Movie Review: "Toy Story 5" Proves There's Still Life Left in the Toy Box

Toy Story becomes Pixar’s first pentalogy with Toy Story 5, a milestone that has taken over 30 years to reach. That’s a testament to the studio’s commitment to quality and original storytelling. Toy Story 5 may be a sequel, but it by no means plays it safe or rests easily on audience goodwill for the characters. Andrew Stanton and co-director Kenna Harris have mined something new and original in a familiar world, and while the basic theme of a toy’s purpose is still at the film’s core, it’s nonetheless fresh and surprising.

It’s out with the old, in with the new as tech invades playtime. When Bonnie’s parents get her a Lilypad (voiced by Greta Lee), the shy kid is suddenly able to connect with peers and play games on a social network called The Pond. Jessie (Joan Cusack), the sheriff of Bonnie’s room, is confident that Lilypad is bad for Bonnie. While trying to infiltrate a sleepover Bonnie is invited to, Jessie and Bullseye accidentally end up being returned to an address written on the inside of Jessie’s chaps, the one that belonged to her original owner, Emily. Back at the house of her first kid, Jessie is forced to reckon with the past while facing yet another kid outgrowing her purpose.

While set after the events of Toy Story 4, the fifth installment is, in many ways, a direct sequel to Toy Story 2. Jessie ends up back in a familiar home, the one she shared with Emily, but everything has changed. Her old room now belongs to a horse-obsessed girl named Blaze (Mykal-Michelle Harris), who is on the brink of outgrowing her toys, too. To make it home, Jessie will have to rely on three outdated tech devices - potty trainer Mr. Smarty Pants (Conan O’Brien), digital camera Snappy (Shelby Rabara), and a hippopotamus GPS named Atlas (Craig Robinson).

The first Toy Story found Woody (Tom Hanks) facing off against Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) for playtime supremacy on an adventure outside of Andy’s room. Toy Story 5 somewhat flips the script, with Jessie and Bullseye on their own quest to get home. While Woody and Buzz take a bit of a backseat this time around, they’re by no means absent from the film. In fact, there’s an awful lot of Buzz to go around, thanks to a lost shipment of High-Tech Buzz Lightyear action figures who intersect Jessie’s adventure in their quest to rendezvous with Star Command. The Buzz’s also bookend the film, serving as both the prologue and the mid-credits epilogue.

One thing the film does particularly well is serve fan expectations for a large cast of characters who inevitably don’t have much to do with the plot. OGs like Mr. (and Mrs.) Potato Head, Rex, Slinky, and Ham each have a comedy moment of their own without ever feeling forced. The same is true of Bonnie’s toys — Dolly, Trixie, Mr. Pricklepants, Buttercup, and Forky. Even some of the Toy Story 4 standouts get a bit of screen time in the service of fun.

Overall, that’s what Toy Story 5 is: fun. It’s a guaranteed crowd pleaser for all ages, but it also packs a heartfelt secret weapon sure to make adult viewers misty-eyed. It’s a worthwhile installment in a franchise that has always been at the top of the animation game, and if Disney announced Toy Story 6 tomorrow, I have no reason to believe it couldn’t be just as good at this point.

I give the film 5 out of 5 star commands.

Toy Story 5 opens Friday, June 19th, in theaters.