For an entire generation, specifically millennials, the “Toy Story” films are a bit of a sacred text. That isn’t to say those older or younger can’t appreciate and enjoy them for the absolute masterpieces they are. However, those who came of age with the films tend to hold them in a special regard. When “Toy Story” released in 1995, the oldest millennials were fourteen. The youngest would be born a year later. As of the writing of this “Toy Story 5” review, the youngest millennials are now thirty and the oldest are in their mid-forties. Many of those that saw that first film as children have been taking their own kids to Pixar movies for years. Appropriately, “Toy Story 5’s” plot focuses on the hold that nostalgia has on us as we face a changing world, propelled forward at an ever-increasing speed by technology.
That conflict of tech vs toys was at the forefront of most of the marketing, but it’s more nuanced and complex than it first appears. The film’s antagonist, a tablet named Lilypad (Greta Lee), steals away their owner, Bonnie’s, attention. This hits the toys hard, but none more than Jessie (Joan Cusack), who is unexpectedly elevated to the main character. With flashbacks and a recurring musical motif taken from from Sarah Mclachlan’s “When She Loved Me,” the film reminds us of how Jessie’s first owner, Emily, left her. Decades later, her anxiety and abandonment issues are still a key part of Jessie’s character.
The Toys Are Back
Despite his poetic send off at the end of the last film, it wouldn’t be “Toy Story” without Woody (Tom Hanks). Sure enough he reunites with his old friends, including Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), once again setting out on an epic quest to save a friend. The rootin’ tootin’ cowboy is easily the most direct stand in for the stage in life millennials are in. He has a bald spot, his waistline isn’t the same, and he has to remind other toys he’s not old. This writer surely can’t relate. Other familiar characters from the “Toy Story” films past also reappear. That includes; Rex (Wallace Shawn), Duke Caboom (Keanu Reeves), Bo Peep (Annie Potts), Dolly (Bonnie Hunt), Forky (Tony Hale), and of course Pixar stalwart John Ratzenberger as Hamm, to name a few.
There are newcomers as well. Most notable are a group of tech-based toys led by the toilet training gadget Smarty Pants (Conan O’Brien). Jessie is at first reluctant to trust these new additions, having seen what tech has done to Bonnie’s mental health. The film cleverly addresses the lack of connection and empathy created by being perpetually online. Bonnie is even cyber-bullied at one point, causing her to abandon playing with the toys she loves so dearly. However, Jessie learns she may actually have judged her new friends too quickly. The film seems to argue that tech can, when used wisely, also be helpful in forging genuine human connections.
So much of what “Toy Story 5” has to say is about these bonds, and the way the movie handles Jessie dealing with her trauma, is heartbreaking yet beautiful. There is one scene near the midpoint of the film that stands out in this regard. That moment continues a longstanding tradition of “Toy Story” scenes that will make people of all ages shed tears. The film’s director, Andrew Stanton, is responsible for a number of those, having co-written “Toy Story 1,” 2″ and “4.”
That’s not to say that the film is perfect. There are a lot of plot machinations that need to happen to get characters to certain places. At times it can feel a bit contrived, as the writers move all the chess pieces into place. One element of this that did work was a group of high tech Buzz Lightyears. A sequence where they become marooned on an island (ironic since Woody is played by a castaway) opens the film. How they will feature into the larger plot is concealed through much of the film, as we sporadically cut back to them. In addition to being a clever bridge between the traditional and the new, they also answer an age old “Toy Story” mystery at one point.
Overall Review: Growing Up With “Toy Story”
As you may have guessed, I was one of those millennials who grew up alongside “Toy Story.” Andy, the original owner of the toys, was six years old in the first film, the same age as me. By the time I was nine, and starting to understand more complex emotions, Pixar released “Toy Story 2.” Over the years, I’d relate to the newly introduced Jessie more and more, and she’d grow into my favorite character. As Andy was leaving for college in “3,” emotional about saying goodbye to his toys, I was in college, also emotional about saying goodbye to Andy’s toys.
And now, in my mid-thirties, I have been with Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the rest, for almost my entire life. That shared history made that tear inducing moment in the middle of the film hit even harder. It reminds us that even if people are not in our lives forever, the moments we spend with them are. We come into each other’s lives, often making an impact we will never truly realize or understand. Pixar does it again.
Derick’s Rating: 9/10
