Tom Hanks and Tim Allen Talk Woody, Buzz, and the Tech Battle in Toy Story 5

Tom Hanks and Disney Legend Tim Allen reflect on returning as Woody and Buzz Lightyear in Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5, in theaters June 19. The pair discuss the film's toy-versus-tech conflict, teaming up for Jessie, and the family conversations they hope it inspires, alongside exclusive CinemaCon portraits.

Tom Hanks and Disney Legend Tim Allen are back as Woody and Buzz Lightyear, and with Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5 set to hit theaters on June 19, the pair sat down to talk about reuniting their characters, the franchise's new "toy versus tech" conflict, and the conversations they hope the film sparks at home. The reflections accompany exclusive CinemaCon portraits of the two actors and arrive just days before the fifth chapter of one of animation's most beloved sagas opens.

Toy Meets Tech in Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5

The new film puts the toys' jobs on the line. Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Disney Legend Tim Allen), Jessie (voiced by Joan Cusack) and the rest of the gang come face-to-face with Lilypad (voiced by Greta Lee), a brand-new tablet device that arrives with her own disruptive ideas about what is best for their kid, Bonnie (voiced by Scarlett Spears) — leaving one question hanging over the story: will playtime ever be the same?

Behind the camera, Toy Story 5 reunites a deeply experienced Pixar team. Academy Award winner Andrew Stanton directs, with Kenna Harris co-directing and Lindsey Collins producing. The film pairs a brand-new original song, "I Knew It, I Knew You" — performed by Taylor Swift and written and produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff — with a score by Oscar winner Randy Newman, who returns for his fifth Toy Story feature.

Hanks and Allen Reflect on More Than 30 Years of Woody and Buzz

To mark the premiere, D23 debuted exclusive portraits of Hanks and Allen captured during the recent CinemaCon event in Las Vegas, Nevada. For both actors, returning to roles they have voiced for more than three decades meant reckoning with what their characters had already lived through. Asked what they were most excited to explore, Hanks pointed straight at the film's defining tension.

"The battle against tech — Lilypad, bless her. The difference between being engaged in tech or playing with toys is as different as, I don't know, apples and doorknobs. There's no comparison." — Tom Hanks

For Allen, the pull was emotional. He described carrying real "emotional separation" from Buzz's best friend after Toy Story 4, and wanting a small but meaningful beat of reconnection rather than a big declaration.

"I needed that hug… He shows up in the windowsill and I don't go, 'Hey, it's Woody!' Instead, they have this clever way where I act like he's new again. It was just a quick little hug, and that was really what I wanted." — Tim Allen

Hanks framed the reunion as something true to long friendships, noting that the characters "pick up right where we left off. Good friends do that," even while remaining aware of all the time that has passed.

Teaming Up for Jessie — and Giving Buzz Room to Grow

Both actors said the latest film gave them new room to play. Hanks recalled Pixar's habit of revealing scenes one at a time, including the moment he first saw the army of Buzz Lightyears that turn up in the story — a reveal that made him laugh and praise the studio for loading the film with rich material, "a wonderful deck of cards to play." For Allen, the appeal was that the story does not center on Buzz at all: he stressed that this is Jessie's story, and that he loved having Woody and Buzz team up to help her, for Jessie's sake and for Bonnie's. He also flagged a running gag about Buzz having a badge while Woody does not.

A Story About Buzz's Heart and Bonnie's Sense of Play

Asked about what their characters are going through, Allen described a layer of growth for Buzz, who starts the film taking everything literally before admitting — to the audience and to himself — that Jessie may mean more to him than he realizes. Hanks tied Woody's arc to the film's emotional core: Jessie reaches out because Bonnie is losing her sense of play, and a moment in which Bonnie's feelings are hurt by what her "friends" text about her.

Hanks called that thread strikingly modern.

The Conversation Hanks and Allen Hope the Film Starts

With audiences who saw the original Toy Story three-plus decades ago now bringing their own children, both actors were direct about what they hope the movie inspires. Allen said he is after engagement rather than a lecture, wanting kids to look at the toys gathering dust in their rooms instead of chasing the "endorphin rush" of technology — imagining the toys themselves saying, "Come take me off the shelf!"

Hanks turned the message toward parents, suggesting families put their phones away at the dinner table and simply talk, letting the conversation find its own way.

"I'd love for the parents to put their phones down… everybody's got to put their phones in the bowl and it goes on the other side of the table — leave them alone and just talk… It really can start with the parents." — Tom Hanks

What This Means for Disney and Pixar Fans

For longtime fans, Toy Story 5 arrives as both a reunion and a pointed conversation starter, trading the franchise's earlier "lost toy" anxieties for a timely clash between handmade play and screen-time pull. With Andrew Stanton back in the director's chair, Randy Newman scoring his fifth installment, and a new Taylor Swift song in the mix, the film is positioned as a heartfelt continuation rather than a reboot — and the candor from Hanks and Allen about Woody and Buzz's enduring bond suggests the emotional through-line that defined the series is still intact. Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5 opens in theaters beginning June 19.