Alright! Today I'm reviewing Toy Story 5, the next story in the revered Toy Story franchise. After Woody and Buzz split up at the end of Toy Story 4, Toy Story 5 is a Jessie-centric adventure that sees her grapple with the introduction of tablets in the world of children's play.
It is always a delight to see a Toy Story movie. They've captured the hearts and imaginations of young and old alike since 1995, and they are filled with some of the most heartfelt, exciting, funny adventures in the history of cinema. It goes without saying (yet must be said anyway) that Toy Story was completely revolutionary, Toy Story 2 and 3 are two of the greatest films ever made, and that I liked Toy Story 4 more than most. Many people disagreed with Woody leaving Bonnie to stay with Bo Peep, and many more were greatly angered by how the original gang was sidelined. Fans will be happy to know that Toy Story 5 has a bigger role for the original toys (although still very small when compared to 2 and 3), and that somehow Woody returns after an emotional farewell.
Additionally, the focus on Jessie is a beautiful and wonderful decision. Jessie has been a fan-favorite character since Toy Story 2 and has carried some of the franchise's most emotional moments. While she has always been a "tragic" character, Toy Story 5 gives her more opportunities to fully explore that trauma, overcome it, and finally receive closure and a happy ending. It's a good, instantly accessible hook to haver her be the new lead of the franchise (And #girlboss Jessie makes a lot more sense than #girlboss Bo Peep, natch).
One of Toy Story 4's biggest faults was the treatment of Buzz Lightyear, the once capable and trusting hero being wholly defined by an "inner voice" gag that chose powerful character moments for him. Toy Story 5 improves greatly in this respect - Buzz is back to his normal self, feuds with Woody, and there is some very satisfying closure for a slow-burn plot that's been going since 1999. Woody is also back and balder than ever! While he probably could have been relegated to a cameo appearance, I really loved that Woody and Buzz have a seperate b-plot together, and that they brought him back without undermining or belittling one of cinema's greatest heroes.
Toy Story 5 is a very satisfying and exciting next installment in one of cinema's greatest franchises. Long-term fans will be pleased, kids will laugh, folks who didn't like Toy Story 4 will like this one much better, and it's an all-around smashing success. There are a few things here and there that I wish were better, but across the board, Toy Story 5 is what the fans have waited for. It doesn't hit the highs of Toy Story 2 and 3 and the screenplay isn't particularly polished, but it is still quite excellent.
I wish that I were a kid and seeing this! The expansion of the lore, follow-up on Toy Story 2, exciting Buzz Lightyear toys, and resounding payoffs would have made this one of my favorite Pixar films. As an adult who criticizes and picks apart, though, there are a few things I personally found distracting.
The first of these is the very unclear message, theme, and lilypad ecosystem. Toy Story 5 poses an excellent question it doesn't quite know how to answer: In an age of technology, compatability, and mobile games, what role do toys have in children's lives? Perhaps it's the 80 year-old man in me, but the moments where they show the children as iPad zombies were all very resonant, as were the distinctions between "playing a game" and "playing." I also really liked a quote from Woody that was also used in the trailers:
"Toys are for play, but tech... tech is for everything."
Toy Story 5 wants us to know that play - real play, true play - is the play that comes from imagination. Imagination is where kids come up with cool plotlines about alien invasions, murder mystery weddings, world-ending stakes, and make a total mess of their rooms! Every prior Toy Story movie has made a point to show us what play is like for a child, and Toy Story 5's core conflict is that the technology and its mobile games are taking over imagination and aging children faster than is right, and can the toys survive in a world like that?
Enter Lilypad, whose name is so clever that I'll forgive the obvious iPad stand-in. Bonnie receives a Lilypad and instantly becomes connected with her peers, but while Toy Story 5 shows every bad thing about technology - chat rooms, being "alone together," the addictive qualities, being forced to use it just to stay connected with people, the zombification of youth interactions, instantly reaching for it as soon as you wake up - it doesn't take a strong enough stand to say "this is definitively bad" or "kids should be allowed to be kids."
While I understand not wanting to villainize the screens, the movie definitely does villainize the screens and then make peace with them without changing any of their negative qualities. What about all of the crying? The other toys who are being abandoned? The subtle mid-movie shift to cyberbullying is completely at odds with the inherent faults in the screen system that Toy Story 5 makes a point to show. This timely, brilliant, unbearably relevant conflict is traded in for a few hugs and peace between the toys and tech, a resolution that is so unbearably short-term that you can't help but think that Jessie and the gang only have three years left or so before they're placed back in storage. I also question the need to make Lilypad a sympathetic character; There's a strong case to be made that she would have fit the story better if she were irredeemably cold, didn't care about Bonnie at all, and just wanted to keep her attention for as long as possible... y'know, like screens in real life. But, then again, I understand why Disney wouldn't want that.
I was also very confused by the Lilypad ecosystem - at first it appears to be a child's educational tool, but the chat rooms, connection with the Roomba, access to social media, and ability to send a message to a potty-training device (WHY can that device receive and send messages anyway?!?!?) make it clear that the Lilypad is an iPad stand-in. I think that having it be a Buy-n-Large product might have helped clear up the ambiguity, or showing that adults us similar devices/brand.
I also think Disney should have gone for the jugular and called the chat room "Snapchat," but I understand why that wasn't possible.
I also think the "tech takeover" happened a bit too fast. This sticks out a bit more because of just how good the other movies are at establishing their timelines - Andy is moving in a week, Andy is at camp, Andy leaves for college on Friday, and Bonnie's parents are actively trying to leave in an RV. There's a ticking time bomb element to all of them, so Toy Story 5's timeline feels very weightless in comparison. Bonnie gets a tablet, and that same day Jessie is afraid she's lost Bonnie. There's a sleepover soon after (how many days after?) and then Bonnie's favorite toys are missing for several days with no thoughts given.
I also wasn't very impressed by the animation. While it's certainly good looking and very lifelike, it didn't "wow" me in the same way Toy Story 4's dusty shop of curiosities did. I also felt (I might be alone in this) that the toy movements felt off. Part of Toy Story's humour comes from the physicality of the toy physics - Woody's arms flopping around as he runs, Buzz's circular ball joint movements, etc, and I don't feel that Toy Story 5 treated their character models as the toys they are (Buzz Lightyear barely glows nowadays). The texture of Bullseye and Jesise's hair is magnificent, though!
On that note, I think Toy Story 5 lacked dramatic imagery. There are some really cool reveals and character moments that could have been much more dramatic if the score, camera movements, and art department worked together more thoroughly. Seriously, some of the stuff here could have been on the same level as Jefferson Davis' mural in Across the Spider-Verse or Puss's chapel in The Last Wish! Instead it's... fine. It relies on your emotional connection to that one scene in Toy Story 2, but it's fine.
Speaking of Toy Story 2, I think Toy Story 5's resolution for Emily, Jessie's first owner, was overly convoluted and would have been much stronger if she had physically appeared or had been the mother of Bonnie's new friend Blaze. These are all nitpicks, though, and ultimately Toy Story 5 is another great entry in cinema's most prestigious franchise. There's just something so great and endearing about all of them that makes me forget about the outside world for 90 minutes of pure bliss and reminds me what it is to be a child.
Overall, I give Toy Story 5 an 8/10. "They've been developing Toy Story sequels since 2012, let Toy Story 3 go."
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