The only thing stronger than a child’s attachment to their toys is their addiction to screentime.
Seven years after Woody (Tom Hanks) said an emotional goodbye to Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and the gang at the end of Toy Story 4, the heroic pair is reuniting to face their toughest villain to date: a tablet.
In the first trailer for Toy Story 5, the band of toys, including Rex (Wallace Shawn), Forky (Tony Hale), Hamm (John Ratzenberger), Bo Peep (Annie Potts), and Trixie (Kristen Schaal), summons Woody and Buzz to save them from the extinction-level threat that has taken over Bonnie’s attention.
“Extinction? Not again!” yells toy dinosaur Rex.
After the toys’ new owner, Bonnie (Emily Hahn), receives a tablet in the mail, the toys must fight for their place amongst the girl’s new, technologically-advanced childhood. How can the toys possibly compete with the new Lilypad tablet, which can speak to her, translate her words into Spanish, and give her internet-backed information at the touch of a finger?
“Is it as bad out there for toys as it seems?” asks Jessie the Cowgirl (Joan Cusack).
“We’re finding more abandoned toys each day,” Woody, whose suddenly balding head highlights his advanced age, laments as he rescues a discarded luchadore action figure.
“Toys are for play, but tech is for everything,” he concludes.
The new trailer shows the toys using old-school technology, like taped-together walkie-talkies, and the power of friendship, including an army of Buzz Lightyears, to pull Bonnie’s attention away from the addictive device and refocus it towards making new friends and using her imagination.
“Times may change,” the trailer writes, “but friends are forever.”
In the franchise’s three-decade run, the toys have faced off against bullies, adult toy collectors, and other toys who have given up on their children. Their new battle for relevancy in the technology age may prove their toughest challenge yet.
The first installment, Toy Story, released in 1995, received a Special Achievement Oscar for being the first computer-animated feature film. The franchise has won four Academy Awards in total.
While the core cast remains the same, new voice actors will join the film, including Conan O’Brien and Greta Lee.
The film will release in theaters nationwide on June 19.
