters. From the beginning, Jessie has been an integral part of the Toy Story 5 marketing campaign (which recently has highlighted flashbacks to her time with Emily), so it’s nice to hear she’s getting the story she’s always deserved.
Seeing the Toy Story 5 Rotten Tomatoes score makes the fretting over whether or not the film was necessary seem silly in retrospect. To be fair, it’s understandable why some were unsure about Toy Story 5. The series had already received two poignant final chapters, and adding more to the tale runs the risk of coming up short. However, Pixar has proven time and time again that it understands the magnitude of the Toy Story franchise. The studio has never rushed one of these films through the pipeline; Toy Story 4 came out seven years ago. Pixar has always taken its time when developing Toy Story movies, ensuring there is a strong narrative worth telling in place.
This type of critical response should set Toy Story 5 up nicely for an extremely fruitful box office run. Pixar’s latest was always expected to perform well commercially — Toy Story 3 and 4 both made over $1 billion each — but fans should be even more excited to see it now that they know it’s another compelling installment. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Toy Story 5 find itself in the running for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, possibly making it three mainline Toy Story movies in a row to take home that prize.
