Toy Story 5 Review: A Heartfelt, Nuanced, And Uneven Sequel In Cinema's Greatest Animated Film Series

Toy Story" was the movie that made me fall in love with the theatrical experience, and I've dedicated my life to chasing the sensation of being a five-year-old in a dark theater, overwhelmed by the magical visage of Woody's larger-than-life face taking up the entire screen while talking to Sarge on Andy's bedside table. With the utmost sincerity, I would not be a media critic, film theorist, or entertainment journalist if it weren't for "Toy Story." The original trilogy is arguably one of the best film trilogies in cinema history, and after "Toy Story 3" seemed to bring the franchise to a definitive close, "Toy Story 4" arrived with the assumption of corporate-mandated decision-making, only to shock everyone with a heartfelt send-off for Woody that more than justified its existence. I didn't need "Toy Story 4," but I'm not upset about what we got. I didn't know it until I saw it, but I needed "Toy Story 5."

The series returns to Bonnie's house, the young girl who became the beneficiary of Andy's toys when he went off to college (and the God-creator of our trash king, Forky). Everyone's favorite cowgirl, Jessie (Joan Cusack), has stepped into the sheriff role, leading the toys as they face a challenge no toy has encountered before: a tablet named Lilypad (Greta Lee). Bonnie quickly falls into the addictive obsession plaguing the current generation of iPad kids, neglecting her toys and forgetting about the joy of "play."

The setup may sound like a straightforward "toys vs. tech" story, but how foolish we are to ever underestimate Pixar. "Toy Story 5" is a nuanced exploration of the necessity of human connection and proof that the best thing a movie franchise can do is grow with its audience.

Bonnie was the perfect kid to become the caretaker of Andy's toys because she was imaginative and sympathetic as he was, but in an era where children are giving up their toys earlier in favor of tablets and growing up faster because of it — Bonnie is now struggling to find friends who "get" her. The girls in her dance class think she's "weird" for still playing with toys, and as the only one without a Lilypad tablet, she's being left behind socially. The tablet immediately replaces the time Bonnie would normally spend playing with her toys, but as we watch the toys realize their fate in fear, we also can't help but be horrified to recognize Bonnie's compulsive desperation to be wide-eyed and slack-jawed on her tablet from the moment she wakes up. An overreliance on tech isn't just a danger to our favorite talking toys, but to the little girl caught up in its addictive power.

"Toy Story 5" never paints the Lilypad as an all-powerful evil, nor does it pass judgment on Bonnie's parents for buying it in the first place. Tech has become an unavoidable intrusion into all of our lives, especially children's. Of all of the films in the series, "Toy Story 5" is the most involved with the life of the Kid the toys love so dearly, and it's because their battle is one and the same. When Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) arrived in "Toy Story," he was a high-tech threat to classic Woody (Tom Hanks) — but he was still a toy that Andy could project his imagination onto. Lilypad does all of the imaginative thinking for Bonnie, and that's dangerous. 

The inevitability of children who will one day watch this movie on their tablets via Disney+ is enough to make me spiral into existential turmoil.

The "Toy Story" franchise has given us plenty of stand-out toy characters with each installment (I would die for you, Canadian icon Duke Caboom), but Jessie became the load-bearing pillar of the crew after "Toy Story 2," namely because she boasts the most emotionally devastating backstory. Multiple generations of people can barely hear the opening notes to "When She Loved Me" without bursting into tears, which makes "Toy Story 5" a minefield of tearjerker bombs. Jessie's quest to help Bonnie is not to show her that her classic toys still have value in the face of Lilypad; rather, it's that Bonnie needs a real friend — a human friend to play with, and it's up to her to make that happen for her.

It's such a selfless act in the face of a franchise predicated on stories where toys are constantly reaching for more time with their kids as they grow older, and one that brings Jessie's backstory of being donated by her original owner, Emily, which left Jessie with deep abandonment issues and severe claustrophobia from spending long periods locked away in storage. Bonnie prioritizing Lilypad over her is particularly triggering for Jessie, and "Toy Story 5" gives her (and Bullseye) an adventure that puts her on a healing path, not unlike Woody learning to make space for Buzz in the original film.

All of the characters' voices sound noticeably aged, especially Jessie, an unignorable reminder that our favorite characters — like many of whom were children when the first film debuted — are worn and tired. The wear and tear on the toys reflects us, because they will always be mirrors of our feelings toward them. To be loved is to be changed, and Bonnie has changed Jessie's view on "life" for good.

"Toy Story 5" admittedly struggles a bit to find its footing in the first two acts, especially with regard to incorporating Woody — who is living his best life with Bo Peep (Annie Potts) rescuing lost toys and helping them find new homes — back into the fold. On Jessie's quest to find Bonnie a new friend, she crosses paths with three new toys whose mileage may vary with audiences; Snappy (Shelby Rabara), a toy digital camera; Atlas (Craig Robinson), a toy GPS in the shape of a hippo head; and Smarty Pants (Conan O'Brien), a toilet-training tech toy with a potty mouth. The trio is a set of primitive tech toys that Blaze — a young girl who lives on the rural outskirts of the tri-county area and accidentally comes into possession of Jessie and Bullseye — had seemingly outgrown.

There's also a sideplot featuring an army of high-tech Buzz Lightyear toys that escape from a crashed cargo container stuck on demo mode and are, as /Film writer Ethan Anderton said after seeing the first 45 minutes of footage earlier this year, essentially an updated version of the deluded ambitions of the original Buzz Lightyear from the first "Toy Story." They make for some hilarious moments, but it takes a while for their plotline to converge with the main adventure. Fortunately, when they arrive, they are responsible for one of the biggest laughs in the entire movie.

Once all of the moving parts of "Toy Story 5" link up, it builds toward a satisfying climax and one of the most emotionally resonant endings of any "Toy Story" film, which is a ridiculously high bar to clear. It may not be the best installment yet, but it's one of the strongest stories the series has ever told, and what a joy it is to know that after three decades, we still have a friend in "Toy Story."

/Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

"Toy Story 5" arrives in theaters on June 19, 2026.