SPOILER ALERT With Jimmy Nichols

Toy Story 5: A return to form for the franchise

This summer, Pixar released the fifth installment of the Toy Story franchise. While there was some excitement for the new movie, most fans online expressed disappointment.

For most fans, the franchise should have ended after “Toy Story 3” in 2010. Andy left for college and gave his toys to Bonnie, ending his trilogy.

“Toy Story 3” felt like the perfect ending because it showed that eventually everyone grows up, and while you can remember the good times, you cannot live in the past. It was beautiful.

Then, Pixar ruined the perfect ending with the money grab that was “Toy Story 4” in 2019. This movie is over-hated and while it is not hard to see why fans were upset, it once again felt like the final chapter in the franchise as the audience said goodbye to Woody.

When Pixar announced the release of “Toy Story 5” for this summer, fans had every right to be skeptical. Luckily, the movie delivered.

For the first time since the beginning of “Toy Story 3,” fans saw playtime. In the original trilogy, seeing Andy’s imagination often made some of the best scenes, and it let the animators show off their talent.

In this movie, the imagination scenes were presented in a different animated style compared to the franchise’s normal animation. Bonnie’s imagination made the toys and playtime look more like the scene was hand-drawn or out of a children’s book.

The differences between how Andy and Bonnie use their imaginations are amazing, and it shows how, even with the same toys, kids see things differently.

The plot of the movie focused on Jessie and how she is once again the lead toy for a child, the first time she has been the main toy since Emily, her first owner. She wants to help Bonnie make friends, but in this new age of technology, the movie shows how playtime has changed.

Bonnie is the only child on her street and in her class who still plays with her toys. The rest of the children have tablets or watch TV.

Seeing how she is struggling to make friends, Bonnie’s parents buy her a Lilypad, a tablet for young kids that teaches them lessons while helping them socialize. After only a short amount of time, Lilypad has replaced the toys.

Jessie and Lilypad fight over what is right for Bonnie, with Jessie contacting Woody to ask him for advice. Woody returns to help the toys, but not until after Jessie is separated from Bonnie.

When an older couple finds Jessie and Bullseye, they find the address of Emily’s house on the inside of Jessie’s chaps. Jessie is now forced to relive the memories she made with Emily, while trying to find her way back to Bonnie.

There is one scene that attempts to drive the audience to tears. Struggling with how she cannot help Bonnie, Jessie feels useless and that she has never made an impact.

She is sitting under the old tree where she and Emily played, which is seen in the tire swing flashback in “Toy Story 2” and in a few flashbacks in this movie, when she discovers something Emily buried.

It is a time capsule Emily buried as an adult for her daughter. In it, Jessie sees the note Emily left for her daughter. It says, “Jessie, you will always be my little cowgirl.”

Emily loved Jessie so much, she named her daughter after her. This scene shows how much the pieces of our childhood impact us, even as we move into adulthood.

Not everything that was in your life as a child will be there when you have grown up. People and things come and go like the seasons, but the time they spend with us, while brief, can have the biggest impact.

By the end of the movie, Lilypad realizes the importance of active playtime, and Jessie realizes that not all technology is evil. This continues a trend in Bonnie’s Toy Story movies.

Andy’s trilogy had villains. The antagonist did not learn a lesson and grow at the end; they received their comeuppance.

“Toy Story” had Sid, the kid who blew up toys; the second movie featured Stinky Pete; then, the last Andy movie had the best villain, Lotso. These villains did not learn a lesson at the end but were either defeated by the gang or the universe gave them justice.

In Bonnie’s movies, the antagonists do not behave like true villains, but like someone who needs to grow.

Gabby-Gabby from the fourth movie had a damaged voice box and wanted to experience playtime for the first time. Lilypad did not understand why children needed physical playtime. By the end of both of their movies, their characters became better toys.

The movie’s message is clear: technology is important, but so is old-school playtime. The movie ends with the kids on Bonnie's street coming to play outside with her and her new friend.

Everyone’s screen time needs to be limited, especially for children. While the internet can be a tool to promote growth, it can also be a hindrance.

“Toy Story 5” is a good sequel for the franchise. It is not the best movie in the series, but it is worth the watch.

It captures the nostalgia of the original movies well but still feels unique enough to capture the next generation of fans.

The movie also does a good job of making fans want one last film so that Bonnie can have a complete trilogy like Andy.

If you like the original trilogy, you will enjoy this movie as it helps you find those emotions from 10 years ago.