The release of Toy Story 5 this past weekend is yet another landmark in the saga of Pixar Animation Studios, the Emeryville, Calif.-based company that has produced 30 full-length movies since the first Toy Story in 1995 and racked up 11 Best Animated Feature Oscars in the process. Now, there’s a new Toy Story, continuing the downright adorable adventures of a group of anthropomorphic playthings who have migrated from one owner to another over the course of five installments. Although the previous chapter in the series was a bit of a letdown after the genuinely emotional climax of Toy Story 3 (no spoilers!), this continuation is well-conceived and executed with the ever-evolving visual aplomb that Pixar has brought to all of the studio’s efforts, including such standouts as The Incredibles, Inside Out, Wall-E, Up, Monsters, Inc., Ratatouille, and Finding Nemo.
One of the Bay Area’s most inspiring entertainment business success stories, Pixar originated in 1974 as part of the computer division of the Lucasfilm production company in Marin County; it became an independent entity in 1986 and eventually set up shop on its current campus in Emeryville. A highly praised series of innovative short cartoons led to the triumph of Toy Story, establishing the studio’s current status as a pioneering titan of computer animation. With Disney in charge of distributing Pixar projects for a couple of extremely profitable decades, it was unsurprising that the Mouse House eventually bought the studio in 2006. This sort of mega-corporate ownership almost assures the leverage of successful intellectual property, which has meant sequels (laudable ones, including The Incredibles 2, Inside Out 2, and Finding Dory) and at least one prequel (Monsters University) to the most highly visible box-office bangers the studio scores — whether good or mediocre (Cars 2 and 3). But the wildly profitable Toy Story, with its eminently marketable characters, is in a class all by itself.
Being the fifth Toy Story, there had to be some reservations at the Pixar think tank about milking this generally marvelous family-friendly franchise yet again for what would doubtless be enough money to make Disney cartoon gazillionaire Scrooge McDuck quack with joy. Instead, director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E, Finding Dory) and his co-screenwriter McKenna Harris bring new ideas and vitality to the escapades of the loyal coterie of toys that have been led by wholesome cowboy doll Woody, voiced by Tom Hanks, and arrogant space-ranger action figure Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Tim Allen, since the series began. Toy Story 5 shifts the focus from Woody and Buzz to Jessie, the plucky cowgirl doll voiced by Joan Cusack, in a thoughtful, very relevant look at how online media and the lure of digital devices are undermining human connection and playtime for children.
Toys and kids in crisis
Sweet, shy Bonnie is the current owner of most of the toys that were introduced throughout the various chapters in the franchise. Even as she tries to overcome her timidity, she’s having a difficult time making friends with the kids in her neighborhood, all of whom would rather stare at their portable touchscreen tablets than play with honest-to-gosh toys. Her parents see a way to help Bonnie connect with these screen-fixated kids, and they gift Bonnie with a digital pad named Lily. As Bonnie is egged on by Lilypad and gets caught up in her peer group’s social media relationships, the toys — led by Jessie in Woody’s absence since Toy Story 4 — are pushed aside, boxed up, and inadvertently donated to what one would presume is a charitable thrift-store operation. Buzz and Woody are determined to save their comrades — with a troop of new, WiFi-enhanced Buzz Lightyears flying into action as well. Meanwhile, the intrepid Jessie and her trusty horse Bullseye are on a mission to secure a new friend for Bonnie, and this quest brings the cowgirl back to the home of someone who used to own her.
Jessie’s growing pain at being passed along and forgotten by her previous human friends, which now seemingly includes Bonnie, is one of the more affecting aspects of Toy Story 5 and beautifully enhanced by Cusack’s splendid, “aw shucks” vocal performance. And of course, there’s the central issue of constant screen time and its impact on child development, a real-world concern that’s handled deftly by the script and the actors. It must be an honor to provide a voice to a Toy Story character, since so many of the performers come back over and over again. It certainly helps the continuity to have Hanks, Allen, and Cusack on board once more, along with a host of others doing cameos: Keanu Reeves as Duke Caboom, Tony Hale as Forky, Wallace Shawn as Rex, Annie Potts as Bo Peep, Bonnie Hunt as Dolly, Kristen Schaal as Trixie, John Ratzenberger as Hamm, and others. The first-timers do a bang-up job in more significant roles, especially Greta Lee, smug and self-satisfied as latest-big-thing Lilypad, and Conan O’Brien as the toddler-toilet-trainer trinket Smarty Pants.
As usual with Pixar projects, Toy Story 5 looks gorgeous. No matter the quality (and some of the studio’s movies don’t attain the heights of their finest), you can count on the designs, the settings, and the animation itself to be the best in the business. Toy Story 5 is further enhanced by a lovely song from Taylor Swift, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” composed and produced by the singer and her frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff. Pop-wise adornments aside, Toy Story 5 works as well as it does because of its faithfulness to its characters and its concern for toy and human alike. Having coauthored all of the previous Toy Story movies, Stanton knows his animated players to their core, and it shows. Maybe Toy Story 5 would be a smart endpoint for the series, especially considering how gratifying it is to watch the old-school toys take on their biggest 21st-century nemesis — those omnipresent screens — and reach a détente. On the other hand, its box office forecasts are impressive, which means that Toy Story 6 is as likely as the next generation of Lilypads.
Toy Story 5 is currently in theaters.
