Nate At The Movies

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

The Toy Story franchise has been one of my favorites for as long as I can remember—Sammy and I had Woody and Buzz toys as kids—and I’d also confidently say the original Toy Story trilogy is one of the greatest movie trilogies of all time. My feelings on Toy Story 4 had teetered between “great but unnecessary” and “antithetical to Woody as a character” since it came out, which made me nervous about Toy Story 5. While I wasn’t surprised that I enjoyed Toy Story 5, what it was able to do for me as a lover of the franchise and a skeptic of the fourth film was unexpected.

I know it doesn’t bear repeating, but Toy Story 5 retained the charm and magic of its predecessors in all the same places: the animation (which I didn’t think could get any more impressive, but somehow it did), the score (Randy Newman is a living legend, and don’t think I didn’t hear you sneak in a little “Blue Shadows on the Trail”, Randy!), and the humor (while maybe not on the same level as the original trilogy, I was still laughing a ton). Taylor Swift also wrote a fantastic song for the end credits that I would be shocked were it not to receive an Oscar nomination—I’d listened to it before seeing the movie, but hearing it play alongside the credits made it so much better. Every part of the movie surrounding the characters and the story excelled yet again, but it was the story and themes of Toy Story 5 that really impressed me, especially for a movie franchise that many may feel like has nothing left to say.

After four movies focusing pretty heavily on Woody, it was incredibly refreshing to focus on someone else, and what a pick in Jessie! Her backstory in Toy Story 2 begged for exploration, and we got exactly that. Since Toy Story 2, Jessie has struggled with the fear of abandonment—of becoming “useless” to someone—and Lily forced Jessie to finally confront that fear as she thought she may lose her third kid. I was prepared for Jessie to return to Emily’s house, but I wasn’t prepared for the revelations she had with Blaze, Smarty Pants and the gang, and even Emily. I know there are probably some diehards out there who are sad that Emily isn’t Andy’s mom, but the closure Jessie got instead was so much better. I just about teared up knowing that Jessie—a toy—had such a profound impact on Emily that she named her daughter after her. Also, in my review of Toy Story 4, I lamented how it seemed like Toy Story 5 would just retcon Woody’s departure, but I was glad to see they didn’t! Woody will keep doing his thing with Bo Peep, but his bond with the gang remains.

Everyone knew that Toy Story 5 would be tackling the impact of technology on today’s kids, and while the film hit some of the obvious points, its take on tech was more nuanced than I expected. Sure, technology can rot our brains, make us less social and more self-conscious, and force us to grow up too fast. I was glad to see, though, that the film acknowledged technology’s potential to connect as well. Jessie and Bullseye aren’t reunited with the rest of the toys without the technology of Smarty Pants, Snappy, and Atlas, and Bonnie doesn’t meet Blaze (who I absolutely fell in love with and want my kids to be like; what a sweet girl!) without Lily. Tech used the right way can be a tool for human connection, but when it’s time to actually form a relationship, the screens have to go. Even with their upsides, Toy Story 5 made it clear that tech doesn’t need to be in the hands of kids that young, and it certainly won’t be in my future kids’ hands.

I talked about this in my review of The Sheep Detectives, but as a teacher, I struggle with some of the same fears that Jessie does. I get to teach some wonderful kids for a short time, and I definitely wonder if I’m going to become “useless” to them as they grow up. Jessie’s reassurance hit hard for me—my job is to be there for the part where they need me most, and even if I’m not there for all of it, my impact on them doesn’t go away. Toy Story 5 was yet another home run for Pixar, and proof that the Toy Story franchise could continue for 10 movies and still have so much to teach us. Did Toy Story 5 feel necessary to the overarching story? No, but neither did Toy Story 4, and that doesn’t really matter. As long as the heart strings are tugged and I’m learning more about myself through these movies, they can keep making them.