Steamboat Charlie

Tag: animation

Everything You Need To Know Ahead of Toy Story 5

Toy Story 5 releases tomorrow, and it’s safe to say anticipation is high. It’s been seven years since Toy Story 4 released and there have been a few changes and updates to the Toy Story universe. Here is everything you need to know ahead of Toy Story 5.

Note: The below contains minor spoilers ahead of Toy Story 5!

New Toys and Familiar Faces

As with any Toy Story, we can expect all the usual suspects like Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Mr Potato Head and the gang are all back on the big screen. A number of supporting characters return too, including Toy Story 4 favourites Forky, Karen Beverly and Duke Caboom. Toy Story 5 also introduces a host of new characters, most notably the film’s villain, Lilypad, a smart tablet, voiced by Greta Lee. Fun fact, this is actually Greta Lee’s second Disney movie, having starred in Tron: Ares in 2025.

The Buzz and Woody Reunion

At the end of Toy Story 4, we saw Woody and Buzz part ways with Woody staying behind as a ‘lost toy’. From the trailers, We know Woody eventually ends up back with the gang and in Bonnie’s bedroom, however we don’t yet know how they reunite. Thankfully, the film does help bridge this gap and Buzz and Woody’s separation is not ignored. We will have to wait and see how it all it ties together, but I’m pleased it’s not being brushed aside!

Jessie Takes the Spotlight

Since Woody left Bonnie’s toys at the end of Toy Story 4, we see from the trailer that Jessie has taken over as the sheriff of Bonnie’s room. We know that Jessie goes head-to-head with Lilypad and they clash to protect Bonnie’s imagination and the film heavily resurfaces Jessie’s deeply rooted trauma and abandonment issues from Toy Story 2. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this plays out as I feel Jessie definitely played a much smaller role in the past few movies.

The Creative Team Behind the Magic

The fifth instalment of the Toy Story franchise is directed by two-time Academy Award winner Andrew Stanton (who directed Finding Nemo and WALL-E), alongside co-director Kenna Harris. Despite this being the first Toy Story movie Stanton has directed, he is well-versed in the Toy Story universe, having served as a writer for story and screenplay on all four previous films. It will be awesome to see the direction he takes Toy Story 5 in!

The Return of Randy Newman

There’s another familiar behind-the-scenes star returning for Toy Story 5 – none other than Randy Newman. Composer of the iconic “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and every Toy Story soundtrack ever since, it’s great to see Randy Newman return for the fifth instalment. The main single for Toy Story 5 is, however, provided by Taylor Swift, who contributed an original song titled “I Knew It, I Knew You”.

Are you ready for one more adventure?

It’s hard to believe we are finally getting a fifth chapter to a story that started all the way back in 1995. Whether you are rooting for Jessie’s new era as leader of the room, or just desperate to see how Buzz and Woody finally cross paths again, tomorrow is going to be an emotional day for Disney fans everywhere.

What are your predictions for the movie? Do you think a smart tablet will make a good Pixar villain? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

18/06/2026
Why is there a lack of merchandise for modern Disney films?

Disney merchandise, be it toys, clothing, video games, plushies or pins, is seemingly unavoidable. Everywhere you look there is a new partnership or collaboration being announced on social media. It’s unsurprising, particularly when you consider how much revenue merchandise generates for the Walt Disney Company.

According to their 2025 Annual Report, Disney’s total “Product” revenue (which covers merchandise, publishing, and games) reached a whopping $9.8 billion. Despite this, there has been a noticeable lack of merchandise in recent years, specifically for modern Disney films.

After watching Pixar’s Hoppers recently, I was incredibly excited to check out what merchandise would be available, particularly given the impressive marketing push Disney and Pixar gave the movie. With the film’s cast of cute and cuddly characters, I was expecting a range of plushies and maybe even a series of pins too, but I was frankly left incredibly disappointed with what I could find on the Disney Store.

A very disappointing search on the Disney Store!

A single plush toy of King George and a figurine set of a handful of the characters made up the merchandise available here for fans in the UK. Upon checking the US Disney Store, stateside Hoppers fans didn’t get much of a better treatment, with only a handful of T-shirts available in addition to the soft toy and figurine set. As a fan who is partial to a Disney collectable or two, I was really disappointed with what was available to coincide with the release of Hoppers.

So, why are we getting less and less merchandise for original Disney movies? Why are we seemingly getting more and more merchandise for the classic Disney movies instead? I’ve taken a look at why this might be happening…

The Financial Unknown

Despite the vast amount of revenue which merchandise delivers for the Walt Disney Company, to ensure that revenue is profitable, Disney’s current strategy is built on “guaranteed wins.” It’s reported that in 2025, Lilo & Stitch merchandise alone generated over $4 billion. When one 20-year-old movie makes that much (granted, the live-action remake certainly had an impact on that figure!), Disney is less likely to risk floor space on a brand-new movie like Hoppers until they are certain it has the same “staying power.”

Walking past the Disney Store, you’d expect to see the latest hits front and centre, but the reality inside the shelves is often very different.

From “Toy Aisle” to a “Lifestyle Brand”

Have you noticed how the toy aisles in supermarkets seem to be shrinking, while the adult sections in shops like H&M or Pandora are growing? Disney is undergoing a massive pivot. They’ve realised that while a child might play with a plastic figurine for a week, a Gen Z or Millennial fans will pay a premium for a high-end collaboration they can actually wear or display.

We’re seeing fewer traditional “playthings” and more “lifestyle” items – designer handbags, jewellery, and “streetwear” collections. By targeting fans with disposable income who grew up with the classics, Disney is essentially trading the £10 plastic toy for a £100 fashion statement. It makes sense for their bottom line, but for those of us who just want a decent plushie of a new character we love, it feels like we’re being left behind.

The Digital Takeover

It’s not just physical aisles that are changing; it’s digital ones, too. Disney has realised that a lot of their audience, especially the younger generation, would rather spend their money on a digital “skin” for Fortnite than a plastic toy for their bedroom. With Disney’s massive $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games, we’re seeing a shift where characters like Buzz Lightyear or the Incredibles gang show up as playable avatars before they even hit the Disney Store shelves.

These digital goods are a goldmine for Disney; there are no manufacturing costs, no shipping delays, and no clearance aisles. When you consider that in-game spending is projected to hit over $170 billion by 2030, it’s easy to see why Disney might prioritise a virtual “Mabel” skin over a physical plushie. In their eyes, a digital item that you can show off to millions of other players online has more “social currency” than a toy sitting on a shelf at home.

The “Wait and See” Strategy

In the 90s, you couldn’t move for merchandise hitting the shelves months before a movie even premiered. Today, the strategy has flipped. To avoid the dreaded “clearance aisle” fate that hit films like Wish, Disney often waits for a movie to prove its “staying power” before mass-producing a full range.

It’s a frustrating cycle for fans. We want to celebrate a movie like Hoppers while the hype is at its peak, but Disney is playing it safe, waiting to see if the streaming numbers justify the manufacturing costs. It feels like they’re missing the “magic” of the moment in favour of a spreadsheet.

While new films struggle for shelf space, the “Classics” like Mickey Mouse and Stitch continue to dominate the physical Disney Store aisles.

The Verdict

It’s a bittersweet time to be a Disney fan. While it’s great to see the classics getting so much love, the lack of support for original stories like Hoppers feels like a missed opportunity. If Disney doesn’t let us bring these new characters home through merch, how are they ever supposed to grow into the ‘classics’ that the next generation falls in love with?

What do you think? Have you struggled to find merch for your favourite modern Disney films, or are you happy sticking with the classics? Let me know in the comments!

14/04/2026
Hoppers Trailer Breakdown: First Look at Pixar’s 2026 Animal Adventure

Pixar has this week released a brand new teaser trailer for their upcoming 2026 movie Hoppers. The story follows Mabel, a young girl whose consciousness is transferred into a robotic beaver, part of a revolutionary experiment to allow humans to communicate with animals. The trailer offers a hilarious glimpse at what could be Pixar’s next big hit.

Check out the trailer and read my first thoughts below.

A Promising Concept with Loads of Potential

Overall, I love the trailer and it’s got me even more excited to watch Hoppers next year! The concept looks brilliant and the potential for Mabel’s animal communication abilities feels immense. Whilst watching the trailer, I really felt some similarities to films like Open Season and The Wild Robot, mainly due to their setting. It will be interesting to see if more biomes and environments are explored in the movie.

Animation That Pops – and Contrasts

The animation too looks excellent, with the fur and hair department doing a great job at making the animals look extremely lifelike. One thing that did really strike me in the trailer was the contrast between the animation style in the human world, versus that of the animal world. In the human world, the characters, particularly Mabel, look like they have taken inspiration from Disney movies like Big Hero 6. In contrast, the animation in the animal world looks more atypical of Pixar movies. It’s great to see Pixar trialling different styles with their upcoming projects.

Image Credit: Pixar

Subtle (and Not-So-Subtle) Easter Eggs

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Pixar trailer without a few Easter Eggs, and speaking of Big Hero 6, could there be an Easter Egg with Mabel? I’ve already mentioned that her artwork and animation look quite similar to what we see in BH6, but interestingly in one scene, we see the name “TANAKA” embroidered onto Mabel’s jacket. In the Disney+ original series, Baymax!, Baymax befriends an elderly lady named Kiko Tanaka – could this be a relation to Mabel? Pixar-to-Disney Easter Eggs are fairly rare to see, but they do exist.

Could Mabel have connections to the Big Hero 6 universe? (Image Credit: Pixar)

One of the more obvious Easter Eggs (if you can even call it that!) in the trailer, is where Mabel describes the mind transfer concept “is like Avatar!”. Typically, Disney and Pixar references to other movies and franchises are much more subtle, so it’s super interesting to see a reference as on the nose as this!

All in all, the teaser trailer is a brilliant, first look at what we can expect to see from Hoppers – charm, humour and no doubt, a beautiful message at the heart of it all.

What do you think of the Hoppers teaser trailer? Let me know in the comments.

17/07/2025