Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of the gang’s jobs are challenged when they’re introduced to electronics, a new threat to playtime.

The first three Toy Story movies are all phenomenally well-done movies that took a concept and expanded and evolved the lore it created. I loved the first one but 2 and 3 hit me more emotionally. And then the fourth one came out and fell completely flat, which kind of tarnished the whole franchise. It was only okay, but when the other movies in the series are classics, only okay isn’t enough. I didn’t want Toy Story 5 and I wasn’t looking forward to it. And maybe that’s why I really enjoyed it.

After the first trilogy centered around Andy and his toys, we are firmly in the Bonnie era who inherited most of Andy’s crew (save for Tom Hanks’ Woody who went off with Bo Peep in the last film). She’s at that awkward stage where she has the imagination and joy to keep playing with her toys but all the other kids she knows are firmly entrenched in tech. To help her connect, Bonnie’s parents get her a Lilypad, a starter tech tablet that instantly connects her with a new group of girls.

Taking center stage in the toy group is Jessie (Joan Cusack) who was first introduced in Toy Story 2, and she provides the necessary emotional weight and punch to carry this film. A shame she only gets third billing (Hanks and Buzz Lightyear’s Tim Allen outrank her).

What makes this movie special (and frankly, why it’s a story worth being shared) is that it is about the challenge of tech on young minds and how it quashes creativity and imagination, but also connection. Greta Lee as the voice of Lilypad is both villain and anti-hero and helps to ground the story. Tech isn’t bad, in and of itself, but bad things can happen with it, especially in the hands of kids who don’t know any better. Co-written and co-directed by McKenna Harris and Andrew Stanton, the film does have a more feminine slant, but that doesn’t prevent the themes for feeling and being universal. And again, Cusack is marvelous.

Jonathan’s grade – B+