THE BATTLE FOR PLAYTIME BEGINS.

Bonnie still enjoys playing with her toys, but finds it hard to make new friends; things change dramatically when she gets a tablet called Lilypad.

The eternal debate over how much screen time children should have cleverly makes its way into this franchise, that initially puts the old toys at odds with the frog-themed tablet. In the end, the technically groundbreaking Pixar obviously has to find ways to make peace between new and old diversions for kids.

There’s no escaping the fact that a fifth film in this series can’t quite match the emotional heights and entertainment of the first three… but still a pleasure to behold, smart and fun.

2026-U.S. Animated. 102 min. Color. Directed by Andrew Stanton. Screenplay: Andrew Stanton, Kenna Harris. Song: ”I Knew It, I Knew You” (performed by Taylor Swift). Voices of Tom Hanks (Woody), Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear), Joan Cusack (Jessie), Greta Lee, Scarlett Spears, Conan O’Brien, Keanu Reeves, Bonnie Hunt, Tony Hale, Wallace Shawn, Alan Cumming, John Ratzenberger, Ernie Hudson. 

Trivia: Executive produced by Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera. 

Last word: “I was asked, and it wasn’t on my radar. And then, if I’m being really frank, I was like, ‘Ugh, somebody might fuck it up,’ and I would hate to see it done wrong. I’ve always been a writer or involved in the writing of the other Toy Story movies. I said, ‘Let me just write our first draft of what I would like to see.’ And if we agree that where I’ve pointed to is the same place you’d like to go to — this was to Pete Docter and to Jim Morris to Jonas Rivera and Bob Iger — then maybe we can do this. Because you have to really love the idea to live with it for four years and deal with all the highs and lows. So I spent the summer and I wrote what is basically the foundation of Toy Story 5.” (Stanton, Polygon)