The fight for playtime is on in 'Toy Story 5'

It was supposed to end it was supposed to end it was supposed to end. It. Was. Supposed. To. end.

Well, you write about film nowadays, you start out in a certain fashion every now and then. I very much have before.

But the Toy Story movies have become one of Pixar’s most reliable mainstays for reasons beyond the mere search for more money and maintaining a cold hard grip on IP. Each installment has taken its beloved toys on a journey, and each has seen character development that grapples with the nature of childhood and life itself while entertaining us with various talking toy gags. 

The previous installment ended with Woody (Tom Hanks) choosing to leave his beloved group and strike out on a new way of life entirely, a far cry from a character who started out as a toxic, selfish cowboy obsessed with maintaining his status as the ruler of playtime and his owner’s favorite. But Andy has long since grown and exited the scene, and now it’s not only Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) who gets the spotlight, it’s cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack) who takes center stage as she must grapple with a phenomenon Woody never dreamed of: screens. As in the endless, ever present kind.

Pixar

Once Bonnie is revealed as the last hold out and her parents reluctantly bring tech into their lives, the toys must contend with Lilypad (Greta Lee), who arrives with all the confidence of the latest developments and the certainty that she knows best. She certainly has no problem outshining the mainstays, effortlessly providing Bonnie with a friend group she’s been seeking, online at first, then with traditional in-person childhood markers like sleepovers quickly following.

The resulting push and pull between old and new proves to be a surprisingly complex one. There’s the dismay of so-called friendship connections turning toxic at the merest hint of nonconformity in a time that supposedly champions diversity, yet proving effective when Jessie is unexpectedly separated from the others and thrust into a journey of her own that morphs into a near perfect melding of her past and future. 

The rest of Toy Story 5 follows suit, even if Bo Peep’s (Annie Potts) presence acts as a mere cameo for Woody to show up and provide backup for a crisis that threatens to end play itself. Other staples include a whole herd of Buzz Lightyears (Tim Allen) who are reliably unaware of their toy status and beautifully fulfill their duty as comic relief and rescuers, with the Buzz we know angsting over his inability to ask Jessie to tie the knot. New faces prove memorable as well, including a cast that includes now defunct tech and human girl Blaze (Mykal-Michelle Harris), whose spirited imagination may be the perfect match for Bonnie’s freewheeling creativity.

Pixar

Amidst yet another meditation on the bittersweet experience of watching children grow up is also one of the franchise’s most utopian offerings yet, a world where both toys and tech alike are primarily concerned with the wellbeing of children. And masked in its colorful world and hilarious running gags is a desperate plea for a melding of the old and new, to use technology in the best way while making room for human imagination and interaction.

The fact that it’s all masterfully contained in a film that owes its very existence to a corporate nostalgic cash grab - one that regrettably leaves some of its more recently popular cast out of the fun - is also a remarkable achievement in itself.

Grade A-