Toy Story 5 review

Read on for my Toy Story 5 review and thoughts on this movie:

I think this movie resonated with me so strongly because these themes are ones that I can relate to.

When I wrote my review of Toy Story 4 back in 2019, I ended it with the line, “The real question is – will they find a way to make Toy Story 5?”

Seven years later I am back to answer that question with a resounding yes. We now have Toy Story 5.

I kind of just assume they will keep coming every few years for the rest of my life, like a kids’ version of the Fast and the Furious franchise. There could be worse things that they could keep making sequels to, of course! Toy Story is probably one of the best options.

I loved the first three Toy Story films and felt like they really worked well together as a trilogy. That’s why I was hesitant about Toy Story 4. And while I really enjoyed the movie, I still thought it was weaker than the first three. So of course I was pretty hesitant about Toy Story 5.

When I heard the basis for the plot, though, I felt like it could have some potential. “Toys vs. tech” is a very relevant topic that could be explored really well through the Toy Story franchise. 

Toy Story 4 felt like it was made because they wanted to do another Toy Story movie and started brainstorming ideas. Toy Story 5 feels like someone had an idea and they made a movie out of it. Whether that’s actually true or not I don’t know, but it feels like a fresh new angle to explore a new theme relevant to today.

Some minor spoilers follow.

The (toy) story

Bonnie is back, playing with her toys in her adorable and creative way. Despite all of the fun she has with her toys, it seems like they are also helping to distract her from another emotion Bonnie is feeling – loneliness. She can be quite shy and hasn’t really connected with any kids. Making this connection feels difficult because all the girls from her dance class are on the Lilypad tablet. Bonnie doesn’t have one.

Eventually her parents give in. Jessie, Buzz, and the gang are disturbed to see Bonnie glued to a screen rather than playing with her toys. When her “friends” start to make fun of her toys, Bonnie wants to give up on playing with toys completely.

Although Jessie and Bullseye want to help Bonnie, they find themselves at a different house instead, with a girl named Blaze. Blaze is creative, and has a great collection of toy horses (plus other toys!). She would be the perfect friend for Bonnie… if Bonnie wasn’t trying to pretend that she didn’t like playing with toys just so she could fit in.

The toys end up on a mission to unite Bonnie and Blaze so they can play together, despite several attempts from Lilypad to thwart them. I’ll leave it here to minimize spoilers!

Jessie has been through losing her “child” not once, but twice. Now she feels like Bonnie slipping away, too. Not surprisingly, this leads her to her own sort of existential crisis. Throughout the movie, Jessie asks things like:

“Am I just no good being a toy?”

“I can’t love another kid again just to find out I never mattered.”

We see Jessie grappling with feeling useless or worthless, and starting to question if anything she does really matters. I think this movie resonated with me so strongly because these themes are ones that I can relate to the most.

At the same time, I think that Jessie’s struggles help her relate to Bonnie in a unique way. Though she can’t really voice them at 8 years old, Bonnie is probably having similar feelings of loneliness. She may be wondering if she’s a bad friend since no one wants to hang out with her. I think Jessie’s experiences allow her to take some actions that might be different than what Woody or Buzz would do in the same situation.

I don’t want to go so far as to make it a girl vs. boy thing, but I will say that I could relate to my own memories as a kid of sleepovers, drama, and being picked on for being different. For being myself. In 4th grade I left a sleepover because they were going to watch a PG-13 movie. I wasn’t comfortable with that. The other girls instantly labeled me uncool. I’m honestly not being dramatic when I say it affected the rest of my life growing up, through middle school and high school.

I didn’t have a tablet and screens in this manner when I was 8. But that feeling of wanting to fit in, sort of making friends, and getting bullied for being different… that’s not limited to the internet. 

I also remember playing with my Barbie dolls until I was about 8 or 9 with my friends. And then I remember continuing to play with my Barbies on my own, but it no longer felt cool to do it when other people were around. And at age 10, I thought I was the only one doing that. Now in retrospect, probably a lot of my peers were doing the same thing. But it was easy to feel like you were the only one.

So even now, at age 38, I could see my 8-year-old self in Bonnie through this movie.

But I really appreciated that the movie didn’t completely villify technology. The ultimate conclusion was that they needed to use the technology to get to their endgame, but they couldn’t be solely focused on just technology. Which is easier said than done, of course. It feels relatively easy to say – I think most people who agree that you need to balance technology. Pixar can’t just say, technology bad, don’t use it.

As a society overall, I think we go through trends and the pendulum swings back and forth. Initially, technology was bad and shouldn’t be allowed at all in schools and with kids. Then it sort of swung back the other way, with people realizing the benefits of technology, to the point where most schools issue kids a tablet or laptop for the year. Currently we’re seeing a trend back towards the anti-technology stance, with parents calling for schools to ban tablets or laptops.

None of these extremes are great, in my opinion. Everything is about balance, and learning how to use technology as a tool. So what about the happy medium? Especially in an elementary school classroom, where you typically have one teacher. Maybe you say 30 minutes of screens a day. Let’s learn how to use these devices, and learn how to use them correctly and ethically, so you can find good information that is trustworthy – while you’re in a monitored environment like a school.

And maybe learning the dangers of getting addicted to screens and being conscious of it. I could easily get on my soapbox about this topic, but that’s a different post!

All that being said, I really appreciated the ending. The ultimate goal was to get back to Bonnie and unite her and Blaze. Neither group, the toys or the tech, could do it on their own without the other.

Because an addiction to screen is also the reality for ADULTS. They showed that in a lot of ways in the movie too. These kids are learning it from somewhere. They see their parents on a computer 8 hours a day. Yes, maybe it’s for work, but that’s still what they are experiencing. How often are parents scrolling on their phones while eating dinner, or watching TV with the kids? I think it’s about being conscious of our use of screens.

After seeing this movie it did make me more conscious – not only for myself, but to see what’s going on around me. I went to a coffee shop the next day, and just watching and observing people generally out in public is honestly a little eerie. I saw two different women who both had physical books on their table, but the books sat neglected while they scrolled their phones. Maybe that can be the next Toy Story spinoff – the books and novels that have to fight for anyone to have the attention for long-form reading anymore. (And if you made it reading this post this far, congratulations! You can still handle long-form reading, because this is long).

The default now is that if you are anywhere and you’re not very actively doing something, you pull out your phone. It’s very interesting to watch the people who don’t do that, and see what they do instead.

Seeing this movie with someone who is a parent was very useful as well to get their perspective. What we don’t see as much in the film is what the parents go through and the pressure they face. It’s shown a bit in the beginning, but I have a feeling any parent watching the film will immediately understand the societal pressure and difficulties Bonnie’s parents are facing.

There is an army of Buzz Lightyears who we see in bits throughout the movie, and they are consistently very funny. Our regular toy friends have plenty of great comedic lines as well.

We’re also introduced to several new characters, some “early age” tech toys that are now outdated or outgrown. In particular, a potty training toy named Smarty Pants has plenty of great gags that will probably have the kids laughing.

Sometimes Toy Story does feel like the same story told over again in different ways. The toys constantly go through situations where they fear being replaced, or put away in the closet when something new comes along. But maybe that in and of itself is a lesson in growing and childhood. It’s a reminder of the importance of accepting new things and embracing the old at the same time.

I grew up with the Toy Story movies, so like many people my age they are very special to me. For me personally, Toy Story 5 is a great addition to the series. It feels very important, now more than ever. If we can get more people thinking about creative play, I think that will be a win.

Have you seen Toy Story 5? What do you think of my Toy Story 5 review?