Conan O’Brien is headed to the toy box. The comedian has been cast as the voice of Smarty Pants in Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5,” due in theaters on June 19, 2026.
The fifth entry in the animated franchise sees Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang’s jobs challenged after being introduced to what kids are obsessed with today — electronics. The film is directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton, co-directed by McKenna Harris and produced by Jessica Choi.
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Disney announced O’Brien’s casting as part of the Consumer Products section of its Licensing Expo presentation on Monday.
O’Brien also shared the news to his own social media, joking that he initially wanted the role of Woody or Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen), but learned that Smarty Pants is “the best character of them all.”
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“Toy Story 4” opened in theaters in 2019 to rave reviews and over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. The film set a record at the time for the biggest animated film launch, with a global opening of $244.5 million. Fans were initially concerned that a “Toy Story 4” might ruin the perfect sendoff that Pixar created for the characters in 2010’s “Toy Story 3” (also with $1 billion in ticket sales and the Oscar win for animated feature), but that turned out not to be the case as “Toy Story 4” was equally beloved—garnering critical and commercial acclaim.
Allen said earlier this year that the new “Toy Story” movie will largely focus on Jessie, the cowgirl first introduced in “Toy Story 2” and memorably voiced by Joan Cusack.
“I can tell you that it’s a lot about Jessie,” Allen said “Tom [Hanks] and I do — Woody and I — do realign. And there’s an unbelievable opening scene with Buzz Lightyear. I can give you that, but I can’t give you much more.”
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