The Toy Story franchise is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. For the last three decades, it has proven to be one of the most celebrated and influential animated movie franchises, thanks to its groundbreaking CGI animation, timeless storytelling, and all-star cast.
Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and their friends' adventures are not expected to end anytime soon since Disney and Pixar are currently working on a fifth movie that is slated to be released in theaters in 2026.
Here is our ranking of all Toy Story movies from worst to best to commemorate the franchise's milestone.
(NOTE: Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins is not included since it is a direct-to-video spinoff film and a pilot to the animated series)
5. Lightyear
The 2022 film Lightyear served as a spin-off featuring Buzz Lightyear and was presented as a film within a film in the Toy Story universe. Chris Evans voiced the titular space ranger.
While the film offered a solid space adventure, it is nowhere near the level of any of the main Toy Story movies, and the storytelling was too conventional for the genre. Some fans also felt like the film was made as an attempt to expand the franchise.
It ended up being a massive box office bomb as it only grossed $226.4 million out of a $200 million production budget.
4. Toy Story 4
Despite being the fourth installment in the franchise, Toy Story 4 managed to tell a clever and fresh story about Woody, Buzz, and the gang as it gave us a view of what their adventure looks like under their new owner, Bonnie.
The film also brought back Bo Peep after being absent in the third installment and introduced fan-favorite character Forky, who became a phenomenon during the time it was released.
It also gave Woody a compelling arc as we saw him deal with his purpose in life as an unwanted toy and explore the idea of traversing the world beyond his original existence.
3. Toy Story 2
Released four years after the original film, Toy Story 2 expanded the world of the franchise with the introduction of Jessie, Bullseye, Mrs. Potato Head, and Wheezy to the main gang.
The second installment managed to improve its CGI animation from the first film with more details in the character features and extra movements that were not possible yet when the original was made.
The film offered another rich story of friendship and existentialism through the eyes of toys. The introduction of Jessie was welcomed by fans thanks to her charming personality and heartbreaking backstory that audiences resonate with.
2. Toy Story 3
When Toy Story 3 came out in 2010, eleven years after the second film's release, a lot of audiences left the theaters crying as they saw the toys say goodbye to Andy.
The third installment explored Woody, Buzz, and the gang question their future as Andy is about to head to college and become a young adult. It was a melancholic tale of mortality with a tear-jerker ending that will make fans bawl even on a rewatch.
The film was considered to be one of the best in 2010, and it became the first installment in the franchise to gross more than $1 billion at the box office. It also became the third animated film to get nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
1. Toy Story
As they always say, nothing beats the original. Toy Story deserves the top spot for being a groundbreaking film, not just for the franchise or Pixar but cinema in general, as it was the first feature-length computer-animated film.
While the film offered a simple tale of friendship, it had an innovative storytelling and animation style that audiences had never seen in a movie when it was first released in 1995. It also widened the imaginations of younger audiences with the idea of a toy coming to life.
It has also proven to be timeless and influential on the animation industry as it inspired other studios and animators to produce a computer-animated film, which has now become a standard today.
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