“Toy Story 5” swings sharper than Pixar sequels in years by treating a tablet called the Lilypad as a threat to play, friendship, and the slow, bittersweet job of parenting—then lets Jessie lead the emotional charge.
When “Toy Story 5” opens with Bonnie’s life tilting toward a device, it doesn’t feel like background world-building. It feels like a boundary being crossed.
Bonnie—once the adorable five-year-old who inherited Andy’s toys and even invented something with googly eyes glued onto a cheap white spork—has grown into a very shy eight-year-old. Her struggle to make friends has only intensified since every kid in her Berkeley-coded neighborhood has gotten hooked on the same gadget. It’s called a Lilypad. and it’s built to make social life portable: the signature model resembles a frog. with two blinking LCD eyes above the screen and a pair of webbed feet below. The games and social networking features are presented as the new rule. If Bonnie doesn’t have one. the implication lands fast: she’s going to be the biggest loser in the world. Her parents comply with the new order, described as powerless in the face of big tech.
That tech-first world is where the film’s key tension really tightens. Once Bonnie is handed her Lilypad. she’s immediately transfixed—voiced by Greta Lee. whose arrogant smarm is described as threading the needle between Maya Hawke’s Anxiety and Regina George’s everything else. The reviewer ties the fascination to how kids lock into screens. comparing it to Edward Nygma’s “The Box” device from “Batman Forever.” But more than that. the Lilypad isn’t just entertainment; it’s depicted as gamifying friendship for kids Bonnie’s age. even before Instagram is given its cultural foothold.
And while playing with her toys is framed as pure fun, playing with the local girls on the Lilypad doesn’t seem like play at all.
The story pushes forward through a sharp, messy pivot: Buzz, Hamm, Mr. Pricklepants, and the rest of Andy’s hand-me-downs are binned in Bonnie’s garage. The only escapees are Jessie—voiced by a series-clinching Joan Cusack—and her faithful horse Bullseye. who had snuck out of the house to accompany Bonnie on an ill-fated sleepover. Jessie’s sensitivity to losing another kid runs deep. The film leans into her nostalgia and fear through small. painful behaviors. including Jessie catching herself looking at the address her first owner wrote on the inside flap of her chaps “in case she got lost. ” even as she panics when a kindly old couple finds her and brings her back to the farmhouse where and when somebody loved her.
Woody is still in the picture, but in a different shape. The drawstring cowboy may not live with Buzz and the gang anymore. but he shows up in a crisis because they’ve still got a friend in him. His physical jokes—his chipped-away paint turning into a bald spot. and an inexplicably developed beer gut—are played for laughs. but the reviewer points to something under the comedy: “Toy Story 5” is described as struggling to accommodate
its swollen and aging cast. Most beloved characters. the review notes. only get a punchline or two as toys are “played with less over time. ” and the reviewer argues Woody’s reduced plot presence may reflect growing comfort with irrelevance—though the movie is also said to try hard to return him to his former stature. Tom Hanks. it says. isn’t above a supporting role. but the franchise isn’t totally comfortable with him playing one yet.
Still, Jessie’s journey is what gives the film its emotional spine. On a farm. the old toys she meets are matched with a new set of problems—because the girl who lives there has outgrown rudimentary tech. too. That tech is dubbed the “AA Team. ” and it comes across as lovable in the same way the Lilypad is loathsome: it’s built to replace imagination with features.
The standout is a potty training device called Smarty Pants, who acts drunk when he needs fresh batteries. The review singles out Smarty Pants as a sentient reminder that tech is only as “shitty” as the purpose assigned to it. and it gives special attention to the voice performance. The character is magnificently brought to life by Conan O’Brien—described as a former television star. current podcast host. and eternal American hero—in one of the funniest voice roles in Pixar history. The performance is described as manic intensity, enough to make the franchise’s 31-year age feel easy to forget. But the emotional point is the same: parents are asked to sympathize with something they only love so fiercely until they throw it away.
The film also takes a bigger structural swing—one that the reviewer admits can make the story feel scattered. “Toy Story 5” is often described as scattered enough that even its central plot feels undercooked. along with nested detours like a silly romance between Buzz and Jessie that “needlessly diminishes the movie’s focus on friendship.” At the same time. the reviewer credits another coup tied to additions rather than subtraction: Stanton and Kenna Harris’ script is said to add another 30 or so characters at once.
Those new characters arrive as next-gen Buzz Lightyears. sprung from a shipping container that gets lost at sea in the movie’s opening moments. A hive mind governs the spacemen, and they pop in whenever the plot needs patching. Their ultimate payoff is described as the only moment when “Toy Story 5” feels like it’s cooking with the same narrative precision on which Pixar first built its name.
Yet the clearest through-line remains Jessie navigating the pros and cons of consumer tech. Her arc builds to a gut-punch—described as almost as strong as the Sarah MacLachlan interlude from the series’ first sequel. though it doesn’t hold up to the same logical scrutiny. The impact is framed as especially resonant for parents. even those with the youngest children: it hits on the need to be needed.
That’s where the review’s deepest argument lands. “Toy Story 5” is described as refreshingly unafraid to make parents uncomfortable with their complacency in the face of an ever-changing world. The film insists there is “a profound and enduring need for make-believe.” It suggests that we develop it as children to play. then cling to it as parents to survive. The review stresses that kids’ love evolves differently than the love adults have for them. and warns that the change can demolish people out of nowhere—but it still holds that life is never sweeter than during the moments. and years. when we can’t accept that love is also made out of plastic.
Grade: B+
Disney will release “Toy Story 5” in theaters on Friday, June 19.
Toy Story 5 Pixar Jessie Bonnie Lilypad Woody Buzz Lightyear Joan Cusack Greta Lee Conan O’Brien Lilypad tablet Smarty Pants