Toy Story was the first Pixar feature film to receive a theatrical sequel, before Toy Story 2.
This distinction matters when comparing the Cars films with Pixar’s wider feature history. Toy Story premiered in 1995, and Toy Story 2 followed in 1999. Cars later became another major Pixar franchise, with Cars 2 released in 2011 and Cars 3 in 2017.
Cars is sometimes mistakenly described as Pixar’s first sequel franchise because it was highly visible in merchandise and animation spin-offs. However, Toy Story 2 was the studio’s first theatrical follow-up to an earlier feature. The Cars series was Pixar’s second feature-film franchise to receive a theatrical sequel.