‘Toy Story 5’ Co-Director Kenna Harris on Going From Jessie Superfan to Pixar Filmmaker — and the Two-Week Rewrite That Reshaped the Sequel

Oct 16, 2026 5:17am PT ‘Toy Story 5’ Co-Director Kenna Harris on Going From Jessie Superfan to Pixar Filmmaker — and the Two-Week Rewrite That Reshaped the Sequel

By Davide Abbatescianni

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Davide Abbatescianni

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See All Add us as a Google Preferred Source Kenna Harris walking an audience through 'Toy Story 5' at View Conference, Oct. 16, 2026

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Long before co-directing Pixar’s “Toy Story 5,” Kenna Harris spent childhood afternoons drawing Jessie, painstakingly reproducing details from “Toy Story 2” and even imagining Woody offering the cowgirl a flower. Decades later, the character helped Harris navigate a daunting first feature — including a two-week production pause to overhaul a story that was not yet working.

“She was my cowgirl through and through,” Harris said at View Conference in Turin on Friday, displaying childhood fan art and explaining how Jessie’s boldness became a guiding principle while making the film with director Andrew Stanton.

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