Toy Story 5 is a surprisingly thoughtful critique of technology
Key takeaways
- Tablets can introduce problems for kids, but they’re not always bad.
- Pixar After five films, digital technology has finally arrived in the cloth-and-plastic world of Toy Story.
- Toy Story 5 centers on Bonnie, a young girl struggling to make friends who was gifted Woody, Buzz and Andy's other toys from the first three films.
Tablets can introduce problems for kids, but they’re not always bad.
Pixar After five films, digital technology has finally arrived in the cloth-and-plastic world of Toy Story. But the film, directed by franchise veteran Andrew Stanton and Mc Kenna Grace, mostly avoids the easy trope of making technology inherently bad. Instead, it's a disruptive force that can be either helpful or harmful, depending on how it's used. The film makes the case that parents need to take a hands-on approach to help kids manage their gadgets, especially when it comes to managing screen time or dealing with bullying.
Toy Story 5 centers on Bonnie, a young girl struggling to make friends who was gifted Woody, Buzz and Andy's other toys from the first three films. She's the only kid in her neighborhood not using a Lilypad tablet — instead, she prefers to play the old fashioned way, by crafting scenarios purely out of her imagination. Her parents reluctantly decide to get her a Lilypad (played by Greta Lee) as a way to connect with other kids.