The age of toys…it just doesn’t end, does it? Look, Pixar has never given us a bad Toy Story movie. Even Lightyear, the flop spinoff featuring everyone’s favorite spaceman, had its charms. But we can all agree that the series peaked with the incredible, tear-jerking finale of Toy Story 3, right? I can remember being huddled up with fellow critics, simultaneously overjoyed and heartbroken that it was coming to an end. And yet here we are, two movies later, with Toy Story 5. And it’s, again, not bad at all, but they do seem to be telling the same story over and over again. Nostalgia is great and all, but enough is enough.
Toy Story 5 is a mixed bag for me, because it feels like the creative well has run dry. However, it’s also centered on my favorite character, the BEST character in all of Pixar, the fearless cowgirl, Jessie. So I was going to like it for that reason, no matter what. She’s been the real heart and soul of this franchise (sorry, Woody!) since her arrival with Toy Story 2, and this movie finally gives her the spotlight she’s long deserved.
Before digging into the plot, it’s key to note that there have been a couple of chances to wrap up this franchise in a way that would’ve satisfied everyone. Toy Story 3, following a near-death experience by incinerator, and the passing-of-the-toys from Andy to Bonnie. And Toy Story 4, which delivered an unexpectedly bittersweet farewell to Woody as he left the gang to be one of the “lost toys”. These films have always been about how toys are a lost joy that kids nowadays will never understand; and how everyone grows up and leaves childish things behind. It used to be that toys would get passed down from generation to generation, but that stopped long before now. What is the purpose of a toy if nobody plays with it? This is a question that has loomed over each film since the beginning.
So what’s Toy Story 5 about? Essentially the same thing, except now the toys face their most direct and most unstoppable threat: technology. Bonnie, who is unable to make friends because the other kids are playing on their smart devices while she still loves her toys, gets a smart device of her own. That would be Lilypad (voiced by Greta Lee), who was purchased for Bonnie out of desperation by her parents who were only trying to help. It goes pretty bad fairly quickly, with Bonnie becoming addicted to the device, while her online interactions with kids her age only led to more heartbreak.
So while Bonnie’s storyline is actually quite sad, there’s an undeniable sweetness in her affection for Jessie, voiced once again by the beloved Joan Cusack. For Jessie, Bonnie is the third kid who has owned her, and it’s getting harder and harder for her to be left behind as they grow up. But she loves Bonnie, and attempts to skirt around Lilypad to get the child some real friends who like her for who she is. It does not go well. “The age of toys is over”, she’s warned, as we get a shot of an entire neighborhood of kids with their faces glued to tablets, computers, and phones.
So while Pixar is clearly delivering a warning shot to parents about the attention-grabbing dangers of tech, it doesn’t forget to offer a measure of hope and light-hearted enjoyment. Buzz Lightyear fans will get a kick from the dozens of high-tech Lightyear toys on a quest to be reunited with Space Command, eventually crossing paths with the core group. In Woody’s absence, Jessie has taken over as leader of the toys with Buzz as her deputy. But he has another place he’d rather be, and that’s in Jessie’s heart. The dude from outer spacehas a serious crush on the country gal! We also see the introduction of three fun characters, all discarded toys belonging to Blaze (Mykal-Michelle Harris), an eight-year-old girl with a vivid imagination much like Bonnie’s. They are Mr. Smarty Pants, a toilet-training assistant voiced hilariously by Conan O’Brien; Atlas, a GPS-enabled hippo voiced by Craig Robinson; and Snappy, a kid’s first digital camera voiced by Shelby Rabara. As with so many new characters introduced as antagonists, we can easily see them fitting in and becoming forever part of the Toy Story family.
You don’t need me to tell you that Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and the regular cast slip into their roles as if they’ve been doing them for decades. Oh wait, they have! That said, Woody probably could’ve been left out of this one. His story was done, and he didn’t add anything significant other than a brand new bald spot. While much of Toy Story 5 remains the same, including Randy Newman’s upbeat, poignant score, Pixar definitely stepped it up visually. There are some scenes early on that you could be convinced were photorealistic and not the slick CGI we’re accustomed to.
For all of my complaining, Toy Story 5 manages to do what the entire series has done, which is deliver real-world emotions without skimping on humor and playful adventure. However, I fear the batteries have begun running out of juice. Once again, the film ends with a perfect punctuation point, to send Buzz, Woody, and Jessie to the attic once and for all. Pixar shouldn’t be afraid to let them go, because itsn’t that what these movies have always been about? And never fear, because there will be plenty of spinoffs and TV show specials for them to pop up in, and when they do, after some time away, we’ll be eager to play with them again.
Toy Story 5 opens in theaters on June 19th.
