TOY STORY 5

It's been thirty-one years since the Toy Story franchise first started and Pixar became an animation studio that dominated Hollywood, from box-office to awards. When the trilogy closed out in 2010, we all thought we'd never see Woody and Buzz again, yet we got a fourth film in 2019. With the way that film ended, you'd think there's nothing more they could do with everyone's favourite toys however, here we are in 2026 with a fifth film that breathes fresh new life into the franchise with such a timely subject matter.

The toys face a new threat to playtime with Bonnie when she is brought a Lilypad called Lily (Greta Lee) by her parents. As their fears about being ousted by technology could soon become a reality, Jessie (Joan Cusack) finds herself separated from the group, while Buzz (Tim Allen) sees Woody (Tom Hanks) surprisingly return to help, seeing the duo work together yet again to save playtime.

Toy Story 5 thankfully manages to justify its existence with a thoroughly entertaining adventure, delivering a cautionary tale on the over-reliance on technology, particularly in children. It's just about the only angle they could approach this fifth film from and Andrew Stanton, a Pixar legend himself, revels in bringing to the gang their biggest threat to playtime yet. Stanton makes smart narrative choices to ensure this isn't as simple as "all tech is bad", which in turn avoids the new tech characters from becoming fully demonised. In classic Pixar fashion, there's real heart and warmth to it all that makes it such a joy to watch for the whole family.

One of the key masterstrokes is placing Jessie front and centre of the film, an honour that makes sense after Woody passed sheriff duties on to her at the end of their last outing. In a film that is full of call-backs, Jessie's arc is one of the highlights of the entire franchise, routed in emotional trauma experienced in her past yet full of high-energy optimism that has earned Jessie the right to stand amongst Woody and Buzz as true icons of Pixar's history. More importantly, it proves that the franchise doesn't have to rely on Woody and Buzz to pull on the heartstrings, if they ever wanted to make more.

While the film doesn't have the emotional weight of the third or fourth film's endings, it manages to deliver poignant moments throughout that threaten to get the tears flowing. Bonnie growing up and looking to find friends is an arc that provides many of these, the arrival of a Lilypad device being both a dream come true and a nightmare all-in-one, and not something that automatically makes it as easy as Bonnie would hope to fit in with new friends. It's here where Toy Story 5 thrives, getting the toys together to help their child before she gets really hurt, all while coming face-to-face with a new adversary.

It's a very funny film as well, which is expected with how many great gags are scattered throughout the franchise. Both old and new characters bring out the best of each other, Lily and Smarty Pants, voiced by Greta Lee and Conan O'Brien respectfully, being the best of the new bunch. Lily is a nuanced antagonist, much like Gabby Gabby before while Smarty Pants is loud and chaotic, mirroring the personality of O'Brien to a tee. Watching them clash with the likes of Jessie and Buzz, who fear they're about to be made obsolete in a changing world, is creatively executed and stops this from becoming a rinse and repeat job of the first four films. There's even a hilarious subplot featuring multiple Buzz Lightyears on a mission that comes together with the rest of the film in such a satisfying manner, when it looked like it was going to be a random side-quest with how it opens the film.

It's also no surprise that Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack are as good as ever in the roles of Woody, Buzz and Jessie. Cusack in particular taking Jessie's chance to be the lead of the film by both hands and delivering a great performance full of vulnerability and fear that sees her face past trauma in unexpected fashion.

Toy Story 5 is a wonderfully animated adventure that delves into themes such as friendship and imagination with great maturity. It's the kind of film Pixar have excelled at over the years and another worthy entry into one of the greatest franchises of all time.

Verdict: ★★★★★