Toy Story 5 Deleted Scene Would Have Been the Most Devastating Pixar Moment in History – WATCH
The Toy Story franchise has no shortage of emotional moments. For Millennials who grew up with the original trilogy, Andy bidding farewell to his old friends before heading off to college in Toy Story 3 arguably takes the cake, but each film in the series has at least one sequence that makes viewers reach for the tissues. Toy Story 2 delivered one of the most crushing gut punches in Pixar’s history with Jessie’s “When Somebody Loved Me” montage, where she recalls her happy life with Emily prior to being given away. With Jessie moving to more of a main role in this summer’s Toy Story 5, Pixar found poignant ways to flesh out more of her story, and at one point, the filmmakers planned for what might have been the most devastating moment in the studio’s history.
Shortly after Toy Story 5 premiered, it was reported that the film’s original ending saw a much older Emily return and reunite with Jessie, sharing the cowgirl doll with her baby grandchild. Ahead of Toy Story 5‘s upcoming Digital release on August 18th, DiscussingFilm on X shared a video of that deleted scene. Check it out in the space below:
Toy Story 5 Wrapped Up the Jessie/Emily Arc Perfectly
The nature of how the deleted Toy Story 5 scene is depicted in the video indicates it was scrapped relatively early in the film’s development process. As you can see, the sequence is presented in still drawings/storyboards and is set to a temporary voice track. Based on this, it does not appear that the scene was ever animated for the purposes of being included in the final product. If it had, the video likely would have been some sort of early render with the characters making basic movements. Assuming this Jessie/Emily sequence never made it to the animation stage, it was a smart call on Pixar’s part to scrap it in storyboarding, saving time and resources animating a scene that ultimately got cut.
Having seen Toy Story 5, it’s easy to see why this scene never made it to the big screen. In the film, Jessie returns to her old house, but it’s no longer home to Emily’s family. Instead, a young girl named Blaze and her parents live there. It’s possible the Toy Story 5 script evolved during development, necessitating that this scene be cut. Perhaps at one point, Emily was still going to be living in that house with her daughter and grandchild, but once Blaze became part of the equation, Pixar went in a different direction. That’s arguably for the best, as it would have been difficult to make Emily’s appearance feel organic if a whole new family was living in her childhood farmhouse.
Pixar still found a way to give Jessie some much-needed closure with Emily. One of the most heartwarming revelations in Toy Story 5 is that Emily named her daughter after Jessie, highlighting how Jessie continued to have an impact on Emily’s life even after she outgrew toys. For a franchise that frequently deals with feelings of existential dread as the toys fear being forgotten and losing meaning, the Jessie/Emily twist was the perfect way to cap off her arc and bring things from Toy Story 2 full circle. After sharing her story with Woody, Jessie stated that kids like Emily and Andy ultimately forget you, but that isn’t true. Learning that gave Jessie renewed purpose and energy for Toy Story 5‘s third act.
Cutting this scene might have been the logical move, but it still would have been great to see in its full, beautiful Pixar animation. Jessie reuniting with Emily after all these years and getting one more playtime with her beloved former owner (harkening back to the ending of Toy Story 3) would have been one of the most emotional moments in Pixar history. Considering how the Jessie/Emily arc plays out in Toy Story 5, it’s unlikely Pixar revisits this concept for a future sequel, but perhaps they could put a different spin on it for Toy Story 6. Many fans would like to see a grown-up Andy return with kids of his own.
