Toy Story 5 Review
Pixar’s Toy Story 5 tackles childhood, technology, and growing up in another entertaining sequel that proves the franchise still has stories worth telling.
Toy Story 5. Credit: Pixar / Walt Disney Pictures
Pixar’s Toy Story is a historic animated film, not just announcing the studio’s arrival as a powerhouse that would go on to make a long string of hits, but also serving as the herald of 3D CG animation in movies. As with any great film, I’m always skeptical when I hear about a new sequel. Toy Story 2 surprised me by being better than the first. I was sure Pixar couldn’t do it again, but Toy Story 3 was even better.
Nearly a decade later, Pixar released Toy Story 4. It couldn’t possibly be good. Not after the last one, which worked so well as a fitting ending to the story. It didn’t reach the levels of the earlier entries, but it was still a good movie. I was similarly skeptical of Toy Story 5. While I think the risk of diminishing returns is greater than ever at this point, Pixar still manages to squeeze out a decent sequel thanks to strong characters and a relevant subject.
Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) is a little girl with a healthy, active imagination who is painfully shy and struggles to make friends. Her parents decide to get her a Lilypad tablet, Lily (Greta Lee). Toys Jessie (Joan Cusack), Buzz (Tim Allen), and company are alarmed by Lily’s power to completely absorb Bonnie’s attention, and soon discover toys everywhere are having an existential crisis over “devices.” Lily and Bonnie battle over what Bonnie really needs to thrive and make friends, each believing they have her best interests at heart.
Toy Story 5. Credit: Pixar / Walt Disney Pictures
I appreciated how smart the movie is about its subject matter. There are no absolutes here; it’s not that technology is good or bad. It simply needs to be given to kids judiciously. Within that story, the film also explores compromise and understanding other people’s circumstances and points of view. Your differences might not be the gaping chasm you perceive them to be.
As always in this franchise, the cast is absurdly talented. It’s wonderful seeing (hearing) Joan Cusack on the big screen for the first time since 2019. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen return to their iconic roles as Woody and Buzz, though they take a back seat to other characters despite top billing. The highlight for me was Conan O’Brien as potty training toy Smarty Pants. It’s unfortunate but inevitable that some characters can’t return in the same way since several actors have passed, leaving those toys to appear only briefly with other performers stepping in. RIP Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Estelle Harris, R. Lee Ermey, and others who helped make Toy Story iconic.
Toy Story 5 is a gorgeous film best seen on the big screen. A couple of sequences featuring Spider-Verse\-inspired stylistic effects were among the visual highlights.
Toy Story 5. Credit: Pixar / Walt Disney Pictures
Despite its successes, this still isn’t an essential film in the way the first three entries in the Toy Story canon are. Craft, theme, and performances aside, it simply isn’t memorable on the same level. It’s a fun adventure and a wonderful film to share with your kids, but it lacks the staying power that made the earlier films special. Pixar brought out one of its big guns with director Andrew Stanton, the force behind WALL-E and Finding Nemo, yet Toy Story 5 still feels like a sequel that works in the moment more than one you’ll remember years later.
Toy Story 5
Toy Story 5 proves Pixar can still find meaningful stories for these characters, even if the franchise no longer feels capable of reaching its former heights.
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