Ranking Every Movie in the 'Toy Story' Franchise + Martin Scorsese and AI | Reel Reflections #6
June has been an eventful month in the world of cinema. Between major new releases (Disclosure Day, Toy Story 5, Masters of the Universe, Supergirl) and news about some of our favorite filmmakers, there’s a lot to digest.
First and maybe most importantly for its implications across the industry, it was recently announced that Martin Scorsese has begun backing and promoting an A.I. storyboarding firm called Black Forest Labs. I’ve held off on my complete thoughts on this for a while as I’ve sorted through both my love for Scorsese and his work and also the disdain and contempt I have for generative AI software. Personally, I have been and will be against the use of AI to eliminate artists from the creative process. Now, are there use cases for AI? Yes, as with any thing. I think it can help eliminate mundane work like data crunching and advance our ability to do great creative work. Recently, the YouTube group Corridor Crew released a great new program they hope will help eliminate the tediousness of trying to key out green screens called Corridor Key. This program uses AI machine learning to run hundreds of instances and models in order to key out green screen backgrounds of shots as seamlessly as possible and avoiding tedious frame-by-frame touch ups on edges that is inevitable for VFX artists. This sort of AI usage seems like a great idea to me, allowing VFX artists to completely eliminate or greatly reduce the time they spend on the tedious parts of the job so they can do the creative part.
With Black Forest Labs and Martin Scorsese’s partnership, they’re attempting to do something much more sinister. The goal of the company is to completely automate and generate AI-based storyboards based on prompt inputs using zero actual artists in the process. For those who do this work, this sort of program eliminates jobs. For someone like Scorsese, who has spent his 5-decade career hand drawing his storyboards for his films, it represents an acceptance of an easy way out without having to pay someone else.
It’s a shame because I love Scorsese and his work. What he has done for American and World cinema is second to none. He’s made some of the greatest films of all time and also spent so much time preserving underseen cinema from around the world. This sort of decision is so strange for someone so entrenched in the filmmaking process. But as I think about it more, I see it less as a sinister acceptance, but rather as an aging creative looking for ways to tell more stories before he dies. If something like what Black Forest Labs presents can help with that, then so be it. This in no way absolves him of the implications of this sort of partnership, but it helps me understand it. I still find it’s usage abhorrent, but for someone pushing 85 years old, it may represent something else, consequences be damned.
This week, we see the release of the brand-new Toy Story 5 in theaters. This is a bit of a weird one for me. I LOVE the Toy Story franchise. They’ve defined my childhood for many years. I grew up with the original two films and Toy Story 3 came out when I was 12. So, suffice to say I love this franchise. Yet, I’ve weirdly had very little hype for this new entry. I didn’t even realize it was coming out this month until last week. Personally, that feels like the sentiment I’ve been seeing leading up to this. No one I know has been talking about it, which is strange for such a tentpole franchise for Disney.
Nonetheless, my fiancé and I braved a tornado warning in my area to go see the film on release day.
I thought it was fine enough, but I wasn’t blown away like some of the other films. I actually had a good time! The movie looks great, and there were some real tearjerker moments that got me pretty good. The overarching concept felt like the proper direction to take the franchise.
So, I thought, in honor of the release of this film, I would rank all the Toy Story movies from worst to best. Without further ado, let’s dive in.
5. Toy Story 5
The newest entry in the franchise is also the weakest in my opinion. There’s a lot to love about this entry. Thematically it takes a logical leap to the 21st century asking what happens when tech and devices invade kids’ homes. I know personally I abandoned my toys as a kid as soon as I got a phone and a computer, so it felt relevant. I also liked how the film began to explore the interpersonal relationships of the human characters and how people connect to one another in an increasingly digital age. However, this one does take a while to get going, and there are some real jumps in logicality between the toys interacting with the real world that are hand waved away much more often than in previous films. It was smart to make the story focus on Jessie this time. However, I wish a lot of the other toys didn’t get sidelined for so much of this film. Did I have a good time? Yes of course. Is it my least favorite of the franchise? Also yes.
4. Toy Story 4
This is a hard spot for me because I am a Toy Story 4 truther. I adore this movie and believe it’s one of the more interesting films in the franchise. Fully moving beyond Andy, the toys go on a road trip with new owner Bonnie and her newly created toy Forky. Forky is a genius invention for this film that breathes some new life into it. Also, having Woody go through the emotional wringer to finally understand he doesn’t need an owner to be happy was a fitting conclusion to his story. This film looks beautiful, is well acted and moves along at a great pace. As with many of these films, it has a great villain in Gabby Gabby, and exploring the idea of lost toys or toys without owners was an interesting new direction. I had a lot of fun with this one and don’t get the hate.
3. Toy Story
This might be a controversial spot for this film, but you could probably interchange the next 3 on any given day. The original Toy Story is a phenomenal film. What a great concept to explore the secret lives of toys when humans aren’t around. This was innovative and creative and groundbreaking as the first fully CGI rendered animated movie. Woody and Buzz Lightyear are all time character creations, and the story is great. Yes, the animation looks super dated now in 2025, but I can’t really fault the film for that. What surprised me most on rewatches recently is actually how short this movie is. Very little actually happens and then it’s over. But it was still so cool to see the movie imagine what toys actually get up to. There are great set pieces, great locations (both Sid’s house and Pizza Planet are phenomenal) and seeing Buzz and Woody come together by the end are great. It’s the movie that started it all and it could easily be number 1 on any given day.
2. Toy Story 3
This is the film that I remember being the most excited for as a child. As I said earlier, I grew up on the first two Toy Story films and watched them on repeat, and I was 12 when this one came out. It was a huge step up in animation quality from the originals, and the concept was unique and smart. What happens when the owner grows up and doesn’t want to play anymore is such a great direction for the franchise. I loved the daycare setting and the heist aspects of this film are so cool. Some of my favorite moments of this franchise are when they’re breaking out of the daycare jail. Lotso Huggins is a great villain as is customary for the franchise, and the ending both at the incinerator and seeing Andy give his toys to Bonnie and play one last time had me in tears as a child. This is always a fun revisit, and maybe the most entertaining film of the entire franchise.
1. Toy Story 2
Was there ever any doubt? This is one of the greatest sequels ever made. The introduction of Jessie, Bullseye and Prospector Pete are welcome additions that all hit perfectly. Seeing Woody explore his origins is really cool while also engaging in what the toy collecting market means for toys. The whole gang gets to be involved in this one and Prospector Pete is the best villain in the franchise by far. There are some classic moments here, specifically Woody getting fixed, invading the Toy Barn and the rescue at the airport. This is the film that proved that this franchise was an absolute powerhouse for Pixar. Every idea feels fresh and unique, fleshing out the world that was established in the first film even deeper for all the main characters and giving audiences fun adventures that have a much deeper meaning under the surface. To this day, when Jessie starts thinking about her previous owner Emily and “When Somebody Loves Me” starts playing I can’t help but start bawling.
Physical Media Highlight
Last week, while I was out shopping for my beloved physical media, I came across this numbered 60th anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition of the Gene Kelly classic Singin’ in the Rain. Now, I have never seen this movie. It’s one that’s high on my list to see. I didn’t own the movie already, so I picked it up for a great price ($12!!). This edition comes with the Blu-Ray and DVD of the film plus special features, a 48-page booklet as is customary, reproductions of the theatrical door panel posters, as well as a themed umbrella. Now the reason I wanted to highlight this one specifically is to discuss briefly the idea of big box sets vs just buying the film. Personally, I am a fan of both. If you can get a great copy of a film on Blu-Ray or 4K, without any real bells and whistles, that’s worth it to me. But personally, I love a big box set with special features and collectibles. I find those editions to be really fun and to stand out on my shelf. Will I ever use some of these things? That remains to be seen. But I love collecting and owning something unique that represents one of my favorite films or one of the more iconic films in history is worth it to me. Plus, I like the effort that goes in to creating these editions. I won’t typically buy them at full price, but when I see them come up secondhand, it’s hard to pass up.
The Film Box Podcast
This week on The Film Box, we sat down with our friend Brock aka Movie Talk With Brock on TikTok to review Disclosure Day at great lengths. I wrote about the film last week in my column and Connor just released his review of it the other day, but we dive even deeper into this film that has simultaneously overperformed at the box office and become a polarizing film for the moviegoing audience. It was a great conversation full of diverse opinions on the film, so check it out!
That’s it for this week’s column! Thanks for reading and we’ll see you next week!