This month Toy Story 5 hit the promotional trail with the kind of publicity money can’t buy: Taylor Swift revealing she’s a superfan. An early glimpse of the movie so inspired her that, as she told her 273million Instagram followers, she went straight home and wrote a new original song for it, completely on spec. And four days before its UK release date, the Government announced it will implement a full ban on social media for under-16s. Back in Bonnie’s bedroom, Woody, Buzz and the
gang must be cheering because that’s what Toy Story 5 is all about: the battle for children’s attention between toys and tech. Not that it’s much of a contest. That battle has already been won. With Woody (Tom Hanks) settling into retirement – complete with an amusing dad paunch and a newly acquired bald spot – he’s passed his sheriff’s badge to Jessie (Joan Cusack). She’s got her work cut out. ‘Extinction! Not again!’ declares Rex (Wallace Shawn), in a nod to the familiarity of
the premise. He’s just one of many old favourites you’ll wish had more screen time (can one ever have too much of Mr Pricklepants the hedgehog?) amid a colourful crowd of new cameos including Bad Bunny’s Pizza With Sunglasses. But this Toy Story’s stakes are far higher. The shiny new interloper upsetting the pecking order isn’t Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), it’s a frog-shaped smart tablet called Lilypad (Greta Lee), bought by Bonnie’s well-meaning parents to help her make friends. Instead, Bonnie ends up being trolled
via Lilypad’s version of Snapchat, while Jessie is informed, repeatedly, that ‘the age of toys is over’ because kids are addicted to screens. The Toy Story franchise has always been about loss. Its heart lies in that primal parental grief of children growing up and away from you. Of being left behind. This one asks what happens when children lose the magic of play itself. However, having dumped us into despair – and adults, you will be reduced to a puddle – the impressively nuanced
story floods you with hope and empowerment. It gently points out that while we can’t turn the clock back on tech any more than we can stop children growing up, we can set limits and be more present. There are loads of laughs too, courtesy of SmartyPants, a hilarious toilet-training aid shaped like a loo roll, voiced by Oscars host Conan O’Brien. The genius of Pixar lies in making audiences feel, rather than telling them what to think. With their finest work – Inside Out,
Up and the Toy Story films – they mine deep emotional truths in a way that is almost magically transformative. I have proof. As a parent, I walked out ready to hurl my children’s iPads into the nearest bin. My eldest, 14, had a different reaction. ‘I loved how it didn’t say tech was bad,’ she told me. She then went home, dragged her old dolls’ house out of the attic and gave it a makeover. Yes, she actually played. This movie is more than
just another Hollywood sequel. It’s a miracle.
Toy Story 5, Taylor Swift, Lilypad, Jessie, Woody, smart tablet, social media ban under-16s, Pixar review
So are they banning under 16s or is it just UK? Confusing.
Taylor Swift writing a song “on spec”?? Girl really can do anything. Also Lilypad sounds like the real villain, like why did they make the tablet shaped like a frog 😭
Wait the government banned social media for under 16s because of Toy Story 5?? That seems like a stretch. But also my nephew is always on his tablet so I get the point I guess.
Toy Story used to be about kids and playtime, now it’s about tech bullying… and Rex yelling “Extinction” again like we didn’t already do this. I saw Bad Bunny’s cameo and thought that’s random, then the whole thing is kids addicted to screens?? Maybe they should just ban phones in schools instead of “social media” lol.