By shifting the spotlight to Jessie and exploring the growing tension between childhood imagination and screen addiction, Toy Story 5 (2026) creates an unexpectedly thoughtful story that feels far more meaningful and far more emotional than anyone had reason to expect.
Toy Story 3 holds a special place for my generation. Because with that scene where the toys sit on the porch and watch Andy walk away, it wasn’t just a movie that ended — our childhood ended too.
Then came Toy Story 4 (2019) years later, a sequel that felt quite soulless and empty because its only motivation seemed to be making money. It earned a lot of our hatred for ruining this last memory from our childhood.
When Toy Story 5 was first announced, I rebelled. I wanted to go and stand in front of Disney headquarters, turn out my empty pockets, and shout, “Take all my money, damn it, just leave my childhood alone!”
But the moment they revealed what the film would be about, I immediately changed my mind. Because the film promised to tackle one of the most discussed issues of our time: technology addiction.
For the first time in human history, we are witnessing children no longer playing with real toys. Instead, they are handed giant-screen tablets and grow up deprived of the relationship that comes from interacting with real objects.
When I look at this issue from a somewhat condescending perspective, my opinion is that this is pretty bad parenting. But when I see new parents around me doing it out of desperation, simply so they can get some rest and have a little time for themselves, I also understand them. Because dealing with these tiny humans who constantly demand your attention can be genuinely exhausting and draining.
So what are we supposed to do? In an age where technology has become part of every aspect of life, should we raise children the “old-fashioned” way by shielding them from this reality? Or should we hand them the key to this doorway that opens up the entire world — their iPads — and leave them to their own devices?
That’s exactly what Toy Story 5 tries to answer, and it finds its solution somewhere in the middle: let’s raise our children both traditionally and modernly. Then again, we couldn’t exactly expect a film produced by a multi-million-dollar corporation to completely reject technology. In other words, buy your kids the plastic toy figures we sell, but also give them tablets loaded with Disney+ subscriptions and games made by companies we’re shareholders in! Wow. One of the biggest win-win situations I’ve seen in a while.
Anyway, let’s put my anti-capitalist and anti-industrialist impulses aside and talk about the movie. Because there is genuinely a film here that’s as good as Toy Story 3, and it’s full of emotional scenes capable of making even a stone-hearted person like me cry, from time to time.
Toy Story 5 begins when Bonnie is now eight years old. She still loves her toys, but she struggles to make friends at school. In a world where other children are buried in screens, she’s still playing with her imagination. A talking frog-shaped smart tablet called Lilypad, bought by her parents, slowly takes over all of Bonnie’s attention instead of making her life easier (what a surprise). Jessie becomes the heart of the film this time—which was probably the thing I appreciated most.
While the classic Buzz-Woody back-and-forth is still entertaining, I think Woody hasn’t really had much emotional impact on the story since Andy. Watching more Jessie was definitely refreshing instead. Seeing Bonnie become increasingly attached to Lilypad, Jessie starts to fear that this might be the end of toys. By chance, she ends up at the farmhouse of her former owner Emily, where she meets a lonely little girl named Blaze.
This encounter becomes both an emotional journey that helps Jessie heal her own wounds of abandonment—and honestly, the story of Jessie that was only briefly touched on in Toy Story 2 (1999) left scars on all of us that lasted for years despite how little screen time it received. Seeing that story finally concluded in such a tear-jerking way is one of the film’s strongest emotional moments. At the same time, it creates hope that Bonnie might find a real friend.
To be honest, I was curious about how they were going to resolve the conflict between toys and technological devices. Because, as the Terminator series has taught us, declaring war on technology doesn’t exactly lead to a child-friendly story, and it tends to get pretty bloody. But the solution they came up with—having Bonnie find a real friend she can spend time with—was genuinely brilliant.
Throughout the rest of the film, our crew consisting of Mr. Potato Head, Rex, Hamm, Slinky, and the others, deliver the kind of fantastic ensemble comedy that made the older films so enjoyable.
Woody and Buzz have maintained their usual energy and continue to make a great duo. Oh, and before I forget, Conan O’Brien voices a “Smarty Pants”-style toy that helps with toilet training. Honestly, I had no idea he was in this movie, so that ended up being a wonderful surprise for me.
In the end, Toy Story 5 is one of those rare legacy sequels that actually feels like it has something to say at a time when major studios keep bombarding us with remakes and sequels purely for profit. Just as we witnessed the end of our childhoods with Toy Story 3 all those years ago, this time we are witnessing the gradual end of children’s relationship with real toys.
That’s why, if Toy Story 6 never happens, I can comfortably say that this film serves as a second meaningful ending worthy of the series. But if we know Disney at all, it’s probably coming. If it does, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a story where the toys find Andy again years later, only to become the toys of his own children this time around. Honestly, I’m not even sure I’d be able to say no to that.
That concludes our review of Toy Story 5
Did you enjoy the article? Let us know in the comments down below!
For more episodes of More Movies Weekly as well as our other shows and podcasts, be sure to check out the Podcasts page on our website.
Remember, you can have a choice of what films we review on our Weekly podcast by joining us on Patreon here.
Please join us on social media on Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook. We really appreciate all the likes, shares, retweets etc., and we would love to hear from you and continue chatting about all things cinema on these platforms.
If you love to watch videos on YouTube, then please subscribe to our channel here. There’s lots of fun and informative videos uploaded that we hope you will enjoy!
We have a passion for movies and aim to produce entertaining and informative movie-related content. It certainly is a lot of hard work, but we love films so much that it’s worth all the effort. We have to keep the lights on and make sure we have plenty of caffeine to keep all of the articles, videos and social media posts coming, so if you like our work, then please consider supporting us at Buy Me A Coffee here. You can also become a More Movies patron on Patreon here.
To help support us here at More Movies, we do use advertising in a few places and we try our best to make sure they are not intrusive or aggressive, so we appreciate it if you do not use AdBlockers on our site. Who knows, you may actually see something you like!
We are also affiliated with Funky T-shirts so be sure to check out their range of cool t-shirts which include categories Film & TV, Slogans and Retro Comics!
