Disney’s 5-Part Fantasy Franchise Is Officially the Best of the Year, and That’s the Joke Collider Wants You to Take Seriously
Toy Story is the best franchise of the year, according to Collider. The reasoning: all five movies of the Pixar series sit on Disney’s Top 10, so the franchise must be the best of the year. The logic is circular, the argument is thin, and the whole thing reads like a joke that nobody bothered to check before publishing.
The article, titled “Disney’s 5-Part Fantasy Franchise Is Officially the Best of the Year,” argues that Toy Story has dominated the company’s streaming rankings. It’s a franchise that started in 1995, follows sentient toys in a child’s bedroom, and has produced five films, including a 2026 sequel called Toy Story 5. The piece treats this as proof of greatness, not coincidence.
Woody and Buzz: The Buddies Who Started It All
The original Toy Story introduced Woody, a cowboy toy voiced by Tom Hanks, and Buzz Lightyear, a space ranger voiced by Tim Allen. Their rivalry is the engine of the story. Woody fears being replaced by the new toy, while Buzz suffers an identity crisis, believing he is a real space ranger instead of a toy.
The movie is described as a buddy cop story dressed as a children’s tale. The humor works for kids and adults alike, with clever jokes that don’t talk down to anyone. The film is critically acclaimed as the best animated movie ever made, which is a claim the franchise leans on heavily throughout the piece.
Jessie’s Abandonment and the Saddest Song
The franchise expanded through four sequels, and each added new characters and new emotional weight. The second installment introduces Jessie, a Western-style doll and part of Woody’s Roundup gang. She was abandoned by her previous owner, which triggers feelings of deficiency and claustrophobia.
Her song, “When She Loved Me,” is described as a traumatic rehash of her backstory. The article argues that these themes teach children about kindness and reflect painful realities of the world. For adults, the song lands harder than the plot does.
From Andy to the Next Generation
The series has aged gracefully, according to the piece. It grew with the audience, following Andy as he passed his toys on to the next generation. The stories evolved with entertainment technology, and the latest entry, Toy Story 5, is unsubtle about children’s dependence on technology.
This evolution is presented as an asset to the brand. The franchise can adapt to changing times, the article claims, which is why it remains popular after three decades.
The People Behind the Movies
Toy Story is a collective effort. The writers include John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Joss Whedon, Alec Sokolow, Joel Cohen, Joe Ranft, and Pete Docter. The producers are Bonnie Arnold and Ralph Guggenheim.
The franchise spans five films across a quarter century, with each entry adding new directors and creative voices. The article does not credit individual writers to specific films, so the creative history is presented as a single, continuous effort.
The Case for Best of the Year
The central claim is simple: all five Toy Story movies sit on Disney’s Top 10, so the franchise must be the best of the year. That’s the entire argument. The piece never explains why being on a Top 10 list makes something the best, nor does it compare Toy Story to other franchises.
It also never defines what constitutes a “fantasy franchise.” The genre label is used without explanation, and the distinction between fantasy and other genres is left unexplored.
A Circular Argument With No Legs
The logic collapses under inspection. A franchise’s popularity on a Top 10 list does not establish its quality relative to other franchises. It tells you that audiences watch Toy Story, not that it beats everything else out there.
The piece also ignores the competition. The Avengers and Dune are mentioned as examples of epic-scale franchises, but neither is compared to Toy Story. The comparison is dropped mid-sentence, leaving the reader to wonder why the argument exists at all.
Why This Works as a Joke
The whole thing reads like a parody of corporate content strategy. A franchise that has been around for three decades, with five films spread across nearly thirty years, naturally accumulates a large audience. That audience watches multiple movies, which pushes several entries onto a Top 10 list.
The article takes that data point and builds a conclusion around it, without pausing to consider whether the conclusion makes sense. It’s a joke dressed as analysis, and it’s funny precisely because it’s so obviously wrong.
The Bottom Line
Toy Story is a beloved franchise with a rich history and a loyal audience. Its films are critically acclaimed, and its characters have become cultural touchstones. None of that is in dispute.
What is in dispute is the idea that a franchise is the best of the year simply because its five movies all rank highly. That’s a category error, not an argument. It confuses popularity with quality, and it confuses presence on a list with superiority.
The article’s title is a joke, and the body delivers the setup. The punchline is obvious: a franchise that has been around for decades, with five installments, is bound to show up on a Top 10 list somewhere. The fact that all five appear on Disney’s Top 10 is evidence of the franchise’s staying power, not its ranking among other franchises.
Collider’s piece is a reminder that not all online writing is careful. It’s a demonstration of what happens when a headline is crafted before the argument is thought through. And it’s a lesson in the difference between a data point and an argument.
The franchise deserves its success. The movies are good. The characters are memorable. The storytelling holds up. None of that requires pretending the Top 10 list proves anything about the franchise’s quality.
Toy Story is a great franchise. It’s the best of the year, in the sense that it has earned its place in hearts and homes. But it’s not the best of the year in the sense that it ranks above all other franchises. That distinction requires a comparison the piece never attempts.
The article is a small example of how content can drift away from meaning. A headline about a franchise being the best of the year should contain an argument about quality. Instead, it contains a circular observation about popularity.
The irony is that the franchise itself is about friendship and connection, while the article treats its audience as a collection of data points. Woody and Buzz would probably shake their heads at the comparison.
KEY FACTS BOX
– Premiere: 1995
– Franchise count: 5 films
– Newest entry: Toy Story 5 (2026)
– Top 10 list: Disney’s streaming rankings
– Writers: John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Joss Whedon, Alec Sokolow, Joel Cohen, Joe Ranft, Pete Docter
– Producers: Bonnie Arnold, Ralph Guggenheim
SEQUELS
| Film | Release Date |
|——|————-|
| Toy Story 2 | N/A |
| Toy Story 3 | N/A |
| Toy Story 4 | N/A |
| Toy Story 5 | 2026 |
CHARACTER VOICES
| Character | Voice Actor |
|———–|————-|
| Woody | Tom Hanks |
| Buzz Lightyear | Tim Allen |
| Jessie | Joan Cusack |
THEME SONG
| Song | Theme |
|——-|——-|
| “When She Loved Me” | Jessie’s abandonment story |
The piece is a fun read, if only for its refusal to engage with its own premises. It states a claim, offers no evidence, and expects the reader to nod along. That’s a strange position for a franchise that has spent decades building its reputation on careful storytelling.
Toy Story has earned its place. The movies stand on their own. The audience stands with them. The Top 10 list is a symptom of that success, not its cause.
The joke is on us, and we laughed.
Source material: “Disney's 5-Part Fantasy Franchise Is Officially the Best of the Year,” Collider.
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