Parents See Their Own Lives In ‘Toy Story 5’

Toy Story 5 enjoys multigenerational appeal, and 70% of viewers have seen the movie as part of a family. The combined age 25-44 segment accounted for 42% of viewers.

Pixar described Toy Story 5 as “Toy meets Tech.” The movie follows Bonnie, the girl who became the toys’ owner after Andy gave them away at the end of Toy Story 3.

Now entering the tween years, Bonnie struggles to fit in with girls in her dance class and becomes increasingly attached to a tablet called Lilypad. Jessie, the cowgirl toy who has been one of the franchise’s principal characters since Toy Story 2, emerges as the story’s emotional anchor as she tries to help Bonnie navigate friendships and growing independence while confronting the possibility that toys are losing their place in children’s lives.

Those themes have arrived at a moment when the first generation that grew up with Toy Story is raising children of its own. Millennials who came of age during the original Toy Story movies are now deciding how much screen time their kids should have and wondering how technology affects kids’ mental health, as NPR Health Correspondent Rhitu Chatterjee notes in her analysis of the movie.

Writing in The Guardian, Stuart Heritage argued that the movie taps into concerns about children losing themselves in screens and whether technology is crowding out imagination. Indeed, that worry, as expressed in the movie, resonates with Business Insider Deputy Editor Conz Peti. Anna Halkidis of Parents noted that the film avoids turning adults into villains and instead portrays Bonnie’s parents as people trying to help their daughter navigate complicated choices.

Women Have More Than One Reason to Buy a Ticket

According to Deadline, women account for 57% of moviegoers, and moms far outnumber dads. Pixar’s decision to focus on Bonnie and Jessie (instead of Woody and Buzz Lightyear) may help explain the movie’s strong showing among female audiences. Joan Cusack, who voices Jessie, told Reuters that it was important for Toy Story 5 to tell a story based on girls’ experiences .

Bonnie’s struggle to find acceptance among girls in her dance class gives the movie emotional territory that extends beyond toys. That emotional depth connects with critics and essayists. Rachel Leishman, editor- in- chief of The Mary Sue, described the film as a story about Jessie protecting “weird girls.” Leishman wrote personally about growing up with Toy Story and argued that the movie validates kids, and adults, who still cling to play, imagination, and the joy of pretending. In her reading, Jessie notices something Woody and Buzz might miss: some children still need someone to defend their right to be different.

It’s Already a ‘Toy Story’ Summer

Hollywood has produced plenty of nostalgic sequels over the years. Toy Story 5 appears to have benefited from something more enduring.

By luring audiences to theaters, Toy Story 5 is helping the domestic movie industry experience its strongest box office since before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Disney reported that the first four Toy Story films achieved more than 60 million hours on Disney+in the run-up to Toy Story 5’s release, which is the largest lift Disney has seen for an upcoming theatrical release. The movie’s theme song, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” co-written by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff, has earned the biggest week for a single so far in 2026. Already, Toy Story 5 is a multimedia success, online and offline.