Toy Story 5 will be the first Woody-Buzz CGI fable in the film series, where I’ll take a pass. I don’t need to see comedy ensue as the iconic characters run headfirst into the hard reality of tech and childhood.
Pixar and Disney released the first full-length Toy Story 5 trailer on Thursday (February 19), delivering the clearest picture yet of what to expect from this once-groundbreaking but now aging franchise. The movie hits theaters on June 19.
Where it all started
For those living under a rock and wholly unfamiliar with the Toy Story films, Toy Story depicts the hidden life of a child’s toys. They talk, laugh, play, scheme, carry out missions, and more, all just out of view of adults and the children who own them. In the original, Woody is introduced to the spaceman toy, Buzz Lightyear, who believes he is real. You can kind of guess the rest, but their bond is what drives much of the subsequent three films. But by the end of Toy Story 4, Buzz and Woody went their separate ways.
Toy Story 5 reunites the pair in a fight for attention. Really, that’s what Toy Story 5 is about. Bonnie, who inherited the toy collection from the now grown-up Andy, gets a “Lillypad” tablet and basically slips into screen addiction. The toys quickly assess that this is a widespread problem: analog toys are being abandoned for digital ones.
“Toys are for play, but tech is for everything,” says Woody, succintly stating the problem.
The trailer depicts Bonnie becoming consumed by her screen, and the toys fight to save, well, not her, but themselves.
The Lillipad, which comes in a frog-shaped case that includes eyes, also talks when out of view of Bonnie and the adults. When the toys confront it, it doesn’t appear to be paying attention (naturally), but it is in fact recording everything they say and then translating it into multiple languages.
While it’s not entirely clear that Lillypad is the villain here, I think the perspective on technology is obvious: It’s bad and ruining childhoods.
There’s no Story without tech
Yes, it’s a disingenuous argument coming from a company that uses computers to design and animate Buzz, Woody, and the gang, and then banks of servers to generate every single frame of Toy Story in existence.
I’m sure Pixar and Disney will find a clever way to solve the conundrum in a way that doesn’t negate toys or technology, but I don’t know that I’ll buy it.
The truth is, technology has changed society and play. Adults are handing children and even toddlers phones and tablets to keep them quiet. When I see a kid in a stroller, I no longer look to see if their preference is Bert, Ernie, Big Bird, or Velveteen Rabbit. They’re not squeezing a security blanket. Instead, I peer to see if they’re sporting an Amazon Fire Tablet, an iPad, the latest Android flagship, or an iPhone.
The glazed look Pixar recreates on Bonnie’s face is all too real, and no matter what those toys do, Bonnie’s probably not leaving technology behind. As Lillipad tells Woody in her slightly robotic voice, “Bonnie needs help from someone at least for the same century.”
The truth is, technology has changed society and play.
When Bonnie powers up Lillipad, one of the first things it says to her is, “Let’s play,” but it’s only offering the kind that engages eyes, ears, and fingers, leaving little room for Bonnie to explore with a toy dinosaur, fly with Buzz, or ride off into the sunset with Woody and Bullseye.
It’s not just that tech is the villain here. The stakes in the original Toy Story movies were so much higher: they dealt with love, rejection, anger, jealousy, loss, and hard truths. I know, it was all done with a light, deft touch that mixed comedy, sight gags, and pathos. Is it possible for Toy Story 5 and its digital villain to carry that same emotional weight? I doubt it.
Maybe I’ll just rewatch the original Toy Story, released more than 30 years ago, when the Internet was young, cell phones were dumb, and the only screen really drawing out attention was the TV.
You can stream all the Toy Story and Pixar content (save this new film) on Disney+.
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lance.ulanoff@futurenet.com (Lance Ulanoff)
