Pixar’s flagship sequence proves it nonetheless has life left in it with “Toy Story 5,” a surprisingly considerate and emotionally grounded sequel that doubles as a gentle reboot after the uneven and, for a lot of, pointless “Toy Story 4.” The place that movie struggled to justify its existence following the near-perfect closure of “Toy Story 3,” this installment restores a way of objective. It not solely finds one thing significant to say in 2026, however says it with readability and conviction. Extra importantly, it avoids the hole feeling of a model extension. This isn’t a money seize. It’s a movie that understands why this franchise mattered within the first place and recalibrates itself accordingly.
At its core, “Toy Story 5” grapples with a well timed, quietly unsettling thought: how youngsters’s relationships with toys, and with one another, have been reshaped by screens, social media, and the stress to belong. The movie frames this not as a scolding critique of expertise, however as an remark about how malleable childhood has turn into. Pixar has at all times excelled at translating large existential anxieties into accessible storytelling, and right here it returns to that energy. The result’s a film that feels each intimate and culturally conscious, reconnecting the emotional DNA of the sequence with a contemporary actuality. It’s a return to kind for the sequence, placing our favourite characters, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and, extra importantly, Jessie, entrance and middle as they as soon as once more face down an existential disaster.
Director Andrew Stanton goes again to the formulation that works, layering in a slew of latest, genuinely lovable characters, notably Conan O’Brien in what is perhaps Pixar’s finest comedic efficiency since Disappointment in “Inside Out.” On the identical time, the movie engages with urgent points, emphasizing the shared expertise of present in a bodily house with one other individual and the worth of human interplay at a time when display screen time threatens to erode it. In a manner, it subtly shifts the reflection onto mother and father and the way youngsters develop social expertise, reinforcing a theme that “Toy Story” has at all times circled. This outing captures that concept with extra readability than current entries. It’s considerate and humorous in all of the methods Pixar does finest, and should you assume you’re leaving the theater with out tissues, have you ever ever seen a “Toy Story” film?
The motion, just like “Toy Story 4,” facilities on 8-year-old Bonnie (Scarlett Spears), who’s coping with her personal pre-tween disaster: making an attempt to make pals. She’s upset and lonely, noticing that different children are glued to their gadgets and have all however deserted toys. When Jessie, as soon as once more voiced by the irreplaceable Joan Cusack, goes trying to find solutions to assist Bonnie, she discovers simply how widespread that shift has turn into. She and Bullseye hilariously stumble right into a toy graveyard, adopted by a placing huge shot of each child within the neighborhood both watching TV or sitting in the identical rooms with out truly speaking to 1 one other. It’s a pointy and barely eerie picture, and it reinforces the concept this isn’t simply Bonnie’s downside. It’s in every single place. It’s nearly a miracle Jessie and her cohorts have held out this lengthy.
That adjustments when Bonnie’s mother and father, nervous about her lack of reference to different children, purchase her a Lilypad (voiced by Greta Lee), a one-size-fits-all machine that successfully looks like the ultimate nail within the toy coffin. The introduction of Lilypad is somewhat on the nostril, but it surely clearly defines the stakes. Jessie feels the load of that shift instantly and calls on her outdated pal Woody (Tom Hanks). By the point he arrives, Bonnie hasn’t performed with the gang in weeks. It’s do or die, and for as soon as, that urgency feels earned quite than manufactured.
Issues solely worsen when Bonnie attends a sleepover with pals from dance class and is made enjoyable of for bringing toys. Jessie and Bullseye are left behind within the chaos and inadvertently find yourself at a farm outdoors of city, one which connects again to Jessie’s previous along with her former proprietor Emily. The mechanics of how they get there don’t actually maintain as much as a lot scrutiny, however it is a film about anthropomorphic toys, and the emotional logic of returning Jessie to a setting that echoes her previous helps clean over these bumps.
On the farm, Jessie encounters a variety of latest characters, none extra memorable than Conan O’Brien’s Smarty Pants, a toilet-training gadget residing among the many outdated toys owned by Blaze (Mykal-Michelle Harris), a farm woman who rapidly takes in Jessie and Bullseye. Smarty Pants is a standout, pushing potty humor to new heights whereas nonetheless becoming into Pixar’s custom of layered supporting characters. He comes throughout like a washed-up, half-functional recluse when low on batteries, and his working gags land constantly. O’Brien brings a manic, unpredictable vitality that makes the character really feel alive whereas nonetheless giving him simply sufficient depth to tie into the movie’s bigger concepts about obsolescence and connection. He’s additionally in all probability the largest motive “Toy Story 5” earns its PG ranking.
In the meantime, there’s a subplot involving a bunch of high-tech Buzz Lightyears (voiced by Tim Allen) who wash ashore after a cargo container crash. At first, their facet mission feels barely disconnected, but it surely regularly folds again into the principle story in a satisfying manner. By the point every little thing converges, their presence helps construct towards a climactic second that rivals “Toy Story 2” by way of scale and ambition.
Nonetheless, that is in the end Jessie’s film, and that focus is what offers it its emotional spine. She’s given extra room to breathe right here, exploring her personal sense of objective and id in a world that more and more leaves toys behind. Her journey feels introspective with out shedding momentum, and it provides extra weight than the parallel storyline of Buzz and Woody coping with Lilypad again house. Every little thing ties again to Jessie making an attempt to grasp what it means to nonetheless matter.
It’s laborious to not view “Toy Story 5” by way of the lens of a franchise which will by no means really journey off into the sundown. The movie even pokes enjoyable at that concept, with jokes about Woody getting older, balding, and placing on somewhat weight. There’s an consciousness right here that this story has been prolonged far past what as soon as felt like an ideal ending. And but, regardless of that, this installment works.
Immediately’s children deserve their very own model of this story, and if every new chapter may be as sharp, humorous, and quietly insightful as this one, then possibly “Toy Story” can hold going. Not endlessly, however meaningfully. And for now, that looks like sufficient to go to infinity and past.
TOY STORY 5 opens in theaters Friday, June nineteenth.