Disney’s Toy Story 5 Accused Of Plagiarizing Design From Cartoon Network Series

Pixar has been accused of plagiarizing a character design in its upcoming film Toy Story 5.

Animator Peter Browngardt took to X to call out Toy Story 5‘s Pizza with Sunglasses for looking similar to the character Pizza Steve from his show Uncle Grandpa, an animated series on Cartoon Network that aired for five seasons from 2013 to 2017. The two characters are a single slice of pepperoni pizza wearing sunglasses.

“Pizza Steve is gonna be in Toy Story 5!?! Oh wait, they just ripped off [Uncle Grandpa],” he claimed, adding a thumbs-down emoji to express his disappointment.

While some Uncle Grandpa fans came to Browngardt’s defense, other social media users replied to his post to point out that a pizza with sunglasses isn’t copyrighted and other animated projects have featured characters with that design as well.

“Pizza Steve is gonna be in Toy Story 5!?! Oh wait, they just ripped off #unclegrandpa.”

Browngardt created and executive-produced Uncle Grandpa and voiced the titular character, who travels around the world helping kids work through various problems. He was nominated for an Emmy in 2010 after the pilot episode aired on TV. Four years later, the series won Outstanding Individual in Animation at the Emmys.

Outside of Uncle Grandpa, Browngardt directed The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie and has worked on shows like Futurama, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, The Amazing World of Gumball and Looney Tunes Cartoons.

Toy Story 5 reunites fan-favorite characters from the beloved franchise, including Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, Hamm, Rex, Slinky Dog, Mr. Potato Head and Bo Peep. This time around, Jessie is in charge as she and the rest of the toys contend with Bonnie’s new tablet and a changing world filled with the latest tech gadgets.

The upcoming Andrew Stanton-directed film will introduce new characters as well. Not only is global superstar Bad Bunny a part of Toy Story 5 (as the voice of Pizza with Sunglasses), but the list of new cast members also includes Greta Lee (as Lily), Conan O’Brien (Smarty Pants), Craig Robinson (Atlas) and Alan Cumming (as Bullseye, who never spoke before).

Despite this being the fourth sequel in the Toy Story series, Toy Story 5 is expected to have a massive opening weekend when it’s released on June 19. Current projections estimate that the film will have a $150 million domestic opening.

It was also recently announced that the biggest singer in the world, Taylor Swift, has recorded a song called “I Knew It, I Knew You” for Toy Story 5.

Browngardt may be upset with one of the character designs in the film, but the box office projections show that moviegoers are likely to come out in droves later this month to see Toy Story 5, regardless of any accusations.

Toy Story 5 will be released in theaters on Friday, June 19, 2026.