Toy Story 5: Absolutely perfect

Toy Story 5 (2026) • View trailerFive stars (out of five); rated PG, for mild rude humorAvailable via: Movie theatersBy Derrick Bang • Published in The Davis Enterprise, 6.21.26The Toy Story franchise has been a marvel since the first film’s 1995 debut. This fifth entry is the best thus far: a bold statement, considering the quality, imagination, voice talent, carefully sculpted characters, sentimentality and heart that long have been this series’ hallmark. When an angry Jessie insists that newcomer Lilypad is useless with respect to helpingBonnie make new friends, the quick-thinking tablet briskly signs up the little girl withthree schoolmates ... in a chat room.Ah, but this one adds an oh-so-timely new element: topicality.Andrew Stanton and McKenna Harris, sharing writing and directing chores, have challenged these beloved characters with an existential threat: impending irrelevance, due to the competitive, soul-sucking arrival of (gasp, shudder) screens. Woody, Buzz, Jessie and all…