Toy Story 5: A good Story Told well

Yes- another Toy Story sequel. You may be asking yourself “Why?!” Let Buzz and Woody retire already. We’ve been here before. We’ve done this before. Especially after a lukewarm warm reception from audiences for 2019’s Toy Story 4- which to many felt like a classic big studio cash grab. I personally enjoyed it and think people are harder on it than they should be. Just one man’s opinion. One simple man’s opinion. The fear being then will Toy Story 5 be more of the same? I have some very good news for you- Toy Story 5 is a return to the heart and magic that we have come to expect from Pixar over the years, and from Toy Story specifically. It does not disappoint.

Toy Story 5 is written and directed by both McKenna Harris and Andrew Stanton. Andrew Stanton should be a familiar name to Pixar fans, having written and directed the Pixar classic (my personal favorite) Wall-E, as well as Finding Dory. McKenna Harris has been with Pixar on previous projects, like Luca, as a storyboard artist, but this is her first feature film credit as both a writer and director. The film also brings back the familiar cast of characters and the voices we all know by now, including Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear, and Joan Cusak as Jessie. As usual, we also get some new toys added to the mix, the most notable this time is Smarty Pants, voiced by Conan O’Brien.

Toy Story 5 picks up after the events of Toy Story 4. Woody is still out with Bo Peep, helping find lost toys, while the rest of the gang is still with Bonnie, who loves playing with them just as much as ever. In fact, it kind of makes her weird compared to the other kids in the neighborhood who all have devices. Yes, devices. Bonnie desperately wants to make new friends, so she is so thrilled when mom and dad buy her a LillyPad so she can connect with classmates and friends online. But quickly, this new device is taking up all of her time, and connecting her with friends that Jessie worries may not be the best for her. Jessie and the other toys decide something must be done, and LillyPad must be stopped at all costs!

The performances we get in this film, for the most part, meet expectations. I mean, I’m not sure what else to say about it. We’ve heard Tim Allen as Buzz before, or Joan Cusack as Jessie, or Hanks as Woody. It’s just more of what we have heard before. It’s not bad, by any means, just none of it stands out. Except for one. One shining hero named Smarty Pants, voiced by a pasty, lanky, ginger haired, old white man named Conan O’Brien. He may not be the hero we want in our summer movie season of 2026, but he is the hero we have! Seriously- I was blown away with his performance. Conan has always been one of my favorite humorists, but I wasn’t sure how he would do as a voice actor in an animated film done by Disney and Pixar and made for kids. But he nailed it. In my opinion, he stole the show.

The pacing and story work really well. I think the new fresh perspective brought in by Harris mixed well with the experienced screen writing and directing hand of Stanton. There wasn’t a point where I felt like the film was draggin, or any point where I felt lost or confused. The story kept all its promises, meaning everything it set up in acts one and two, it delivered on in act three, which is a sign of good writing and storytelling. With Stanton there to help guide this film, it felt like it was a master at work, and we as an audience reaped all the benefits of that.

Visually, this film was amazing. It feels like old hat now to say that a Pixar film had amazing visuals, especially since many studios have caught up and in some ways started to exceed the OG, but Toy Story 5 delivers the top knotch animation we come to demand and expect from these films. I don’t know that any of it was ground breaking, but there are some cool moments involving some drones, and an army of little men, and I’ve said too much- just know, on screen it looked great.

That goes for the sound editing too, and the music. Nothing stands out, it all just works, and I am okay with that. This isn’t necisarrily a film where I need the sound editing to stand out, I just needed it to be mixed well and unnoticeable- not distracting, and it accomplished that. And I don’t want to upset the Swifty Army, especially because I too love me some Travis Kelce - so - Taylor Swift’s song in this film is catchy and really good- but do we expect anything less than that from our queen, Swifty Nation? Of course not.

On the surface, Toy Story 5 does a good job making a point about the dangers of too much screen time and loosing out on connecting with people in real life, as well as demonstrating that we are all unique- and we may not be one of the dance class girls, but our toy playing people are out there, we just need to find them. But, art can be many things to many people, and one can find many meanings in a story that matter personally for them. For me some of my takeaways were recognizing we don’t always know or see the positive impact we leave behind on people, or generation after generation goes through the same cycle of the previous generation judging them, hating them, belittiling them, then growing up and being the adults, and then becoming obsolete- and wouldn’t it be better if each new generation could actually lean on the previous generation and we could all get through this together, man? That is what I came out of Toy Story 5 thinking about. A kids movie about toys that are actually alive. It speaks volumes about the power of a good story told well.

My official grade for Toy Story 5 is A+

It is playing in theaters nationwide starting June 19, 2026