For more than 30 years, Disney and Pixar have captured the hearts of families with a deceptively simple idea: what if our toys had lives, emotions and feelings of their own? That’s the beauty of this franchise.
Each film finds a new angle on the same existential question: a toy becomes fully itself through a child’s love, so who is that toy once the child stops playing? It’s a question about growth that we all face at some point, the slow work of figuring out who we really are. “Toy Story 5” continues that tradition, even though I’ll admit I wasn’t sold on the concept going in.
I found myself asking why we needed a fifth “Toy Story,” especially one built around toys versus tech in a world already shaped by AI and the shrinking need for human hands.
That conflict plays out through Bonnie, now a few years older, and I was genuinely surprised by what I found: a gorgeously animated film with crystal-clear visuals that doesn’t dismiss the fear technology stirs up in kids and parents alike, but insists there will always be a human tether to the process. A child’s creativity, the film argues, is something technology can’t replace. Our memories stay with us, shaping who we become, and that idea lands as honestly here as it ever has in this series.
The script also earns its runtime by giving us more time with Bonnie while handing the emotional center of the film to Jessie (Joan Cusack). She carries the story with warmth, but also with real fear and guilt about her place in a world that keeps changing without asking permission.
That’s a feeling adults and kids both recognize, and it lands even harder in a post-pandemic landscape where diagnoses of childhood disabilities and behavioral conditions keep climbing and parents are still learning to let go of a “normal” that isn’t coming back. The film doesn’t offer easy answers, just maturity, and that’s its biggest strength.
By the time the credits rolled, I realized we’ve all been that scared kid in the corner at some point, struggling to make a friend or find a way out of the dark, and that the right people showing up for us is something nobody can ever take away.
“Toy Story 5” doesn’t shy away from the discomfort of change or the uncertainty of starting something new. The idea sounds small on paper, but the film makes the case that childhood connections still matter decades later, and that’s a beautiful thing to sit with.
In the end, “Toy Story 5” earns its place in a franchise that still has plenty of spark left, helped along by genuine heart, sharp humor, a subplot involving 50 high-tech Buzz Lightyear units, a few good jokes about Woody’s age, a scene-stealing turn from Conan O’Brien as the new toy Smarty Pants, and a strong conflict between Greta Lee’s Lilypad and the rest of the gang. Hearing Woody and Buzz again still feels like a reunion with old friends, and that magic hasn’t worn off yet.
All about ‘Toy Story 5’
The toys are back in Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5,” and this time it’s toy meets tech. Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack) and the rest of the gang face a new threat to their jobs when Lilypad (Greta Lee), a tablet device with her own ideas about what’s best for Bonnie, arrives on the scene. Will playtime ever be the same?
The film is directed by Academy Award winner Andrew Stanton, co-directed by Kenna Harris, produced by Lindsey Collins and written by Stanton and Harris from a story by Stanton. Oscar-winning composer Randy Newman returns to score the franchise once again. “Toy Story 5” is now playing in theaters.
