Just over thirty years ago, Toy Story announced a whole new animation studio and with it, a fresh, modern way of creating animated stories. I remember heading off to the cinema to see it with my aunty and being absolutely blown away by it. And now, I have kids of my own, so taking them to see the next installment felt like a full circle kinda moment.  

Remember as a kid when Pixar movies were full of so much heart and characters you cared deeply about, made you sob, were laugh out loud hilarious, with how the heck do they do that kinda animation? Toy Story 5 is this and so much more. One of my favorites of the year. Peak Pixar.

In Toy Story 5, Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the gang face their most dangerous adversary yet: endless screen time. The now-antique toys go head-to-head with a highly disruptive, state-of-the-art smart tablet named "Lilypad," whose engaging apps and algorithms threaten to make traditional toys obsolete to their child, Bonnie.

At the heart of classic Pixar films across the decades has been one simple thing: those films made you care so much that your heart breaks. While Toy Story 4 had that in part, the new installment has this right at its very centre. You can’t help but care deeply about Bonnie, struggling to make friends and feeling different to the other kids around her. And Jessie having to go through losing her kid again - well that just rips your heart out.

And from that core, the story is built into an adventure film with a couple of different narrative threads that come together beautifully in the final act. There's a number of scenes that if you don’t shed a tear you need to check your pulse to see if your heart is still beating. It's stacked with adventure, laugh out loud moments, and one scene where both of my kids leapt to their feet cheering and applauding, hugging each other as our oldest yelled “BUZZ DID IT - WE DID IT!”
 

Remember as a kid when Pixar movies were full of so much heart and characters you cared deeply about, made you sob, were laugh out loud hilarious, with how the heck do they do that kinda animation? Toy Story 5 is this and so much more. One of my favorites of the year. Peak Pixar.