The latest installation of the “Toy Story” franchise extends its record as one of the most adaptable film franchises. Perhaps its success comes from its palpable themes of vulnerability — being replaced, being outgrown or forgotten, becoming irrelevant. Maybe it’s the potpourri of misfits, voiced by A-list talent, that come together to seal the rift du jour dividing them. Of course, the initial 1995 “Toy Story” set the gold standard of CGI animation and pretty much was the catalyst for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature that came into being in 2001 — the 1995 film won a special Oscar for ground-breaking animation, while “Toy Story 3” (2010) and “Toy Story 4” (2019) both won that “Best” award. It also has creative continuity — this new version is directed by Andrew Stanton, who’s been involved in the script and story from the get-go, back in the John Lasseter/pre-Disney years. Stanton’s no slouch behind the lens, with “Finding Nemo” (2003) and “WALL-E” (2008) to his credits (he did also direct the 2012 box-office flop “John Carter”).
In “Toy Story 5,” co-directed by McKenna Harris, Cowgirl Jesse (Joan Cusack) takes center focus, during an all-out effort to find a like-minded companion for eight-year-old Bonnie (Scarlett Spears), who is having difficulty making friends. In “Toy Story 3” Bonnie was gifted the olio of toys when older brother Andy grew up and went off to college.
Now, though, the kids in neighborhood hang out on stoops and stare at Lilypads — customized kiddie iPads that make children inert, glow-faced zombies, because the tech that connects them consumes their brains. Bonnie gets one, too (the frogger Lily is voiced by Greta Lee of “Past Lives”) and as a result, many of Woody and Buzz’s pals from past “Stories” get relegated to a cardboard box in the garage. Old friends Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) are pushed to the side somewhat. Woody is something of a wandering nomad while Buzz has become wildly smitten with Jesse but can’t figure out how to express his affections.
Jesse’s early efforts to get Bonnie in with the twins across the way go awry when Bonnie shows up with Jesse and her sidekick horse Bullseye in hand. Bonnie is promptly dismissed by the fraternal pair for even thinking such ragdolls could be cool in TikTok universe. In the mix, too, are an army of technologically-enabled (WiFi connected and more) Buzz Lightyears who think Jesse is their star-fleet leader, a pig named Jimmy Dean (pork loin humor) and Blaze (Mykal-Michelle Harris), the new girl across town that Jesse eyes as a Bonnie-mate candidate, though she too is tethered to a tech device called Smarty Pants (voiced by Conan O’Brien).
The updates in animation tech in the 31 years since the original film have been exponential, with effects so layered and near-real it’s often hard to discern. In watching “Toy Story 5” I found myself missing the stark, cartoon-like old-school style — but since this chapter deals with keeping up and being relevant, maybe I need to look inward and up my hipness?
But bad tech vs. good analog isn’t really the message of “Toy Story 5.” Yes, it’s the axe-grinding conflict at the fore, but more so the divide that the power-charged and cuddly inert toys must bridge in their mission to aide their young, developing human charge in life — a task that Stanton and Harris paint with care, humanity and soul.
For What it's Worth 
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