'Toy Story 5' The Legacy Continues?
They finally did it. After five attempts, Pixar manages to make a Toy Story movie that isn’t a four-guiness knockout. Then again, it’s arguable that Toy Story 4 is the movie that broke the perfection mold. Despite its critical acclaim and Oscar win, we all know that Toy Story ended when Andy dropped his toys off to Bonnie. Seeing Woody lose his voice box and choose to be a lost toy so he could catch up with an old friend felt like the filmmakers were inflicting a wound on the narrative. Luckily, Toy Story 5 does not pour salt on the wound. It merely reminds you it’s there. Bandaged and healed with some unexpected closure that will make you ball when you get to the most crucial scene. Toy Story isn’t as special as it used to be, since it should have ended two movies ago, but it doesn’t diminish the fact that it’s still the gold standard in animated storytelling.
As one of the producers said, “Andy’s story is over, but Woody’s isn’t.” What he really should have said was, there are other toy stories to tell. Not just about Buzz (Tim Allen) or Woody (Tom Hanks). Their arc has been closed for a very long time now. If you’re thinking, “Well, Toy Story 4 wasn’t that long ago”, then take a seat because I have some news for you. Toy Story 5 acts almost like Toy Story 4 didn’t happen. Yes, Woody is still on his own with Bo Peep (Annie Potts), but his reunion with the toys after an emotional goodbye from 4 is a non-reunion in 5. There’s just a kid’s walkie-talkie hanging around that apparently transmits a signal from 50 miles away. Woody casually communicates with everyone like the last film never happened. So why even make Toy Story 4 if the filmmakers can’t follow their own narrative logic? When he shows up at Bonnie’s house to say hello to his old friends, it seems like he was only a couple of blocks away, destroying the emotional heft of 4’s ending. It’s the biggest letdown of a reunion since Luke Skywalker comedically tossed the lightsaber over his head.
Harkening back to the producer’s quote about Andy’s story being over. Yes, that story is more expired than milk. However, this tale isn’t really about Buzz or Woody. It’s about Jessie (Joan Cusack). While trying to recover the missing Jessie, the old, dusty toy is confronted with her past once more. Yet, when she revisits, it’s met like a side note, as if going back to THAT place left no emotional memory. Perhaps, due to her mistreatment, Jessie doesn’t feel the warm-hearted nostalgia she should feel.
That is, until the movie delivers its “let’s make the audience cry” moment. A proud staple of the Toy Story franchise. Sadly, that moment is cut a bit too short, so the action can keep moving. Secondly, the big emotional scene is a little too convenient for closure. We know Andy loved his toys, but this other person must be trapped in some sort of arrested development to express their love for their toys that much, but it does make one of the Toy Stories hit way harder than it already did. Well done!
The real crutch that keeps Toy Story 5 relevant is its stance on a growing technological world. By the time video games went full 3D, I thought the plot of Toy Story would be about how screens would make plastic pieces that made noises irrelevant. It didn’t quite happen then, but now, every kid has a screen. The picture’s antagonist, Lilypad (Greta Lee), is the ultimate threat to playtime. What used to be a world of imagination for kids has been replaced by instant dopamine hits. No longer do children create their own world; rather, they live in one created by developers. It’s like AI trying to replicate art. You can’t break the ingenuity of the human mind.
Possibly the best joke in the movie involves the Lilypad, which is practically a kid's iPad you see hanging around in kindergarten. Immediately, when the kids in the movie pick up the Lilypad, the world around them goes dark. The device completely hypnotizes them. The kids are no longer talking to each other. All they do is sit together, staring at their screens, which limits actual interaction time. What’s even worse is that the kids set up playdates to meet in person, just to stare at their devices. Lilypad wants to take over every other toy's job. She’s not a team player like Buzz Lightyear was. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have guilt or compassion.
She’s not like Lots-o’, who tried to burn everyone to death in TS3. The theme of losing connectivity is not only relevant but important. Kids should be shown a movie about the dangers of technology. Not to make them stop using it in general, but to remember that exercise and imagination are important. At one point in the movie, when all of Bonnie’s friends wouldn’t put their screens down, I turned to my nephew, laughing, saying, “Look familiar?” He denied my jest, but at least the picture is making him self-conscious of what these devices are doing. For that, thank you, Pixar.
What I can’t thank Pixar for is making endless sequels to a perfect trilogy. I’ll die on this hill along with countless others. Toy Story is Andy and Woody’s story. Saying otherwise is just masking Disney’s greed. After seeing 4 of these movies, everything feels the same. The same rescue missions, the same last-minute saves, acrobatics, and themes. Abandonment is a highly resonant theme. Yet after five times, it gets a little old.
It must not be easy being a toy, always worrying you could be thrown out one day. Everyone fears being left behind, but Toy Story 5 beats the same old drum beat when it would be nice to hear a newer tune. That’s probably because loneliness is all there is to communicate with these films as a central point of conflict. Even if this time they extend the theme of inclusivity toward children becoming friends, it feels like something that belongs in Inside Out more than Toy Story. Furthermore, Toy Story 4 could be wiped from existence, and it wouldn’t remotely affect the events in Toy Story 5.
Although number 5 is overall a very good movie, its unnecessary, episodic nature dilutes the bookend audiences got in 2010. Having said that, it’s probably the best animated film I’ve seen in years. Despite my curmudgeon beliefs about it being a trilogy, there’s no denying that Toy Story 5 is both a fantastically emotional picture and a movie that’s important for children to see today.
