The 鈥淭oy Story鈥� movies, like 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� and those games Michael Jordan played with the Washington Wizards, pose a problem of canon.
The are a near-perfect trilogy: a series that spanned a childhood: from bedroom playtime to college, from enchantment to loss. The scope didn’t seem epic. The movies rarely strayed much further than the pizza joint down the road or Al鈥檚 Toy Barn. Yet those first three films, so attuned to the pangs of both childhood and parenthood, seemed to stretch to infinity and beyond.
But, of course, narrative neatness is not an abiding principle in modern-day Hollywood franchise guardianship. Nine years after 鈥淭oy Story 3鈥� 鈥� an ending as flawless as in 1998 鈥� came It made a billion dollars, easy, and blew up the artful arc of 鈥淭oy Story.鈥� The less said 鈥� for sure the Washington Wizards chapter of 鈥淭oy Story鈥� 鈥� the better.
Yet as much as my bitter heart wanted to reject 鈥淭oy Story 4,鈥� I had to grant that it was pretty good. There is only so much moral grandstanding I can do in the face of Tony Hale as a fork and Key and Peele as plushies.
And 鈥淭oy Story 4鈥� also had a decent point. If the original trilogy suggested the story ends when the kid reaches adulthood, the fourth movie is about Woody, the empty nester. Tom Hanks鈥� cowboy and Annie Potts鈥� Bo Peep find out life goes on after Andy. They might as well have moved to Florida.
This is my belabored way of saying 鈥淭oy Story 5鈥� is, also, a crime against humanity and, also, pretty good. It may fall shy of the first three and probably ranks as the fifth best of these movies. But 鈥淭oy Story鈥� has a high bar and the quality and thoughtfulness that has long distinguished Pixar is very much present here in the film , a Pixar stalwart who goes all the way back to 1995鈥檚 鈥淭oy Story.鈥�
There are some basic things going for the latest 鈥淭oy Story鈥� movie. This one moves Joan Cusack鈥檚 Jessie, the cowgirl, closer to the center, and she鈥檚 always been a hoot. The cute-as-a-button Bonnie (voiced by Scarlett Spears) is an upgrade over Andy. (Sorry, Andy.)
But most of all 鈥� as the movie鈥檚 鈥渢oys vs. tech鈥� advertising has made abundantly clear 鈥� 鈥淭oy Story 5鈥� is predicated on an extremely relatable conflict for kids and parents, alike.
In 鈥淭oy Story 5,鈥� tablets arrive just as ominously as weapons did in 鈥�2001: A Space Odyssey.鈥� Bonnie鈥檚 parents, fearing their child is being left out, cave in and get her a Lilypad (鈥淟ily,鈥� voiced by Greta Lee). When Bonnie brings Lily to a sleepover, the toys, peering through a basement window are appalled to find them 鈥渏ust sitting there.鈥� Alarms are sounded.
鈥淭he age of toys is over!鈥� shrieks a nearby forlorn toy. Later, the dinosaur Rex (Wallace Shawn) exclaims: 鈥淓xtinction! Not again!鈥�
In the world of 鈥淭oy Story,鈥� as in ours, the onset of 鈥渟creen time鈥� is a legitimately cataclysmic event. It has, of course, been a central part of other recent animated movies. ( and 鈥淩on鈥檚 Gone Wrong鈥� are among the many that come to mind.)
But taking up the topic means something more in a 鈥淭oy Story鈥� movie 鈥� and not just because Pixar was the Bay area-based pioneer of digital animation. These films have done so much to capture childhood that they almost seem like part of all our own. And given just how profoundly screens have inserted themselves into the experience of growing up, the paradigm-shift storyline gives 鈥淭oy Story 5鈥� something most sequels can鈥檛 claim: a reason for being.
Lily is a threat not just to the toys, but to 8-year-old Bonnie, too. She soon stops playing with her toys and becomes addicted to the device. We experience this as a kind of tragedy not just because it leads Bonnie even further into loneliness but because she鈥檚 doing it to fit in. Like a plague, none of the other kids play with toys, either.
That humans never catch the toys in motion has always been a reliable gag in the 鈥淭oy Story鈥� movies. But there鈥檚 an actually haunting scene this time. When the adventure ramps up, and a small band of toys take a short cut through a house, they go unnoticed because everyone inside has their heads buried in screens.
There’s also a parent on a Zoom call in 鈥淭oy Story 5鈥� and something like cyberbullying, in toddler form. The fallout of Bonnie鈥檚 Lilypad experience sends Jessie and Bullseye to the farmhouse where Emily, Jessie鈥檚 first child, once lived. There now is a horse-riding, creative 9-year-old named Blaze (Mykal-Michelle Harris).
It鈥檚 not hard to see the answer to the toys鈥� existential doom: a playdate. Getting Bonnie and Blaze together becomes a rescue mission for Jessie, her familiar pals (including a visiting Woody) and a small group of Blaze鈥檚 own lost playthings. Those include a band of early-generation AA-battery devices like a potty trainer (Conan O鈥橞rien), a camera (Shelby Rabara) and a GPS-enabled hippo (Craig Robinson).
The ensuing action 鈥� which includes a fleet of Buzz Lightyears (Tim Allen) in demo mode 鈥� is predictably delightful, even if it鈥檚 not (snobby voice again) top-tier 鈥淭oy Story鈥� stuff. But the most convincing thing about how all this gets settled are the few sections of crayon-styled drawings that animate moments of pure, childlike play. These scenes, the products of Bonnie or Blaze鈥檚 imaginations, are like wonderful entreaties to kids (or beyond) to make your own fun.
The 鈥淭oy Story鈥� movies are about growing up, and maybe that means realizing the original trilogy wasn’t a hill to die on. After all, we all know that the real hill to die on is that the best Pixar movie is 鈥淩atatouille.鈥�
鈥淭oy Story 5,鈥� a Walt Disney Co. release in theaters Friday, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for some thematic elements and rude humor. Running time: 102 minutes. Three stars out of four.
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