A New Story
The new Toy Story 5 movie is set to be released this year in theaters on June 19. This will be the newest addition to the Toy Story franchise since its last release back in 2019, about seven years ago.
Many children from the 90’s through the 2010’s grew up seeing these movies as part of their childhood. The franchise grew so much that they started selling their own original toys and characters from the Toy Story movies.
The original Toy Story movie was released back in 1995, which was the first fully computer-animated feature film and led to revolutionize the animation industry. This movie itself paved the way for today’s modern era of digital filmmaking and was the first animated movie to earn a special Achievement Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
The movie mainly focused on the private life of toys when they aren’t being played with. The main characters are a young boy named Andy and his collection of living toys. Central characters include his toys Sheriff Woody and space ranger Buzz Lightyear. Other toys like Mr. Potato Head, Rex, Hamm, Slinky Dog, and Bo Peep serve as supporting characters throughout the franchise. Mrs. Potato Head’s character was later mentioned towards the end of the film.
A Film Reimagined
It wasn’t until Disney and Pixar released Toy Story 2 in 1999, a direct sequel to the original 1995 film. In the sequel, the film seamlessly expands its universe by introducing memorable characters like Jessie, and Bullseye, who also serve as side characters throughout the film. The film also consists of three alien toys who later become Andy’s.
The film’s production faced a near-disaster when 90 percent of the movie’s files were accidentally deleted from Pixar’s servers. Fortunately, a technical director working from home due to maternity leave was able to recover a backup of the project that was saved.
Toy Story 3 released in 2010, is a massive milestone in animation history and holds the distinction of being the first animated film to ever cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office. It won two Academy Awards. It was one of only three animated films to be nominated for the prestigious Oscar for Best Picture.
In Toy Story 3 however, main protagonists consist of Woody, Buzz, and Jessie, who try to fill the void of no longer having an owner as Andy leaves off to college. The movie introduces many other characters of which belong to Bonnie, the young girl Andy will end up giving his childhood toys to.
The last Toy Story movie Disney and Pixar released was Toy Story 4 back in 2019. It mainly focused on Bonnie’s new toy Forky and the abandonment she presented towards Woody, who later became a “lost toy” and decided to live free without being claimed. The movie was the first in the franchise to be produced in a wide 2.39:1 aspect ratio to accommodate Woody’s broader adventures.
Changing With The Times
In more recent years, younger children have been introduced to technology more than most adults or teenagers as kids.
Director Andrew Stanton says that the new Toy Story 5 film is based on the “realization of an existential problem: that nobody’s really playing with toys anymore.”
The movie will focus on what it means to stay relevant when technology tries to reshape playtime. Because of this, the movie will tackle the plot of the modern era, showing toys facing off with screens and tablets along with new leader Jessie, the gang, and other fan familiar favorites that are set to return to help.
Instead of the regular G rating that the Toy Story movies usually get marked under, the new movie is the first of the franchise to receive a PG rating and the first entry to release in the 2020’s.
As not much information about the movie is provided, the plot is out there to grab the attention of viewers as it’s not only a child movie, but also to touch on a real world issue.
