Pixar is facing allegations of plagiarism over a newly announced character in Toy Story 5. The sequel reunites fan favorites Tom Hanks as Woody and Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear, seven years after Toy Story 4 grossed over $1 billion worldwide. While the film already introduced a new villain in Greta Lee's Lilypad, a freshly revealed character voiced by a major star has sparked controversy, with a former Cartoon Network animator claiming Pixar copied one of his creations.
Toy Story 5's marketing campaign shifted into full gear with the release of its final trailer, which not only drew comparisons to Toy Story 2's storyline but also gave audiences their most revealing look yet at the adventure ahead for Bonnie's toys.
Alongside the new footage came a headline-grabbing casting announcement: global music superstar Bad Bunny is joining Toy Story 5, opening on June 19, lending his voice to a toy character named Pizza with Sunglasses, a shades-wearing slice of pizza that, somehow, feels like a natural fit for the pop icon.
However, the excitement surrounding the announcement was almost immediately met by accusations of plagiarism, as Pete Browngardt, the creator of the Cartoon Network series Uncle Grandpa, publicly alleged on X that Pixar's Pizza with Sunglasses is a direct copycat of his show's iconic character, Pizza Steve:
"Pizza Steve is gonna be in Toy Story 5!?! Oh wait, they just ripped off #unclegrandpa"
Given the fact that the two animated characters do have basically the same design, it's easy to see that Browngardt felt the need to call them out.
A lot of key details are similar between the two character designs: both have dark sunglasses and are specifically emulating a singular slice of pepperoni pizza.
When compared side-by-side, they generally look the same, but there are some differences: Pizza Steve has arms, legs, and eyeballs, whereas Pizza with Sunglasses looks more like a toy, and two pepperoni slices seem to be acting as eyes.
For the uninformed, Uncle Grandpa, which ran on Cartoon Network from 2013 to 2017, was a psychedelic animated comedy about a magical, shape-shifting relative who travels the universe in an RV to help kids with their problems. Pizza Steve was a sentient pizza slice driven by extreme narcissism and a delusional belief that he was the coolest guy alive. Pizza Steve became a massive internet meme, embodying the mid-2010s era of absurd, random humor.
In Toy Story 5, featuring a new-look Woody, Pizza with Glasses seems to be an upbeat addition, with a musical twist given the casting of Bad Bunny. It's hard to deny the similarities in basic design, but only time will tell if anything comes from Browngardt's public complaint.
However, there is a past history of Pixar and Disney Animation being accused of plagiarism that could shed some light on what may happen next.
After The Lion King was released in 1994, Disney was accused of borrowing ideas from Kimba the White Lion, a classic Japanese anime based on Osamu Tezuka’s manga The Jungle Emperor.
Skeptics pointed to similarities between the two stories, including their lion protagonists, African settings, and several visual sequences, while the debate gained enough traction in Japan that hundreds of animators and cartoonists signed a petition asking Disney to acknowledge Tezuka's work.
Disney denied the plagiarism allegations, and although the controversy has persisted online for decades, neither Tezuka Productions nor the Tezuka family has filed a copyright lawsuit.
Another Disney controversy struck after 2001's Atlantis: The Lost Empire premiered. Viewers drew comparisons to Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, showing similarities in the films' underwater civilizations, crystal-based technology, and character designs.
The backlash became significant enough that members of Japanese studio Gainax publicly discussed the possibility of pursuing plagiarism claims against Disney, though no lawsuit was ever filed. In the end, the controversy remained largely a debate rather than a legal battle.
Beyond these two examples, Disney and Pixar have faced a series of plagiarism allegations involving some of their most successful animated films. While none have resulted in a final court ruling against the studios, some have led to settlements.
Earlier cases largely centered on claims that films such as Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo borrowed from earlier independent works, including accusations over character designs and story similarities.
In later years, similar claims continued as Cars 2 was challenged in court and ultimately cleared when a judge ruled the works were not legally similar. The controversy intensified in the 2010s, when animator Kelly Wilson sued over Frozen and later settled after a judge found enough overlap to potentially go before a jury.
Screenwriter Gary L. Goldman filed a lawsuit against Zootopia, alleging idea theft from earlier pitches, a claim Disney strongly denied. Additional lawsuits targeted Inside Out, including claims from Canadian filmmaker Damon Pourshian, though those cases were also met with denials.
To put in simple, Toy Story-esque terms: this isn't Pixar's first rodeo.
Are Pixar & Toy Story 5 In Trouble?
Claims like this are unlikely to disrupt Pixar and Toy Story 5, particularly given the history of similar complaints.
It seems that in animation copyright disputes, overlap in high-concept character types rarely meets the threshold for infringement unless there is clear, undeniable copying.
A talking slice of pizza, even one with distinctive accessories, is also not an especially original conceit in the broader landscape of animation, which weakens the likelihood of a viable legal claim from Browngardt or Cartoon Network.
More broadly, Toy Story 5 is set to be one of Disney's major 2026 releases, with reporting pointing to a renewed focus on Jessie alongside strong nostalgic appeal and family-oriented storytelling.
Whether or not any conceptual overlap exists between character ideas, Pizza Steve, and new supporting characters in the film, it is ultimately unlikely to affect the project's trajectory. When it comes to what is morally right and wrong in this situation, that's up to the court of public opinion.
