We know Toy Story 5 is on the way and, based on the fact that all four previous films have been massive box office hits, there’s every reason to believe the fifth entry will be a big success. This is likely to be true no matter how many people argue the franchise has gone on for too long. However, there’s at least one pretty big Toy Story fan who we can be sure won’t be in the theater. Quentin Tarantino is an advocate of the first three movies -- so much so that he’s never seen Toy Story 4 because he thinks the OG trilogy is perfect.
Tarantino has a lot of thoughts on myriad topics, and during a discussion of movie trilogies, the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood director, somewhat surprisingly, brought up the Toy Story films as an example of a trilogy that he loves. In fact, speaking on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast, the famous director notes he thinks the movies ended perfectly at the three mark. Therefore, even though he loves the early films, he’s intentionally skipped the fourth entry. Tarantino explained…
In the case of Toy Story, the third one is just magnificent. It’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. And if you’ve seen the other two, it’s just devastating. But the thing is, then three years later or something they did a fourth, and I have no desire to see it. You literally ended the story as perfect as you could, so no, I don’t care if it’s good. I’m done. I am done. It can still be good, but I’m done.
Quentin Tarantino’s sentiment is one that is certainly shared by a lot of people. When Toy Story 4 was first announced, many fans asked what the movie could possibly do that was necessary considering the saga of Andy and his toys had ended in such an emotional, memorable, and (seemingly) final way.
Pixar, and the producers of Toy Story 4 specifically, would later argue Toy Story was never Andy's story. Instead, it's about the toys, and therefore the narrative hadn’t reached a conclusion. For better or worse, Toy Story 4 received positive responses from critics and would make over $1 billion at the global box office, so even if the movie wasn’t strictly necessary, it was welcomed by many. It may be the worst Toy Story movie, but a lot of people would argue it's still better than many other films.
Pixar likely expects the reaction to Toy Story 5 to be much the same. Interestingly, the fan response has been similar. Fans are once again wondering if the studio has gone back to the Toy Story well once too often and if this is a movie that anybody needs.
Still, if the movie is good, people will likely accept it. With Andrew Stanton at the helm -- who wrote all the previous films in the series -- there’s every reason to believe it will be good or at least likable. Most Pixar and Toy Story fans are probably going to see the new film, even if they're grumbling right now it won't add a ton of value to the franchise. Quentin Tarantino apparently won’t be one of them.
