Toy Story 5

All eyes were on Toy Story 5 to see if the iconic franchise could pull off a fifth successful movie, and—spoiler alert #1—they absolutely did. With the whole gang back together, Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the rest of the toys tackle the biggest issue today’s parents are facing: to tech or not to tech.

Let’s put it all on the table: tablets are indeed threatening play. Educational games and Ms. Rachel certainly have their place, but is that place one that was once reserved for pretend play? Is there room for both? These are the questions that Jessie in particular finds herself asking throughout the film.

Things pick back up two years after Toy Story 4, where we left Woody traveling with Bo Peep to find homes for lost toys. Jessie and Buzz have been holding down the fort at Bonnie’s house but are faced with a challenge they’re not quite sure how to handle when Bonnie’s parents gift her a tablet. Enter Lilypad, or Lily, for short, who thinks she knows everything there is to know about making friends. Lily puts Bonnie in a group chat with girls from her dance class, girls who are decidedly “too old” to be playing with toys. In an effort to fit in, Bonnie ditches her toys in favor of playing games on her tablet, and thinks she has the whole making-new-friends thing in the bag when she’s invited to her very first sleepover.

Skeptical of these new “friends,” Jessie and Bullseye sneak into Bonnie’s suitcase, but get left behind in the car when Bonnie discovers them. In an attempt to stay with Bonnie, Jessie and Bullseye launch themselves out of Bonnie’s dad’s car but get intercepted by a well-meaning older couple who decide to return the toys to the address listed on the inside flap of Jessie’s boot. Jessie and Bullseye find themselves at Emily’s house, though Emily, Jessie’s first owner, no longer lives there.

Instead, Jessie comes face to face with Blaze, the new young girl who lives there. Desperate to get back to Bonnie, Jessie reluctantly teams up with a ragtag crew of older electronics: Smarty Pants, a potty-training toy, Snappy, a toy camera, and Atlas, a GPS hippo toy. Together, they concoct a plan to reunite Jessie with Bonnie, which Jessie has to admit is much easier with the help of technology. But there remains the question: does Bonnie even want Jessie anymore, now that she has Lily?

Pixar did an excellent job grappling with the multiple perspectives on play that technology introduces. I think many people were worried that being a franchise all about physical toys might make for an all-technology-is-bad take, but the pros and cons of introducing technology during childhood were aptly explored. I won’t say any more for fear of spoiling the ending, but I will say I was pleasantly surprised.

The entire film had a nostalgic feel to it, with both the original characters and the original cast coming back. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Joan Cusack all reprised their roles as Woody, Buzz, and Jessie, and it wouldn’t be Toy Story without Randy Newman scoring the film. Time also didn’t stop: the characters and the toys keep aging with their viewers—spoiler alert #2: Woody is balding! I truly believe that Toy Story is part of the club of franchises who know how to keep making movies and keep making them good.