TOY STORY 5 Director Andrew Stanton Says Buzz and Woody Have Stayed in Touch in the Years Since TOY STORY 4

It’s been seven years since Toy Story 4 came out, ending with Woody and Buzz parting ways and ending the era of the two pals’ reign as a toy box duo. When Buzz and the gang were heading back to Bonnie, Woody decided to stay with Bo Peep and the lost toys and have an adventure out in the world. But now he’s back to help his old friends with the new arrival of electronics threatening to encroach on their playtime. But has it been seven whole years since the friends have been in touch? According to the film’s director, no way.

Andrew Stanton explained in an interview with GamesRadar, "It's been a little under a decade. People come back and visit, and it's like a nice visit. I hope you don't spend that long waiting till you see your old friend again," he joked. "It wasn't yesterday."

And although it’s been seven years to us, Bonnie absolutely does not look seven years older. Maybe 2 or 3? But that would have also been a while not to see a good friend. Stanton went on to say, "I always knew at the end of [Toy Story] 4, they'd keep in touch, they'd send a postcard, they have the walkie-talkie system. Woody says, 'It's a good thing we were in town.' It's relatives that you like keeping in touch with, you know? I wanted to believe that through all those years between that last movie and this one, they've visited."

It will be great to see Buzz and Woody reunite, but this film really centers on Jessie, and the film’s producer Lindsey Collins talks about how the friends are there to support her in this film, stating:

"Each of them play a very different role for Jessie in her life. Buzz has obviously always had this unrequited love, and he's never gonna leave Jessie. It's fun to watch that in this film, how much he's like, 'Oh my god, I love her so much,'" she says. "And then you have Woody, he's like her mentor, right? He's her confidant, and so when she's having this massive bout of insecurity, it just made so much sense that he's who she would call just to be like, 'Woody, is it me? I'm failing,' and have her seek out his counsel. Not to come back – and that's a total misunderstanding – but just to actually be the one to be like, 'Is it bad out there? Is it all going downhill?' And have him be the one to try to calm her down."

While Jessie goes off on a quest of her own in an attempt to make Bonnie some friends, she entrusts Buzz with being her deputy – something the space ranger takes very seriously, especially since he has quite the crush on the cowgirl. "She trusted him to be [deputy], that was a big deal," says Tim Allen, voice of Buzz. "Had to remind [Woody] several times, love that scene. And yes, he is smitten with her."

Allen also appreciates that Buzz and Woody get a heartfelt reunion after their farewell in the fourth film. "They added that scene, which I love, that we hugged each other," he says. "I said, 'I missed you' real quick and got it over with. But, I really wanted that, because it was real difficult to say goodbye when we were in [Toy Story] 4."

Toy Story 5 arrives in theaters this week. Get your tickets now!