[Rating: Rock Fist Way Up]
I have grown up through the age of Pixar’s highs and Pixar’s lows. I’ve stuck around when friendly monsters lived in our closet and fish traveled thousands of miles to save another. I’ve even stuck around when cars could be international spies and dinosaurs could be good. Now, Pixar is celebrating their 31st anniversary making full length features that have delighted audiences for four decades. Their latest feature, giving us characters my generation has literally grown up with, Toy Story 5 (directed by Pixar regular Andrew Stanton) doesn’t seem like it is needed at all, and yet is one of the most profound animated films in their canon.
Three years after the events of Toy Story 4, Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) is still the proud owner of her toys including Jessie (Joan Cusack), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Forky (Tony Hale) and Bullseye the horse, among many more. The toys live their lives giving Bonnie that spark of imagination a child needs, and yet, they notice a change in their child. Bonnie is nervous to talk to local neighborhood children, especially after she notices that the kids have tablets that they’d rather use, instead of playing with toys. This makes Bonnie feel different, leading her parents to buy her a Lilypad (Greta Lee), an iPad type device that thinks she knows Bonnie, despite the reservation of Jessie and the rest of the toys.
Soon, Lily and Jessie go head to head as to who is better for Bonnie. Jessie enlists the help of Sheriff Woody (Tom Hanks), now on his own adventures helping lost toys. However, things sidetrack when, after a terrible sleepover with some girls who only like Bonnie because of her new Lilypad, Jessie and Bullseye don’t make it back to Bonnie in time, before getting returned back to an address written on Jessie from years ago.
Jessie and Bullseye are now in the home of a young girl, Blaze (Mykal-Michelle Harris), who like Bonnie, needs a friend. Jessie gets help from some of Blaze’s older tech toys, Snappy, a camera (Shelby Rabara), Atlas, a GPS toy (Craig Robinson), and Smarty Pants (Conan O’Brien), a potty training toy low on battery. With the help of the tech toys, Jessie is able to reach out to Bonnie to connect with Blaze, with less than ideal outcomes. Throw in some high tech Buzz Lightyear toys looking for Star Command, a group of horses and a pig named Jimmy Dean, the plot then advances to classic Toy Story emotions and action!
As a teacher who has seen how much technology has impacted kids, this movie really needs to be watched by the adults who are raising the iPad generation. Toy Story 5 surprisingly talks a lot about the dangers of technology in terms of how it can negatively affect the mindset of kids. Lily I don’t think is a true villain (see Lotso from Toy Story 3), but instead something that is only programmed to defend herself, something that is built into her programming.
Another very deep message that the film offers is the power of why we matter in the world. Jessie has a fear of being abandoned again like she has before, and learns just how much, even as a toy she mattered to a whole bunch of people. This particular scene is the most well earned emotional moment in a long time from Pixar.
I doubted a fifth Toy Story, and I’m glad I was so wrong. Jessie gets her moment to finally shine as the lead in this, and she, along with the voice of Joan Cusack, makes me so excited to see this again and again. Toy Story for 31 years has made people believe their toys have feelings and emotions, creating some of the most iconic and well loved characters in cinema history.
Christian Ramos is a classic film fan, having had the dream to host Turner Classic Movies for years now. He also has a large amount of Oscar trivia in his head, remembers dressing as Groucho Marx one Halloween, and cherishes the moment Julianne Moore liked his tweet.
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