‘Toy Story 5’ Review: Jessie Protects the “Weird Girls” and We Love Her For It

Growing up is hard. And Toy Story 5 faces the new age issue of technology through the lens of its toy heroes. What happens when Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) wants to play with her Lily Pad (Greta Lee) instead of Andy’s old toys?

Bonnie doesn’t know how to make friends and so her parents get her a Lily Pad to help her relate to her friends. The issue is that it means all the toys are forgotten. Or more like Lily Pad takes over the power structure of Bonnie’s room.

While a great deal of Toy Story 5 is the same issue parents have been dealing with for years (the ever present struggle of technology in the lives of their children), what makes Toy Story 5 special fully boils town to Jessie (Joan Cusack). Her and Bullseye have been important characters in the franchise since their introduction in Toy Story 2 but it took until Toy Story 5 to really show why Jessie is maybe the best of them.

Woody (Tom Hanks) is off trying to make the abandoned toys feel welcome and help them find a home and Buzz (Tim Allen) is a little too pre-occupied in his feelings for Jessie. So it is up to her. And the one thing that Jessie notices that Woody and Buzz probably never could is that toys might not be important to every child but she can help the one kid who really loves to play.

“Weird” girls deserve to stay weird

More often than not, we’re told to grow up. For the kids who grew up with Andy (like myself), even he gave his toys to someone who wanted to play with them and went to college without Woody and Buzz in toe. As someone who very much still has stuffed animals and a plethora of toys, including my own Woody the Cowboy, the idea of leaving your whimsy and “play” behind makes me sad.

Not everyone gives up the joy of pretending. Maybe that’s why I studied theatre. That happiness and joy is something that many of us “weird” adults cling to. And Toy Story 5 could have easily acted as if kids move on from their toys and that’s it. Instead, it allowed the story multiple times over to remind us that being someone who wants to have fun and “play” is okay.

Toy Story 5 proves these stories can live on

Toy Story came out back in 1995. I was 3 turning 4 and I grew up just as Andy did. When Toy Story 3 was released, I was also on my way to college and it still has that emotional hold over me that it did when I was in school and sobbing about leaving my childhood behind. But with both Toy Story 4 and Toy Story 5, it has been proven to audiences that these movies can continue to live on even if Woody and Buzz are not the main characters.

Kids find joy in watching their “toys” come to life. But more than that, they need to have the lessons of Toy Story now more tha never. So many kids fall into the tech world because that’s what their friends do. But for many of them, it isn’t as fun as playing with your toys and still being a little bit childish.

Toy Story 5 gives hope to those “weird” kids and that’s an incredible lesson to put out into the world that even if your “cool” friends want to use their tablets, you don’t have to and that’s what makes Toy Story 5 something truly special.

(featured image: Pixar)

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