Pixar’s Toy Story series is the franchise that started it all. The first computer animated film set the world alight and was a gigantic hit for the studio and introduced the world to computer animation. Since then Pixar has continued to challenge itself with animation everytime it releases a new film, pushing the technology forward and leading what is possible in the art of animated stoytelling. 31 years after the release of the first film, the fifth film in the series continues with Pixar’s track record of advancing animation with some of the best we have ever seen and while the story beats may feel a little over familiar five films in, they still know how to pull on the heart strings and deliver an emotional story all ages will love.
The toys are all still living with Bonnie but when technology is introduced in the form of a tablet called Lilypad (voiced by Greta Lee) who is determined to connect Bonnie with the real world and make some actual real life friends to get her away from playing with her old toys that Lilypad actively finds irrelevant. This doesn’t go down well with the gang, now led by Jessie (Joan Cuscak) and her deputy Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) call on the help of Woody (Tom Hanks) to help Bonnie find a real life friend and stop tech from driving them into a storage box and put into the garage.
What stands out here is the sub-plot about a shipment of Buzz Lightyear toys with advanced tech in them who wash ashore a beach. They spend the film trying to get to Star Command. This feels like a very “Minion” like side-story (hilarious timing with the third Minions film due next week!) and while they do provide a lot of the humour here, when they do eventually meet up with Jessie and the gang, it provides a conenient ending to the story, it does feel a little out of place for a Toy Story film.
Having Jessie take over from Buzz and Woody is a little jarring, it does take the film a little while to fully commit to it. The writers feel like they were given the note “Whenever Buzz and Woody aren’t on screen, someone should be asking What’s Buzz or Woody doing” when the film does fully lean into making Jessie its lead, the story really takes off. We dive into the origins of Jessie’s very first owner and the ranch she lived on with her first child. Adding in her issues with tech and forcing her to team up with some “old tech” in the form of a digital toilet trainer Smarty Pants (Conan O’Brien), a hippo map device called Snappy and Atlas who work together to attempt to change Jessie’s mind on tech and its purpose in the world.
There are times where the script feels like it was written by a group of PTA mum’s concerned about kids on their screens all the time, fortunately they fully embrace that tech has its place in modern society and that it can work hand in hand to enhance our experiences rather than replace them. Bonnie feels at home in this series now, the toys really do feel like they are at home with her and the crayon drawn on white butchers paper scenes of Bonnie playing with the toys do add something fresh to this series.
The incredible animation here pushes things like textures on clothes and clothes to the “that looks actually real” territory, Woody’s hilarious middle-aged-man poncho looks incredible as it swoops around the screen. There are a couple of scenes involving a real world horse that allows the animators to really showcase the perspective of the toys and what real world animals look like is a first for the Toy Story series. The hair and textured detail on every part of the screen helps the film look and feel bright and full.
This film marks the first time director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WallE, Finding Dory) has directed and co-written a film in the Toy Story series. The script does an incredible job of balancing satisfying the ageing millenials who refuse to let go of this series and their kids who will be enjoying a new chapter in the Toy Story series to make these films their own.
While Toy Story 5 can’t quite reach the highs of the first three films, it does do its best to carve out a fresh way forward for Bonnie while having something to say about tech and its place in learning and play for children. Putting Jessie front and centre of this story was a smart move, the filmmakers do leave you on Woody and Buzz for the first quarter of the film, but once they commit to allowing Jessie to own the film and her own story, is when it really soars. Toy Story 5 is in cinemas now.
