Toy Story 5
Now that Woody (voice of Tom Hanks) and Bo Peep (voice of Annie Potts) are off rescuing abandoned toys, Jessie (voice of Joan Cusack) has deputized Buzz Lightyear (voice of Tim Allen) to assist in raising Bonnie (voice of Scarlett Spears), but when Bonnie holds up Jessie to break the ice with twins her age across the street, they laugh at her, thinking her childish for still playing with toys. Hoping to help their daughter connect with new friends, her parents (voices of Lori Alan and Jay Hernandez) buy her something they hope will help, a new Lilypad (voice of Greta Lee), which immediately decides it knows how to help Bonnie more than Jessie does, wrecking havoc in "Toy Story 5."
Laura's Review: A-
PIXAR's most enduring franchise just keeps delivering the goods, this fifth installment from cowriter (with codirector McKenna Harris)/director Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo," WALL*E") championing the value of imagination over the use of technology for children's development while still acknowledging the merits of the latter. Stanton and his animation crew have found new ways to open up the world of Woody and his gang, this time around incorporating Jessie's original home on a rural horse ranch and its inhabitants and the remote tropical island a battered shipping container of fifty new hi-tech Buzz Lightyears has washed ashore on.
The film opens on that army of Lightyears, one powering up to rescue and enable all the others. When night falls, the leader looks skyward and declares 'Star command!,' beginning a quest that will end with Jessie's sheriff badge. Meanwhile, back at Bonnie's house, Jessie is troubled by Bonnie's absorption with her new screen. But Lily dismisses Jessie's concerns, setting up a chat group with Bonnie's dance classmates, who immediately message her favorably seeing she has joined their online group. Bonnie is thrilled beyond belief to be invited to a sleepover, eagerly packing a bag which Jessie and Buckeye slip into to keep an eye on her. On the drive on the way over to her 'friend's' house, Bonnie discovers her beloved toys and brings them towards her three classmates, all sitting staring at their own Lilypads, but their condescending reaction causes Bonnie to denounce her toys, dropping them on the sidewalk where an older couple find them, note their original owner Emily's address written inside her chaps, and return them to that home's address. The little girl who returns home is miserable, becoming even more so when she cannot find Jessie and Buckeye.
Meanwhile Jessie and Buckeye have their own adventure trying to return, both found by Blaze (voice of Mykal-Michelle Harris) when she goes to the barn to find out what has spooked her horse. She's delighted with them, adding them to a shelf already crowded with toy horses, but in her quest to get back to Bonnie, Jessie will find Blaze's abandoned toys, electronics for potty training, picture taking and a child's GPS in the form of Smarty Pants (voice of Conan O'Brien), Snappy (voice of Shelby Rabara) and the hippo-shaped Atlas (voice of Craig Robinson). Initially disdainful, Jessie soon finds that they are capable of taking a picture of her and Buckeye and sending it out to the Lilypad network, more abandoned toys proving their worth, while the newer tech leads to online bullying. Back at Bonnie's, Woody, called in by Jessie to help with the Lilypad situation, is battling for command with the hapless Buzz, together forming a rescue team to retrieve Jessie, who has begun to realize that Blaze just might be the friend Bonnie's been looking for.
Stanton occasionally changes style, opting for a spiky, neon hand drawn look to illustrate both Bonnie and Blaze's play, both involving outrageously imaginative weddings complete with objections and even poisonings! The CGI used for the rest of the story is as stunningly realized as ever, even the nap on Bulleye's fabric visible. Every toy we've known to date makes an appearance, from the original Potato Heads, Slinky, Hamm and Rex, to more recent additions like Dolly (voice of Bonnie Hunt), now sporting drawn-on glasses, Mr. Pricklepants, Forky (voice of Tony Hale) and Duke Caboom (voice of Keanu Reeves). Sad toys abandoned outside homes of children looking at screens tell Woody 'the age of toys is over,' yet Jessie finds a pink plastic playhouse in Blaze's yard where Combat Carl's (voice of Ernie Hudson) tea party awaits her return (Bad Bunny voices the very enigmatic Pizza with Sunglasses).
The filmmakers do lean on ideas used before, the donation bin both means of separation and death's equivalent for toys. And Bonnie's three classmates boast Lilypads in colors different from Bonnie's green one, the obvious choice of the product's name, a minor, but irritating quibble. But this animation celebrating the benefits of using one's imagination still has plenty of its own, including an inspired, moving closure for Jessie. Those who've been around since the beginning may notice some aging in Joan Cusack's voice, but it's a lovely and warm performance, the anchor of an amazing vocal ensemble. Taylor Swift's original song, 'I Knew It, I Knew You,' plays over closing credits. And stick around for an after-credits stinger suggesting toys are never outgrown.
Disney/PIXAR releases "Toy Story 5" in theaters on 6/19/26.
