Well, as always, Toy Story movies always hit.

The first scene of the movie feels so random, but it all comes together later of course.

As the trailers suggest, it’s about toys and play and imagination vs technology. Something parents nowadays certainly should pay attention to.

And as a child of the 90’s, growing up like Andy from the first movie playing with toys and imagining adventures and such, this movie was strong in its views of what some kids are losing with technology and how that can affect them interpersonally.

The toys have it a little rough this movie, but I’m happy that this really is Jessie’s movie. The second movie always hits hard when I rewatch it with that “When She Loved Me” song written by the iconic Randy Newman and performed by Sarah McLachlan starts playing. It’s such a powerful moment. And that emotional thread runs through this movie.

The first two acts of the movie is really just the fun and hi-jinx of the conflict between the tech gadget and the toys and the third act is where things hit of course. I rewatched the other movies recently in prep for this since it had been a while since I’d watched them all. I’m not sure if I rewatched the first three before 4 came out a few years ago, but I’m glad I did the refresher.

The comedy was par for the course for Toy Story movies. I certainly laughed. And then there were a couple jokes for older people that hit well.

Since Jessie is the lead, many of the other toys take a backseat for most of the movie. But there’s still enough time with them that makes them feel like part of the story.

Of course, the music is wonderful. The more well-known themes are a bit more subtle than usual.

And the animation itself was fantastic. Every movie gets better and better. The details on some of the objects or people’s hair looks so great!

The new characters we got, both toy and human, were good to meet. The toys were fun and the people were well written. And the directing was so well-done! The human characters went through such emotional journeys and every moment of that was seen on their faces.

All-in-all, I really enjoyed Toy Story 5! It certainly has important messages for kids and adults regarding tech, but the character beats are important and strong too. I’m glad that this movie was made!

–

–

Mid-credit scene: Yes. A fun scene that connects to stuff. Also, the mid-credits themselves give little narrative hints of more that happened.

End-credit scene: Kind of? It’s just a fun little musical bit. Not really a scene. You’d be safe to leave after the mid-credit scene.