You could ask around and survey fifty people about whether or not continuing the Pixar powerhouse, Toy Story is a good idea or a bad one. Likely, there would be fifty vastly different answers. Sequels in this day and age are mostly inevitable in regards to big budget blockbuster Hollywood franchises. There are franchises like the Fast and Furious pushing out an eleventh film (well, twelfth, if you were to include Hobbs and Shaw). As well as a series that may have just ended at eight movies in Mission Impossible. Both of the aforementioned film franchises are geared towards mainly young adult to adult audiences. A group that would be considered to be pickier than the target audience that the Toy Story franchise is geared towards. And, yet, despite some fatigue along the way, franchises like The Fast and the Furious or Mission Impossible have mostly satisfied their target audience.
So, it is a bit strange that when it comes to Toy Story – a movie franchise geared towards families and kids – getting more negative feedback than either of those previously mentioned franchises. Sure, the argument could be made that Toy Story is a higher quality of film than a spy taking the seemingly impossible and proving that it is, indeed, possible. Thus, making it more susceptible to criticism as a piece of art. After all, Toy Story may very well become famously known as the franchise that could have ended on good terms after every movie in the series, despite their production company not yet giving a definitive ending to it, In fact, it would be difficult to argue that Toy Story very well could have ended after any of its movies and it would go down in cinema history as a gold standard of how to successfully run a franchise.
The first Toy Story seemingly left little room to add a sequel outside of the teaser at the end of the movie that Andy getting a puppy could cause trouble for the toys. Though, if Toy Story did, indeed, end after one film, we would not have gotten to meet two fan favorite characters from Toy Story 2 in Jessie and Bullseye. And if the franchise would have ended at two, there never would have been the added human character drama that enriched what was then a trilogy of films. Andy could have been any one of us. Which in the first two films did not seem to matter much. But three showed us that Andy was both relatable and a great young man. He gave Bonnie a chance to experience life with the toys that provided him with so many great memories. In fact, if you’ll recall in the first film, a driving force behind the narrative was Woody feeling down about being replaced by Buzz. But in three, Andy happily hands over Buzz and wanted to keep Woody. These kinds of story beats are what makes us keep coming back for more and show real consistency and growth from both a storytelling standpoint and from character development. These stories MATTER.
If the fourth film did not happen, the audience would never have seen Woody move on after teasing his desire for more out of life so often throughout the series. Plus, Pixar gave us Forky. He’s not the prettiest toy, but we’ve all created something we’ve been proud of when nobody else could see its sentimental value. For all we know, Bonnie could become a preschool teacher when she grows up and help students find “their” Forky. Bonnie surely is a creative kid and that could be what is shown in her arc in Toy Story 5. Perhaps she leaves the tech alone and starts drawing or writing stories.
There has been some fun fan speculation that Andy could make a return to Bonnie’s home at some point when she is older and ask for his toys back, assuming she has outgrown them. It is understandable why people would want this, because many probably have parted ways with their toys when they wish they would not have. But that would be out of character. So, this begs the question, since there will be a Toy Story 5, what will it be about?
While Toy Story is a great escape from reality, it is also about people with real existential problems. Some of the toys, like Forky, wonder what the point of life is. Perhaps it is treading tough waters being a theme in a kids movie. But it is handled with such care that it helps kids realize they are a part of something bigger than themselves. That every day is a gift. That we all matter. Toy Story 5 will be about the ongoing battle of technology versus everyday life. It is a real problem that does not have a real solution outside of limiting time using technology. Based upon the trailer, Bonnie will be given a screen time limit from her parents. Good on them. But, she might spend her time outside of technology feeling down and sad. Supposedly psychology backs there being a certain dopamine fix that we get from using social media that gives us a quick jolt of instant gratification that just simply is not given to us by longer term health options like working out.
Toy Story 5 is going to be a great risk for Pixar. We live in an age where everyone has a different idea what “original” films are. Pixar created the Toy Story franchise. So, it technically is original, even if it is our fifth time seeing them. Will it feel original? Or will we feel as though, perhaps, Pixar should have packed it up and called it a day long before now? Cinema is a great place to escape. But it is also a great teacher of some important life lessons. Toy Story 5 will be both. It will make us laugh at the silliness of how addicted children have become to technology. Yet, we all suffer from the dangers of technology every day.
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