There are some movie franchises I genuinely wish filmmakers would leave alone.
Not because I hate them, but because sometimes a story reaches the perfect ending, and adding another chapter feels unnecessary. For me, Toy Story was one of those franchises. After Toy Story 3 gave us that incredibly emotional goodbye between Andy and his toys, I thought Pixar had already given Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of the gang the ending they deserved.
Then came Toy Story 4.
I enjoyed it, but I never felt it had the same emotional weight as the original trilogy. So when I heard that Pixar was making Toy Story 5, my first reaction was basically: Do we really need another one?
After watching it, I’m happy to admit that I was too quick to judge.
Toy Story 5 isn’t the best movie in the franchise. I still think Toy Story 3 is difficult to beat. But this new chapter surprised me because it actually has something meaningful to say. Instead of simply repeating the same story, it places Jessie closer to the center and tackles something that is very relevant to the way children live today: technology replacing traditional play.
And honestly, that made the movie much more interesting to me.
My First Impression of Toy Story 5
Toy Story 5 was directed by Andrew Stanton, the filmmaker behind Pixar classics such as Finding Nemo and WALL-E. The film runs for about 102 minutes and brings back Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear and Joan Cusack as Jessie.
But this time, Woody and Buzz aren’t quite the center of the story.
That decision was one of the things I appreciated most.
Jessie gets a much bigger role, and it makes sense because her character has always carried a lot of emotional baggage. She knows what it feels like to be abandoned. She knows what it feels like to wonder whether a child still loves you.
Those feelings become important again when Bonnie begins spending more time around technology.
Bonnie is now eight years old, and although she still loves playing with her toys, she struggles to connect with other children. Her parents give her a tablet-like device called Lilypad, voiced by Greta Lee, and suddenly the toys have a new problem.
The competition isn’t another Buzz Lightyear.
It’s technology.
And that is a very clever way to bring the franchise into 2026.
Toy Story vs Technology
This is where Toy Story 5 becomes more than another animated adventure.
The movie asks a simple question:
What happens to imagination when children have technology that can entertain them instantly?
That question is actually more relevant now than it was when the first Toy Story came out in 1995.
When Woody first worried about being replaced, his competition was Buzz. It was another toy. Now the competition is completely different.
Children have tablets, smartphones, video games, social media, streaming platforms and countless digital distractions competing for their attention.
Lilypad represents that new generation of entertainment.
She isn’t simply an evil villain who wants to destroy the toys. In fact, one of the things I liked about the movie is that she is considerably more complicated than that. She genuinely wants to help Bonnie make friends and become more comfortable socially.
That makes the conflict more interesting.
Jessie believes Bonnie needs traditional play and real-world friendships. Lilypad believes technology can help Bonnie connect with people.
Neither side is completely ridiculous.
And that is where I think the movie gets its message right.
Technology isn’t necessarily the enemy. The problem is when it becomes a replacement for everything else.
Jessie Finally Gets Her Moment
One of my favorite things about Toy Story 5 is the attention given to Jessie.
For years, Jessie has been one of the most emotionally interesting characters in the franchise, but she has often been standing beside Woody and Buzz.
This time, she gets to carry much more of the story.
And I think Joan Cusack does a fantastic job with her.
Jessie’s history with abandonment has always been one of the saddest parts of Toy Story. Her famous sequence in Toy Story 2 remains one of Pixar’s most effective emotional moments, and Toy Story 5 doesn’t pretend that those experiences simply disappeared.
Jessie is still affected by what happened to her.
That felt real to me.
Sometimes people go through something painful, move forward and appear fine, but the experience still affects how they behave years later. Jessie is exactly like that.
She doesn’t want Bonnie to experience the same rejection she experienced.
The problem is that her fear sometimes causes her to make decisions based on her own trauma rather than what Bonnie actually needs.
That gives her character an emotional journey that feels more mature than simply having her fight the latest villain.
Recent coverage of the film has also highlighted how deeply the story connects Jessie’s past with her present, including material involving her former owner Emily that ultimately didn’t make the final film.
Woody and Buzz Take a Back Seat
If you’re expecting Toy Story 5 to be another Woody-and-Buzz adventure, you may be surprised.
They’re still important, but the movie clearly wants to give other characters room to breathe.
I actually think this was the right decision.
After five movies, there isn’t much left to prove about Woody and Buzz’s friendship. We’ve watched them fight, become friends, separate, reunite and sacrifice themselves for each other.
Instead of forcing them to carry another huge emotional storyline, Pixar allows them to support the larger story.
Buzz also gets a surprisingly funny romantic subplot involving Jessie, while Woody returns to help the other toys deal with their changing circumstances.
Their presence still feels important without making the movie feel like it is desperately trying to recreate the first three films.
The New Characters Are Surprisingly Fun
One thing Pixar has always been good at is introducing strange characters and making you care about them.
Toy Story 5 continues that tradition.
Lilypad is obviously the biggest new addition, but we also get characters such as Atlas, a GPS device voiced by Craig Robinson, and Smarty Pants, voiced by Conan O’Brien.
And yes, Conan O’Brien playing a toy called Smarty Pants is exactly the kind of ridiculous casting that works in a Toy Story movie.
The film also brings back plenty of familiar faces and toys, including Forky and Duke Caboom.
The new characters don’t all reach the level of Woody, Buzz or Jessie, but they add enough personality to keep the movie moving.
Is Toy Story 5 Funny?
Yes.
And thankfully, it doesn’t forget that Toy Story is supposed to be funny.
Some of the humor comes from the ridiculous situations the toys find themselves in. Some comes from their personalities. And some comes from watching extremely serious toys attempt to understand the strange world created by children.
Forky remains one of the funniest characters because the entire idea of a spork believing he is trash is still absurd.
There are also plenty of visual jokes that work for children while giving adults something to appreciate.
That’s one reason Pixar movies have always worked so well for me.
You can watch them as a child and laugh at the characters.
Then you watch them years later and suddenly realize the movie was talking about growing up, relationships, loneliness, fear and loss.
The Emotional Side Is Still Strong
I won’t pretend Toy Story 5 made me cry the way Toy Story 3 did.
That movie remains almost unfairly powerful.
But Toy Story 5 still has emotional moments that caught me off guard.
The strongest emotions come from Jessie.
Her fear of being abandoned again gives the story a genuine emotional foundation. She isn’t simply trying to save Bonnie because that’s what the plot requires. She’s trying to protect someone she loves from experiencing the kind of pain she experienced.
That makes her actions understandable even when she’s wrong.
And that’s what I want from a Pixar movie.
Give me characters whose decisions come from something deeper than simply moving the plot from scene A to scene B.
The Message About Childhood Hit Me
This is probably the biggest reason I would recommend Toy Story 5.
The movie isn’t really saying:
“Technology is bad.”
It’s saying:
Don’t let technology replace the human experiences that make childhood special.
There is something special about children creating entire worlds with toys.
Give a child a few action figures and suddenly the living room becomes a battlefield.
Give them a cardboard box and it becomes a spaceship.
Give them two random toys and they can create a love story that makes absolutely no sense to an adult.
That imagination is precious.
And Toy Story 5 understands that.
At a time when children can have entertainment delivered to them instantly, the movie reminds us that boredom isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes boredom forces you to create something.
Sometimes the best game is the one you invent yourself.
Where Toy Story 5 Falls Short
Now, let me be honest.
The movie isn’t perfect.
The biggest problem for me is that some of the story feels familiar.
We’ve seen the toys worry about becoming irrelevant before. We’ve seen them worry about children growing up. We’ve seen new characters threaten their place in a child’s life.
So while the technology angle is new, the emotional foundation isn’t completely new.
Some critics have made exactly this criticism, arguing that the franchise is revisiting ideas it has already handled several times.
I also think some parts of the plot feel slightly overcrowded.
There are several storylines happening at once, and not every character gets enough room to develop.
But for me, those problems don’t destroy the movie.
The central story is strong enough to carry it.
Is Toy Story 5 Better Than Toy Story 4?
For me, yes.
And I don’t think it’s particularly close.
Toy Story 4 had some beautiful moments, but I felt like it was more interested in giving Woody a new direction than telling a story that needed to be told.
Toy Story 5 feels more connected to the world of Toy Story.
It brings back the question that has always been at the heart of this franchise:
What does it mean to be a toy when the child you love no longer needs you?
But instead of focusing only on children growing up, it adds another modern problem: children changing the way they play.
That makes the story feel relevant.
Several critics have also responded positively to the fresh direction, particularly the decision to shift attention toward Jessie and give the franchise a more modern conflict.
Should You Watch Toy Story 5?
Absolutely.
Especially if you grew up watching Toy Story.
There’s something strange about sitting down to watch a movie that contains characters you may have known for most of your life.
Woody isn’t just a cartoon cowboy anymore.
Buzz isn’t just a funny space ranger.
Jessie isn’t just the cowgirl.
For many of us, these characters are connected to childhood memories.
That’s why I think adults will get something different from Toy Story 5 than children will.
A child might watch it and think:
“That’s a funny movie about toys fighting technology.”
An adult might watch it and think:
“Wait… when did childhood become so different?”
And that second reaction is where the movie becomes surprisingly powerful.
My Final Verdict
I went into Toy Story 5 expecting Pixar to give me another sequel I didn’t really need.
Instead, I got a movie that reminded me why I fell in love with this franchise in the first place.
No, I wouldn’t rank it above Toy Story 3. I wouldn’t even put it above the original trilogy.
But I also wouldn’t dismiss it as another unnecessary sequel.
It has heart.
It has humor.
It gives Jessie the attention she deserves.
It introduces a surprisingly relevant conflict.
And most importantly, it reminds us that imagination still matters.
For me, that’s the real reason to watch Toy Story 5.
Not because you need another adventure with Woody and Buzz.
Not because Pixar is bringing back a franchise you already know.
Watch it because underneath all the jokes, gadgets, action and talking toys, there’s a simple message that hits differently when you’re older:
Technology can entertain us, but imagination is what makes us human.
And honestly, after all these years, I’m glad these toys came back out of the box one more time.
My rating: 8/10.
Toy Story 5 may not have been the sequel I was asking for, but it turned out to be one I was happy to watch.
James
