“Toy Story 5” was written and directed by Andrew Stanton and is the 6th film in the franchise and serves as a directed to 2019’s “Toy Story 4”. The majority of the voice cast returns such as Tom Hanks, Tim Allen & Joan Cusack while being joined by newcomers like Greta Lee, Conan O’Brien, Craig Robinson & Shelby Rabara. Certain characters had to be replaced following the unfortunate passings of both Carl Weathers & Estelle Harris. This film also marks the first to not have any involvement from John Lasseter, a co-creator of the series & the writer & director of the first 2 films along with a few other Pixar films. Lasseter left Pixar & Disney in 2018 despite having written the 3rd & 4th films.
Following events of the previous film, Jessie (Cusack) & Buzz (Allen) are having a tough time trying to help their owner, Bonnie, to make new friends. Despite several attempts, the toys are left unsure until Bonnie’s parents invest in a Lilypad (Lee), a smart tablet that serves as both a learning toy & a good way make new friends. A riff between the tech & the toys begins when Jessie learns that Lilypad wants Bonnie to get rid of the toys entirely. Lilypad has a plan for Bonnie but when Jessie is accidentally sent to her original owner’s house by mistake, Buzz is left with no choice to embark on the journey alone until his old buddy, Woody (Hanks) returns to lend a hand. Now, Buzz & Woody must find Jessie & Bullseye before Lilypad has all of Bonnie’s toys thrown out.
I wasn’t a fan of the 4th film due to the fact that after a stellar & supposed final chapter in the trilogy, the film undoes all the magic & storylines. However, this film does a pretty good job of recapturing the magic that made the first 3 films. It was great seeing our favorite toys return but I felt as if the 4th & 5th film serve as a character study for certain toys. The 4th was for Woody while the 5th focuses on Jessie. Now, they did an amazing exploring Jessie’s backstory & expanding it (even though we saw most of it in Toy Story 2) but that being said, just like the previous film, the rest of toys take a back seat within the story, which does feel a little more disheartening. The new toys are fun & entertaining but the overall message from the movie was a bit generic as far as tech & toys are concerned. I mean it does refer to what is happening nowadays with technology being huge but it has been seen in other kids’ films & TV shows. It is a great message for the kids & a great film all the way around. It is kind of upsetting that Pixar had to go back to their old characters to make a profit despite the success of “Hoppers” earlier this year. Ever since “Toy Story 4”, majority of Pixar’s films have been a bit underwhelming like “Luca”, “Onward” & “Lightyear” while others have been overlooked like “Elemental” & “Soul” and others were surprise hits like “Turning Red” & the afro mentioned “Hoppers”. The “Toy Story” series got 2 more films along with 2024’s “Inside Out 2”. More sequels have been announced following this and it’s only a matter of time before we see some more familiar faces on the big screen again.
Tom Hanks had stated that the 4th would be the final film for him but once this film announced in 2023, he along with Allen & Cusack returned. The film premiered in Los Angles on June 9th before releasing nationwide on June 19th. Despite spending $250 million on the film, it has already become the 2nd biggest opening for Pixar, the 3rd highest grossing animated film & the 7th highest grossing film of the year. Writer & Director Andrew Stanton has stated the first 3 films were “Andy’s years” while Bonnie could have a trilogy of her own, hinting at a possible 6th film somewhere down the line but nothing has been made official by Disney or Pixar.