written by: Andrew Stanton and Kenna Harris
produced by: Lindsey Collins and Jessica Choi
directed by: Andrew Stanton
rated: PG (for some thematic elements and rude humor)
runtime: 102 min.
U.S. release date: June 19, 2026

With “Toy Story 5”, I’ve come around to the idea of more stories with these toys. I still maintain that it all could’ve ended after “Toy Story 3”, but the latest entry in The Most Endearing and Imaginative Franchise in Movie History, co-written and co-directed by Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo” and “WALL-E”) and Kenna Harris, has changed my perspective. Yeah, I know, that hyperbolic proclamation seems a bit much (if not quite specific), but I cannot think of one other franchise that has consistently delivered what we’ve come to love about these stories and characters with each entry. This movie is as charming, hilarious, and meaningful as the last sequel, and it actually has something to say about how we live, interact with others, and use technology. It’s never heavy-handed about any of that, and serves as a reminder that human imagination and play should be cherished, encouraged, and valued.

“Toy Story 5” starts off with a cold open that positions far away from the rest of the toys we’re familiar with. The setting is a deserted island, and what we find there one night is a crash-landed cargo ship filled with high-tech editions of Buzz Lightyear toys. Stuck in “demo mode”, the horde of fifty action figures decides to follow the North Star, determined that it will lead them to Star Command. It’s a fun way to reintroduce the character and acknowledge the criticism of the last movie, in which many viewers felt the character was sidelined. Personally, I think less Buzz is more, but I get that he sells, um, toys. It also serves to remind us that, of all the toys, Buzz Lightyear is the one who needs convincing that he’s not actually a Space Ranger, but a “child’s plaything”.

Meanwhile, Ginger Cowgirl Rag Doll, Jessie (Joan Cusack), has maintained her role as the sheriff of Bonnie’s toys, with Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) serving as her deputy and trying to muster the courage to propose to her. While Bonnie Anderson (Scarlett Spears) remains imaginative and spirited during her playtime with the toys, the shy 8-year-old is having a hard time making friends. She’s having a hard time summoning the courage to ask the twins across the street to play, and watches from afar as they have fun in their yard. What’s further complicating the situation is that just about everyone her age has a tablet or another electronic device they now use for play and/or connection. Realizing this, Bonnie’s mom (Lori Alan) and dad (Jay Hernandez) break down and purchase a frog-shaped tablet called Lilypad, or Lily (voiced by Greta Lee), in the hopes that it’ll help her socialize with her peers.

Of course, it doesn’t take long for Bonnie to get sucked into the tech world, which serves as a gateway to Big Tech, offering games and connections to “friends” who provide the girl with acceptance and validation. Bonnie spends all her time with Lily and starts to neglect her toys, even subconsciously agreeing to have her dad scoop them up and put them away in storage. Jessie isn’t having it and sets out to save Bonnie from any further influence from Lily. She places a call to Woody (Tom Hanks), who has been taking care of abandoned toys with Bo-Peep (Annie Potts), and then takes off with her trusty sidekick horse, Bullseye, to find a solution to this dilemma. In doing so, Jessie and Bullseye find themselves inadvertently at the rural home of Emily, Jessie’s original owner, who abandoned her long ago.

The family living in this home now has a 9-year-old daughter, Blaze Manoukian (Mykal-Michelle Harris), who loves animals and has an active imagination with her toys. This is where Jessie meets three older tech devices, who’ve been outdated and disregarded. There’s the toilet-training toy Smarty Pants (a hilariously manic Conan O’Brien), a cheerful GPS navigation hippo named Atlas (Craig Robinson), and an excitable camera toy named Snappy (Shelby Rabara), who can capture photos and record video. At first, Jessie has reservations about the value these three characters could have in her mission to rescue Bonnie from tech, but as she realizes Blaze would be a great playmate for Bonnie, she also comes to see that not all tech is bad. When Woody returns to Bonnie’s home, accompanied by Bo Peep and Duke Kaboon (Keanu Reeves), and working with Buzz and the rest of the toys, they conspire a way to deal with Lily and rescue Jessie.

“Toy Story 5” is doing something unexpected and welcome by delivering something of a sequel to “Toy Story 2”, the first sequel, which introduced viewers to Jessie and showed how crushed she was after Emily abandoned her. It never really felt like there was more to mine from that depiction of Jessie, but Stanton and Harris manage to gift audiences with more time with the character, performed with tender emotion and joyous energy by Cusack. It’s a treat to follow the upbeat, determined character as she sets out to act in Bonnie’s best interests and to find her a friend. The best Jessie moments occur when she and Bullseye set out on their journey outside Bonnie’s house.

There’s a revelatory moment for the two characters when they’re standing atop a neighbor’s roof, looking across the night sky and seeing the glow of devices emanating from almost every window in the neighborhood.  Granted, the message that tech is taking over our attention and our tactile connection with others is probably at least 10 years too late, but it remains an important point to make, and if the “Toy Story” franchise were to continue, the writers would inevitably have to address this shift in human behavior. Stanton and Harris do so in funny, fitting, and meaningful ways, without hitting us over the head or shaming us with a message.

Tech isn’t necessarily the Bad Guy in “Toy Story 5”, since the movie comes to an understanding of how it is used in our lives, rather than how much it is used or what it replaces. It’s a surprise to Jessie when she finds the three new tech devices she befriends at Blaze’s house, joining her on her quest to help Bonnie. In a climactic third-act moment, we also see how those 50 next-generation Buzz Lightyears, after getting a tech upgrade, wind up saving the day.

Each “Toy Story” sequel reunites us with the endearing and comical toys we’re familiar with, while also introducing new characters. “Toy Story 3” gave us one of the best villains of the franchise with Ned Beatty’s Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear. “Toy Story 4” had the kooky Forky (Tony Hale), who returns here, and the breakout character of “Toy Story 5” is definitely Conan O’Brien’s Smarty Pants. O’Brien is a hoot here, absolutely committing himself to the craziness of portraying a toilet-training tech device. That idea is hilarious on paper, but watching it all unfold on screen offers several laugh-out-loud moments. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of Smarty Pants’ lines came directly from O’Brien, just because it sounds so him.

There are some individual character arcs for Woody and Buzz that don’t work the way Stanton and Harris think they should. There’s a running gag about Woody’s bald spot, which is basically an area on his head where the brown paint has worn off. Wear and tear happens to all toys and is a good sign of a life of play time, but the toys wind up razzing Woody, saying he’s getting old, and there’s even a silly moment where the character sucks in his gut. The latter indicates that these toys eat, which doesn’t make much sense, except to simply add a tangible humanity to the character. The Buzz subplot in which he musters the courage to propose to Jessie is a bit dragged out, but in the end, it pays off, albeit in a predictable way.

To be honest, this may be the only franchise where I wind up hoping for some predictable behavior or at least some truly heart-wrenching moments. Those usually come from watching Bonnie struggle in her interactions with her peers. There’s a scene where she feels shamed by her tablet-wielding peers because they notice that she still plays with toys, and it’s one of the most relatable, hard-hitting moments in the movie. We’ve all been there, and it is soul-crushing. The opposite of that comes later, during the second time Blaze and Bonnie meet, which turns out to be such a wonderful growth step for Bonnie. You’ll know it when you see it, and it really elevates the story and justifies having another sequel.

“Toy Story 5” helped me change my mindset on these movies. Yes, the first three movies tell a finished and complete trilogy, but I’ve decided to look at it this way: that trilogy focuses on Andy’s toys, and the next trilogy, starting with “Toy Story 4” and continuing with this movie (and the inevitable next movie), revolves around Bonnie’s toys. They may be the same toys, with some new additions with each new movie, but when a college-bound Andy handed them over to young Bonnie in “Toy Story 3”, it not only prolonged the life of these toys, but also provided an opportunity for more movies from a different child’s imagination. That’s kind of ingenious and ripe with endless options.

Pixar Animation and Disney have the right idea to keep returning to “Toy Story,” and I’d be down with at least another movie to cap off a Bonnie trilogy, mostly because I love her tender heart so much. Watching what happens in the movie during her imaginary play scenarios with these toys is a delight each and every time.

What’s often said about the “Toy Story” movies is that they’re aimed at kids. I guess that stance comes from folks equating “toys” with “kids”, and that’s a pretty narrow-minded viewpoint. After all, we were all kids at one point, right? These movies have always offered as much to adults as the presumed target audience, if not more.

RATING: ***1/2