Toy Story 30th Anniversary Celebrations and Merchandise!

cowgirlamanda95
Jul 28, 2025
4 min read

Updated: Aug 3, 2025

Man, do I feel old!

This year is a milestone for Toy Story as it celebrates its 30th anniversary! (I feel like we just celebrated the 20th!). Toy Story released on November 22, 1995 and set the bar high for the future of animation. It is still considered a revolutionary piece when it comes to animation/CGI and is often studied by animation students and professionals alike.

This year, there are many celebrations happening and exclusive merchandise for the 30th anniversary!

First up, SIGGRAPH, a very popular animation festival, will hold a panel celebrating the 30th anniversary. The event will be held on August 10 in Vancouver. The panel will feature a Q&A with Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull. The journey of creating Toy Story, the struggles and triumphs, will be talked about and it seems like such a treat for fans and aspiring animation students!

Next, it has been recently announced that Toy Story will be returning to theaters September 12th! This will be such a good throwback for many fans to experience Toy Story in the movie theaters once again.

Disney Concerts is partnering with orchestras around the country to bring audiences "Toy Story: 30 Years and Beyond in Concert". We recently had one here in Chicago, and there are many concerts planned for later this summer and fall in different cities around the United States. Make sure you check your local cities to find a show near you! We've been to a few of these concerts, and they synchronize clips from the films to the live orchestra's music. It is nice to just sit and become immersive to the score.

Here are a few city websites with this event:

https://www.overture.org/tickets-events/2025-26-season/madison-symphony-orchestra-mso-at-the-movies-toy-story-in-concert/

https://www.cityofhenderson.com/residents/special-interest/toy-story-live-in-concert

https://madisonsymphony.org/event/disney-and-pixar-toy-story-in-concert-live-to-film/

There have also been some collaborations with fun brands celebrating the 30th anniversary such as Ray-Ban, ColourPop, Primark, Happy Planner, Box Lunch, and RSVLT!

Moving overseas to Japan, they are also celebrating over there as well! The countries of China and Hong Kong are also celebrating with special merchandise and I am so jealous over some of the stuff they are getting!

First in Japan, they are celebrating Toy Story's 30th with a special Sky Tree lighting show. This looks so exciting and as someone who loves special lighting effects, I wish I could see this! The high-rise tower lights up in color that represents each character like Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and Bo Peep. They also have special illuminations of movie scenes inside as well as a cafe with speciality drinks and menu items!

You can check more out here! https://www.tokyo-skytree.jp/en/event/special/toystory/

Also, check out this video of the show!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AzsZyDrOZ0

Next, Japan has this adorable pop-up cafe by "Oh My Cafe". There are many photo ops, merchandise, and amazing looking menu items!

Tokyo is on my bucket list to see one day, and these types of cafes are high on my must see list one day. They have everything from Pokemon, Sanrio, etc. You can check more out on this here! https://en.japantravel.com/tokyo/toy-story-pop-up-cafe/69836

Japan also has many gashapon capsule figures for the 30th that can be found on eBay.

Furthermore, Takara Tomy Toys have announced a good number of new figures, plush and dolls!

Their Toy Story page is totally decked out in 30th anniversary, and introduces Woody, Buzz, and Jessie in different outfits! https://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/disney/toystory/

These new Woody, Buzz, and Jessie dolls are incredible. Woody is a samurai, Buzz is a ninja, and Jessie is in a kimono. We also have Lotso as a sushi chef and the aliens with pieces of sushi. To say I'm obsessed in an understatement!

Next up are new Woody's Roundup special edition Jessie and Woody dolls. These dolls are in black and white, and look to be made exclusive for the 30th. I'm weak for Woody's Roundup items!

Lastly, Takara Tomy has some die cast figures and vehicles for the 30th as well.

Unfortunately, it will be proven difficult to get these toys at MSRP, but you can preorder them from third-party sellers on eBay or those that ship to the U.S./other countries from Japan.

Moving over to places like China, Disney China is holding a 65 day celebration. The summary of this event is:

Dive inside "Andy's Toy Box" for a cross-dimensional summer fantasy right near the beautiful Huangpu River. The city's iconic riverside is transformed into a wonderland of nostalgia and joy, with seven themed installations featuring Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Lotso, and more.

More on this can be found here: https://www.citynewsservice.cn/events/Toy-Story's-30th-anniversary-will-be-a-65-day-spectacular-celebration-3n770ano

I follow some fellow Toy Story fans that have been posting some amazingly cute merch coming from China, Taiwan, and Singapore. Miniso is a chain that has long branched out into the U.S., but they have different blind boxes in these countries for the 30th.

I have also found a 30th anniversary Toy Story book from a publisher in Australia titled "A Buzz-Worthy Celebration. Jessie, as our new Sheriff, wants to throw a party for Buzz’s “gotcha” day!