Movie Review: Toy Story 5

By John Corrado

Pixar’s Toy Story franchise is 31 years old this year, having begun with the first film in 1995. This means that many viewers (myself included) have grown up with the series.

Case in point, I was the same age as Andy when Toy Story 3 came out in 2010, so these films have always meant a lot to me on a personal level.

It’s a series that has kept defying expectations since the first sequel, Toy Story 2, came out in 1999 and was regarded by many as being even better than its predecessor, before the third instalment turned it into what is widely recognized as one of the greatest trilogies of all time over a decade later.

Now we have Toy Story 5, a film that defies expectations yet again, and feels like the perfect continuation of the series. It also further justifies the existence of the more divisive fourth film from 2019, which I’ve always viewed as a poignant continuation of Woody’s story, exploring themes of abandonment, what it’s like to no longer feel needed, and prioritizing your own happiness.

It’s impressive how Pixar has managed to make each new instalment not only resonate with those who have grown up alongside the series, while also appealing to a new generation of kids, and that is very much the case with this latest film. By focusing on Jessie (voiced by Joan Cusack, doing some of her finest work here) this time around, Toy Story 5 finds a new angle and a fresh perspective, with her story providing the film’s emotional backbone.

The result is a film that feels like nothing less than a celebration of these characters and why they matter to us, that is every bit as entertaining and moving as we want it to be. Directed by Pixar giant Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL•E), the film is built around a “toys versus tech” storyline that feels very timely in an age of iPad kids and decreasing attention spans due to excessive screen time.

While the kids are usually more in the background compared to the toys, Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) is very much a part of Toy Story 5. Now eight, Bonnie is an eccentric and shy kid who is having trouble making friends. The other kids her age not only don’t want to play with toys anymore, they are also confused as to why Bonnie still does.

This is why it’s with the best of intentions that her parents buy her a Lilypad, a children’s tablet in a green frog case. While mom (Lori Alan) is hesitant, dad (Jay Hernandez) makes the purchase. As soon as the device arrives, Bonnie becomes glued to the screen, getting hooked on playing games, and being added to a group chat with other girls from her dance class. The toys get tragically left on the floor.

Lilypad (Greta Lee) serves as the antagonist, with her taking over Bonnie’s room, genuinely believing that she is doing what’s best for her (not unlike how Anxiety both was and wasn’t a villain in Inside Out 2). This device positioning herself as their new techno overlord is obviously concerning to Jessie and her new deputy Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), and the rest of the toy gang. Jessie worries that the same pattern that played out with her original owner Emily is happening again.

This prompts a call to Woody (Tom Hanks), who is now balding and showing his age, having gone off with Bo Peep (Annie Potts) to rescue other abandoned toys. And there are a lot of them now. One of the key themes of the film is how technology is causing kids to grow up and mature too fast, leaving things like imagination and play – that are integral to healthy childhood development – behind. The film does cleverly acknowledge the unavoidable role that technology plays in all of our lives now, while showing that it can’t come at the expense of actual human connection.

This series has always been about these sentient toys navigating their place in the world as the children they belong to grow up, and Pixar is still able to get a lot of emotional weight out of this material. The moments of heartbreak and emotional catharsis hit hard, with many scenes that will get you choked up throughout. Especially as Jessie looks back on her time with Emily, allowing the film to revisit the most poignant moments from Toy Story 2. Yes, a Toy Story movie will still make you cry in the year 2026.

But Toy Story 5 is also very funny, with a lot of the humour provided by new character Smarty Pants, a potty training device voiced by Conan O’Brien (his cheekier jokes are surely what got this film a series-first PG rating). There are also a number of amusing moments with Forky (Tony Hale), the standout character from the fourth film, and his new plastic knife wife Karen Beverly (Melissa Villaseñor).

The screenplay, credited to Stanton and co-writer Kenna Harris, is extremely well-structured, weaving together about three different storylines that are all happening simultaneously. Among them is the adventures of a troupe of fifty stranded Buzz Lightyear toys that we meet in the opening sequence, having emerged from a crashed shipping container. These modern Buzz Lightyear toys provide a highly entertaining narrative through-line.

Not only is Toy Story 5 another awesome Toy Story movie, Stanton and crew have also crafted a beautiful film about the importance of toys and the value of play in a child’s life in the age of technology, that represents what the ethos of this series has always been. The fact that the film is able to pull off being all of these things, let alone five movies deep into the series, is impressive on its own, and leaves us genuinely excited and optimistic for where they take this series next. It’s a delightful, moving film that reminds us how good Pixar can be at their best.

The cherry on top is “I Knew It, I Knew You,” the wonderful new Taylor Swift song that plays over the end credits. Swift, a life-long Toy Story fan who personally asked to write a song for the movie after viewing an early cut, nails the bittersweet tone of the series with the tune, which serves as a fitting return to her country roots. There is also thematic relevance in the passing of the torch from composer Randy Newman, who wrote and performed the previous four end credits songs, to Taylor Swift. It’s a new era for Toy Story, but the magic of this series remains.