Seven years ago, in my review of Toy Story 4, I wrote that the movie was a charmer and a lovely end to a franchise that had clearly come to a close, adding, "I mean it, Pixar. No matter how much money this one makes, we’re done; there’s no ‘Toy Story 5,’ right? Right?".
Well … wrong, because here we are with Toy Story 5, and it’s adorable. If those Pixar wizards want to churn out a sequel this good every seven years or so, bring it on.
Though Woody the cowboy (voiced by Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear the astronaut (Tim Allen) play key roles here as always, Toy Story 5 gives the spotlight to Jessie the cowgirl (Joan Cusack). In a sweet prologue, we meet Jessie with her original owner, Emily, a long time ago.
But now, decades later, Jessie is the once-cherished toy of 8-year-old Bonnie (Scarlett Spears), who has succumbed to the siren call of technology and become obsessed with a green tablet called Lilypad (Greta Lee), leaving her analogue playmates behind.
"The age of toys is over, lass," a sad pirate doll tells Jessie – but this cowgirl is nonetheless determined to save Bonnie from a group of mean girls, while pondering her own role in the universe.
"Am I just no good at being a toy?" Jessie wonders plaintively, contemplating the generations of owners who’ve left her behind.
Toy Story 5 is filled with the usual high-speed (toy version) adventures, meticulously lovely animation and the franchise’s trademark wit.
In an enchanting, goofy subplot, an entire shipment of Buzz Lightyears goes astray and stages a siege, all of them marching along surreally in that determinedly earnest Buzz Lightyear way. (They get waylaid, adorably, when they all get caught up in hearing a camping family’s bedtime reading of what I think was The Velveteen Rabbit.)
The script, by Andrew Stanton and Kenna Harris (also director and co-director, respectively), is full of funny throwaway bits from the all-star voice cast; I particularly enjoyed dinosaur Rex (Wallace Shawn, sounding exactly as he does in The Princess Bride) bemoaning "Extinction! Not again!".
But what makes the movie sing, as with its predecessors, is its sweetness. Five movies in, it’s still poignant to think about toys having a relationship with their children, loving them and trying to keep them safe in an ever-changing world.
Here, we’re seeing the toys aging a little bit – Woody now has a bald spot, due to all those years of wearing a cowboy hat, and someone dismisses him as "some sort of old man toy" – and panicking at the idea of being replaced by "a green calculator", as Jessie witheringly describes Lilypad.
If you think there isn’t a happy ending, you clearly don’t know this franchise; let’s just say that I cried a little, and that hearing Cusack’s brave Jessie figure out what matters is a joy. See you in seven more years, toys. I’ll miss you. – The Seattle Times/Tribune News Service
Summary:
An emotional, essential sequel
