3 Pixar Characters Missing From Toy Story 5 Who Most Need To Return In Toy Story 6

Published Sep 23, 2026, 9:30 AM EDT

Simon Gallagher has worked in movie and TV journalism for more than 17 years. He has written more than 6000 articles and reviews, and edited thousands more. He is an expert in the entertainment industry, particularly in the golden age of screen superheroes. Simon is also a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic.
 

The Toy Story sequels have left too many characters behind, and the inevitable Toy Story 6 needs to bring some of them back. The changing roster is sadly inevitable, given Pixar’s flagship franchise is inherently about the slow, painful heartbreak of growing up (and the necessary sacrifices), but nobody was ready for the scale.

Over the course of five Toy Story movies, we watched Andy's bedroom crew shrink before the Sunnyside Daycare survivors brought in new characters, and then Bonnie’s story went the same way Andy’s did, and more fan-favorite characters were left behind. The core story of the entire saga relies on the idea that toys get passed down, pushed aside, or outright lost as kids trade physical imagination for new phases of childhood, and it’s not really about how the toys stop it from happening, but rather how they cope with the inevitability.

By the time Toy Story 5 came out, even Woody had left his old friends behind, as the characters faced yet another existential threat, and it has to be said that some of that threat was coming from inside the building. Even some of the original Toy Story cast who made it into the movie - like Rex, Mr Potato Head, and Slinky - were relegated to brief, unsatisfying supporting roles. It was hard not to feel somewhat short-changed, even if the main storyline was still great.

And while it might seem counterproductive to suggest bringing in more characters with that imbalance so fresh in the memory, but pulling back closer to some familiar characters would also make those veteran characters feel more relevant. That would be a better approach than simply stacking more new characters on top, if Pixar can resist the irresistible pull of merch dollars, that is…

Barbie & Ken

Barbie and Ken were the undisputed comedic highlight of Toy Story 3, and it’s an unfortunate travesty that they were necessarily written out of the sequel by how Toy Story 3 ends. The pair taking over Sunnyside and restoring benevolent order after Lotso’s reign of terror made sense, of course, but it came at the cost of two great characters.

Michael Keaton’s flamboyant Ken was a great new addition, and Jodi Benson’s Barbie ascension to main character was likewise one of Toy Story 3’s best creative decisions. They were, of course, replaced by Forky as the comedic character in the belated sequel, but there’s still space to bring them back.

Whether the toys like it or not, Sunnyside is the best possible ending for the Toy Story franchise: as long as they are married to the delusion that Bonnie won’t also move on from them, there can be no happy ending. But Barbie and Ken are overseeing what amounts to that universe’s version of heaven: they get to be played with, the kids are replaced by new class intakes every year, and they can all stay together.

RC

RC is one of the most glaring omissions from Toy Story 5, precisely because of his relationship with the other toys. He’s not so much an individual the same way other characters are, and was more like Woody’s pet and companion. The flashback opening to Toy Story 4 established the importance of that relationship after RC dropped out of the main cast during Toy Story 3.

The remote-controlled car does very briefly appear as artwork during Toy Story 5’s credits, but it’s more of an Easter egg than an actual appearance, but it at least opens the possibility that Andy did include him in the toys he gave to Bonnie. As long as you don’t question where he was during Toy Story 5’s events, that means it’d be quite easy to reintegrate him, and appease the fans who were frustrated by the cameo not offering any answers.

Stinky Pete

The Toy Story franchise is very different from classic Disney movies in its handling of bad guys: where the best Disney villains tend to be killed off or permanently removed, every Toy Story movie has taken a softer approach. Sid was scared straight (and presumably haunted for the rest of his life by the knowledge that toys are alive), Al was defeated, Stinky Pete was forcibly given a new owner, Lotso was strapped to the grill of a garbage truck, and both Gabby Gabby and Lilypad were redeemed.

Sid coming back as a conspiracy theorist who tries to prove the toys’ secret would be fun, but of all the villains who could return, Stinky Pete feels the most fitting. He was left free, unlike Lotso, and could theoretically escape his new “owner” Amy, and come after Woody for revenge. Given the way toy-collecting culture has risen even further since Toy Story 2’s release, the Prospector being an even more twisted version second time around would also be a logical escalation.

Toy Story 6 drawing from the past for its villain would also avoid having to introduce and then resolve another new villain within a couple of hours. We’ve now seen two redemptions in a row, and having a genuinely evil bad guy would be a welcome break, and Kelsey Grammer's performance was so good that getting more of Stinky Pete would never be a bad thing.

Toy Story 5 is streaming on Disney+ now.

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  Woody (Voice)

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  Tim Allen

  Buzz Lightyear (voice)

Toy Story 5 follows Buzz, Woody, Jessie, and the rest of the gang as they confront a new challenge to playtime posed by advanced technology.