"TOY STORY 5" - REVIEW

1995’s TOY STORY was the flagship film for a fledgling animation studio that had, only up to that point, made clever short films and TV commercials, winning Clios for Listerine and Lifesavers as well as a Best Animated Short Film Oscar for TIN TOY at the 1989 Academy Awards. Backed by Walt Disney Pictures, it was the very first entirely computer-generated feature film, and was a huge critical and commercial success; a true four-quadrant film that people from age three to 103 could enjoy and derive meaning from. Moviegoers would have to wait three years until their follow-up A BUG’s LIFE (1998), and then TOY STORY 2 (1999), which was so close to becoming a direct-to-video cash grab but was saved by a script that was, in their words, “so damn good.” Throughout the years, Pixar would give us monsters, aquatic life, space operas and anthropomorphic automobiles, while occasionally returning to the toy box with 2010’s remarkable TOY STORY 3 (which introduced new kid Bonnie and which served as a trilogy capper for Woody’s original owner Andy), and later with 2019’s aggressively okay TOY STORY 4, which felt like one-too-many toys-with-abandonment-issues narratives… but we did get Duke Caboom (Keanu Reeves) and Forky (Tony Hale) out of it!

So, 31 years later, does TOY STORY still have a story worth toying with?

I’m happy to report yes.

These toys are back in town with a hilarious and resonant fifth entry that breaks some new emotional ground as it steps beyond the usual nostalgia on which the franchise made its name. Sharp and sensitively written and co-directed by Andrew Stanton (Pixar’s FINDING NEMO and WALL-E) and McKenna Harris (the Pixar short CIAO, ALBERTO), TOY STORY 5 centers Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl (Joan Cusack), taking over the responsibility of Bonnie’s room, and finding her job at keeping the lonely Bonnie’s (Scarlet Speers) youthful exuberance rather challenging in the wake of tech. Sensing her growing shyness, Bonnie’s well-meaning parents (Lori Allan and Jay Hernandez) try to fill the void by gifting her with a Lilypad, a mostly well-meaning, occasionally sinister frog-shaped tablet (Greta Lee, PAST LIVES). This leads to an all-toys-on-deck adventure that brings back Woody and Buzz (Tom Hanks and Tim Allen), Bo Peep (Annie Potts), Slinky Dog (Blake Clark), Rex (Wallace Shawn), Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head (Jeff Bergman and Anna Vocino in for the late Don Rickles and Estelle Harris), Hamm (John Ratzenberger), Dolly (Bonnie Hunt)… and you know the rest. 5 introduces some new characters as well, including three archaic electronic devices: the potty-training game Smarty Pants (Conan O’Brien), the digital camera Snappy (Shelby Rabara), and a GPS hippo named Atlas (Craig Robinson), who belong to Blaze (Mykal-Michelle Harris), a farm girl with a huge horse collection and a penchant for childish dorkiness. And why not? She’s a kid, and is allowed to be, which is one thing that tech threatens.

Refreshingly, TOY STORY 5 is not a “tech bad” agenda movie. More than the previous installments, it centers the human story and all of the unanticipated emotional underpinnings of tech (increased isolation instead of intended connectedness, superficiality, being forced to relinquish childhood things too early). As parents of two, this really hit my wife and I right in the feels as we ourselves are navigating being somewhere between total Gen-X luddites and wanting to prepare our children for the reality of tech, but not the “reality” of tech; as an enhancement to experiences, but not as a substitute for imagination and connection.

Even as the TOY STORY franchise has increasingly become more appealing for adults, TOY STORY 5 thankfully couches that human story in a very fun adventure for the toys that takes them all over the Tri-County area… and beyond: without getting into it, Pixar still finds fun and hilarious ways to make Buzz Lightyear (or in this case, a battalion of Buzzes) feel new again.

Will these stories still be worth telling for infinity and beyond? Time will tell. The final verdict for me is a story that ranks somewhere near the middle/top (my personal ranking is 2, then 1, then a tie between 3 and 5, then a bunch of other Pixar movies, and then 4). Instead, maybe we should take a lesson from Woody at the conclusion of TOY STORY 2 regarding how long they will get played with: “it’ll be fun while it lasts.”

#moviefriend

#toystory5

#pixar

#disney

#andrewstanton

#mckennaharris

#joancusack

#gretalee

#tomhanks

#timallen

@mncritics

Zach is a proud member of the Minnesota Film Critics Association (MNFCA). For more info about Zach, the organization, or to read other great reviews from other great Minnesota-based film critics, click here: www.mnfca.com