The ‘Toy Story’ Effect Is Real
Disney+ can count on its subscribers to do one thing reliably. Whenever a new movie sequel debuts in theaters, fans throw a rewatch party.
We’ve been witnessing this behavior since Disney+ debuted in 2019. However, this phenomenon just peaked with the release of Pixar’s best brand.
Woody & Jessie
Yes, the Toy Story Effect is real. I’ll explain in this week’s streaming ratings.
What’s the ‘Toy Story’ Effect?
Toy Story 4 debuted in theaters in June 2019. I happen to love the movie and vastly prefer it to Toy Story 3.
Grab your torches and pitchforks and come at me, but I’ll die on this hill. As a film critic, I noted that Toy Story 3 fell victim to what I call Peter Jackson Syndrome.
Photo: Pixar
The film had far too many fake endings, which agitated me and took me out of the story. When Toy Story 4 arrived, nobody had asked for it. Frankly, there wasn’t a need for it.
Disney sometimes releases sequels like this for purely economic reasons. A new Toy Story or Cars film serves a purpose in driving new merchandise sales.
Photo: Pixar
The Mandalorian & Grogu exists for this very reason, as does the live-action Moana remake. You can tell from those examples that the movies don’t always perform as planned.
Still, Disney makes it up in volume by reinvigorating toy sales. This strategy is legitimately one of the savviest parts of the Disney Flywheel.
Photo: Lucasfilm
We witnessed the strongest version of the behavior in 2019 with Toy Story 4. I reiterate that Disney didn’t have any new ideas for this movie.
So, they threw in an Evel Knievel knockoff, Duke Caboom, and threw in Key & Peele. I’ve just told you literally everything I can recall about the movie I highly enjoyed.
Photo: Pixar
Toy Story 4 earned $1.07 billion and was Pixar’s biggest hit for five years.
I’m not joking. Nothing beat it until Inside Out 2 in 2024.
Photo: Disney
You don’t remember it as being that successful, do you? Of course not. It’s disposable.
History Repeats Itself
We’ve known for a long time that history would repeat itself in 2026. As soon as Pixar told us the idea for Toy Story 5, it was a slam dunk.
Woody and Buzz are facing an existential threat as physical toys in a digital world. Anyone with children knows that their best friend in life isn’t a stuffed animal.
Photo: Pixar
No, Snuggles the Bear gets thrown on the floor, replaced by a phone or a tablet. Tough break, Snuggles. It serves you right for not being digital, though.
Kids start gaming at like 18 months old now. I wish I were joking. By the time they turn eight, no adult is beating them at Fortnite.
Photo: Pixar
That’s just how this generation has been raised, and the film leans into it. Woody, Buzz, and the gang know that their popularity is dwindling.
As far as elevator pitches go, this might be the best idea for a sequel I’ve heard in ten years. So, the fact that Toy Story 5 is about to cross $1 billion doesn’t surprise me in the least.
Photo: Taylor Swift
The anticipation for this film has been palpable, and the Nielsen Streaming Charts drive home the point. We just got the ratings for the week of June 15th through June 21st.
In case you didn’t know, Toy Story 5 debuted in theaters on June 21st.
Photo: Pixar
Guess what fans did to get ready for the big day! That’s right, folks!
Everyone hopped on Disney+ and binged Toy Story movies.
Toy Story Fever: Catch It!
For the week in question, here are the Disney+ titles listed on the Movies chart:
- Hoppers – 349 million viewer minutes
- Toy Story – 238 million viewer minutes
- Toy Story 3 – 212 million viewer minutes
- Toy Story 4 – 207 million viewer minutes
Amusingly, Zootopia 2 fell off the charts for the first time in a while.
Photo: Disney
People swapped it out for Toy Story films. And I mean all of them. Okay, technically, Toy Story 2 didn’t chart, but I’m sure it just missed tenth place.
Still, three of the four films in the franchise that were available on Disney+ charted. That speaks volumes about the demand for the new Toy Story film.
Photo: Disney
We knew that already from the box office, but it’s a hysterical second confirmation.
Hoppers is actually performing quite well on streaming, yet it barely topped the original Toy Story.
Photo: Pixar
Since all three of these films finished on the lower part of the chart, they may fall off next week.
That’s the next trend we’ll track as Toy Story continues to dominate the summer.
Toy Story Land
While we’re at it, here are Disney’s other streaming hits for the week:
- Love Island USA – 1.686 billion viewer minutes
- Bluey – 927 million viewer minutes
- Grey’s Anatomy – 721 million viewer minutes
- Criminal Minds – 591 million viewer minutes
- Family Guy – 540 million viewer minutes
- Bob’s Burgers – 514 million viewer minutes
- Law & Order Special Victims Unit – 445 million viewer minutes
- Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief – 339 million viewer minutes
- Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters – 207 million viewer minutes
Photo: Peacock
The Percy Jackson movies recently arrived on Netflix. That’s why they’re here.
So, Disney doesn’t get credit for their performance any more than that of Love Island.
