For more than 30 years, Pixar's Toy Story series has entertained children while voicing parents' anxieties, especially in sequels where toys face obsolescence paralleling parental fears. Toy Story 5 addresses technology's encroachment on childhood, arriving as a majority of kids under 12 use tablets or smartphones, according to Pew Research. The film sets up a tug-of-war between physical and digital play but avoids becoming an anti-tech screed.
Tech as a New Toy Rival
In the movie, a child-friendly tablet named Lilypad (nicknamed Lily) threatens to replace toys as a child's go-to plaything. This is traumatic for Jessie (voiced by Joan Cusack), the favorite toy of eight-year-old Bonnie. Bonnie becomes captivated by Lily's simple games, and parents are invited to share Jessie's dismay. However, the filmmakers, rooted in Pixar's tech history, do not position toys as morally superior to tech. Jessie meets and befriends outdated devices, highlighting that tech itself is a form of toy.
The Human Side of Screen Time
The tablet's most nefarious effects are human-generated: Bonnie's parents buy it to help her make friends, but it enables bullying even in limited group chats. Tech also plays a role in helping Bonnie become a more compatible real-life friend, with imaginary play persisting. The film acknowledges parental haplessness—Bonnie's parents admit getting a tablet may be a bad idea but are unsure what else to try. A gag shows a grown adult fussing with virtual-meeting backgrounds, underscoring that screen fixations affect all ages.
Nuance or Both-Sides-ing?
Pixar's trademark nuance here feels mathematically derived rather than emotionally resonant. Jessie cannot rebel too hard against tech, and the film's big emotional wallop returns to her insecurities from Toy Story 2. The message that fundamentals of guiding a child remain universal may be wishful thinking, as tech introduces new, unqualified forces into children's lives. While Toy Story 5 wittily avoids tech-bro cheerleading, it stops short of tackling deeper dangers like disinformation or AI's environmental impact.
