By George & Josh Bate
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Toy Story 5
It wouldn’t be a Toy Story without leaving viewers with smiles on their faces and in a puddle of tears. Toy Story 5, now in theaters, does exactly that with a beautiful ending that emphasizes the importance of human connection and finding meaning in the time we spend with others, rather than the amount of time we spend with others.
Toy Story 5 picks up after Woody (Tom Hanks) left Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) to stay with Bo Peep (Annie Potts) and help abandoned toys find their owners at the end of Toy Story 4. In the meantime, Jessie (Joan Cusack) has become the head toy of Bonnie’s room, while Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) serves as her right-hand man, or toy. But when Bonnie grows attached to a frog-like tablet named Lilypad (Greta Lee), the toys bring Woody back into the fold as they put up a fight to stay relevant in the face of a technology that threatens to take Bonnie’s attention away from them.
So how does Toy Story 5‘s story wrap up? And how does it tease more Toy Story movies to come?
Jessie’s Journey Comes to a Heartwarming Conclusion
Jessie, who serves as the main character of the movie, spends much of the film trying to get Bonnie more friends. Jessie’s mission is derailed, however, when she inadvertently ends up back in her original home.
While trying to escape her original home and reunite with Bonnie, Jessie uncovers some pretty sizable revelations about her life. The whole movie follows Jessie as she desperately tries to stay relevant in Bonnie’s life and avoid being tossed aside as she was by Emily, her original owner.
In the third act of Toy Story 5, Jessie finds a buried lunchbox next the tree that she and Emily used to play on. Inside the box are pictures of an adult Emily and her daughter. Her daughter’s name? Jessie.
It is one of the most touching moments of Toy Story 5. Jessie anguished for so many years thinking that Emily no longer cared for her, only to eventually uncover evidence that proves that Emily never forgot about her and truly valued their relationship.
It is not difficult to not get swept up in the emotions of Jessie’s realization as it parallels how parents reckon with children growing up and no longer needing them as much.
Tech is Not the Villain
The idea of ‘toys vs. tech’ for a Toy Story movie seems like a no-brainer, but this conflict has not been explored, at least in this depth, in a Toy Story movie until now. Traditional toys increasingly play less of a role in the lives of children, whose rooms and playspaces are now dominated by all manner of electronic devices. This, of course, sets up a compelling conflict for Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the gang to tackle. Put aside how this shift from toys to tech affects the children, how do toys face a future in which they may no longer be of use or interest to kids?
Rather than land on simplistic, overly reductive conclusion that toys are good and tech is bad, Toy Story 5 concludes on a more nuanced note by emphasizing how toys and tech can live in harmony. As Forky actor Tony Hale discussed in our exclusive interview, tech isn’t going anywhere but nor should genuine human connection.
Lilypad, and tech more generally, is not the savior to Bonnie’s friendship problems, although it is also not the monster Jessie and the gang originally thought she was.
Buzz Finally Proposes to Jessie
Buzz doesn’t have much of an arc in Toy Story 5, other than him awkwardly trying to propose to Jessie. Eventually, Buzz is able to pull off this very difficult feat.
During the climax, Buzz struggles to get the words out of his mouth when Jessie suddenly kiss him and agrees to marry him.
Buzz and Jessie Aren’t the Only Newlyweds in Toy Story 5
The film concludes with Blaze, the girl who now lives in Jessie’s original home, and Bonnie becoming friends and enjoying playtime together in Bonnie’s room.
and Bonnie act out a marriage between Forky and Karen Beverly, while all the other toys and Lilypad amicably live together.
Woody goes back to Bo Peep, although his walkie-talkie will seemingly allow him to reconnect with Buzz, Jessie, and the gang anytime he wants.
Mid-Credits Scene Resolves A Key Subplot
A subplot involving an army of high-tech Buzz Lightyear trying to Star Command concludes as they team up with Jessie to help her reunite with Bonnie.
In a mid-credits scene, a bunch of kids exit a school bus and run to the playground. One boy, who, like Bonnie initially, doesn’t have any friends is surprised when one of the high-tech Buzz figures flies down to him.
Quickly after, all of the other Buzz figures fly down to the playground and match up with all of the kids (and one for the school principal too!). The high-tech Buzz units all start the movie washed up on an island and end the movie by each finding a home of their own.
The camera then pans to the side of the platground. Another kid puls a high-tech Zurg from his backpack. Zurg then says, “We meet again, my son!”
Post-Credits Fun
Whlle the movie does not have a traditional post-credits scene Lilypad and the toy Pizza Sunglasses perform a rap song during the credits.
Pizza with Sunglasses is voiced by Grammy winner and Super Bowl LX halftime show performer Bad Bunny.