Toy Story 5, the latest installment in Pixar's iconic franchise, sets up a tug-of-war between physical and digital play for children, reflecting parental anxieties about screen time. The film arrives at a time when, according to Pew Research, the majority of kids under 12 use tablets or smartphones, even as links between screen time and mental health are studied.
Plot and Characters
In the movie, tech is personified by a child-friendly tablet named Lilypad, which threatens to supplant the role of traditional toys. This is particularly traumatic for Jessie (voiced by Joan Cusack), the favorite toy of eight-year-old Bonnie. Bonnie is lured by Lilypad's simple games, causing Jessie to panic as she sees children preferring screens over imaginative play.
However, the filmmakers have not created an anti-tech screed. Instead, they show that outdated devices share similar neuroses about being discarded, blurring the line between toys and tech. The tablet's most nefarious effects are human-generated: Bonnie's parents buy it to help her make friends, but it becomes a medium for bullying.
Nuanced Approach
The film wittily acknowledges the haplessness of parenting decisions, with Bonnie's parents admitting that getting a tablet may be a bad idea but unsure what else to try. There's even a gag about an adult fussing with virtual meeting backgrounds. Yet, the movie's big emotional payoff revolves around Jessie's insecurities from Toy Story 2, not tech.
Some critics argue that the film's nuance feels mathematically derived rather than emotionally resonant. The movie suggests that tech can be endearing if parents are ambivalent yet emotionally available, but it may underestimate how tech introduces new, unqualified guiding forces into children's lives.
Conclusion
Toy Story 5 is thoughtful and fair-minded, but it stops short of fully grappling with the insidious nature of modern tech. As Pixar acknowledges that toys may not have a future, their faith in the partnership between humans and tech may belong in the past.
