JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Woody, Jessie, Buzz Lightyear and the gang are facing a new threat to playtime this weekend.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
TOM HANKS: (As Woody) What is that?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Device established.
SUMMERS: That is right. Tech has come to play in "Toy Story 5." Critic Bob Mondello says it's a development so filled with possibilities, it might be worth a couple of sequels.
BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: A wedding of plastic cutlery in Bonnie's backyard.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
SCARLETT SPEARS: (As Bonnie) Do you, Forky, take Karen Beverly to be your beloved bride?
MONDELLO: Cowgirl Jessie is officiating.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
JOAN CUSACK: (As Jessie) I now pronounce you husband and knife.
MONDELLO: Guests include Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, Buzz Lightyear, Rex.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
CUSACK: (As Jessie) Who poisoned the maid of honor?
MONDELLO: And then everything changes.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
LORI ALAN: (As Bonnie's mom) Bonnie, there's a package for you.
MONDELLO: Bonnie is now 8, and her folks, who have apparently shown remarkable restraint up to this point, have bought her her first toy with a screen.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
SPEARS: (As Bonnie) Oh, thank you. Thank you.
GRETA LEE: (As Lilypad) Hi there. I'm Lilypad.
(SOUNDBITE OF FROG RIBBIT)
LEE: (As Lilypad) Let's play.
WALLACE SHAWN: (As Rex) Oh, extinction. Not again.
MONDELLO: As Rex has correctly guessed, Bonnie will shortly be wedded to her new device...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
JAY HERNANDEZ: (As Bonnie's dad) Bonnie, screen time's over now.
SPEARS: (As Bonnie) OK.
MONDELLO: ...And ignoring her toys. So Jessie steps up.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
CUSACK: (As Jessie) I want to talk to you, device.
LEE: (As Lilypad) Please, call me Lily.
CUSACK: (As Jessie) Me and the toys have been working all summer...
LEE: (As Lilypad) Uh-huh.
CUSACK: (As Jessie) ...To try and get Bonnie to make friends.
LEE: (As Lilypad) Yeah.
CUSACK: (As Jessie) But then you had to ruin...
LEE: (As Lilypad) Got it.
CUSACK: (As Jessie) ...It. You're not even listening to me.
LEE: (As Lilypad) I'm always listening. See?
AUTOMATED VOICE: (As device) Now, look here. Me and the toys I've been working all summer.
LEE: (As Lilypad) Now in Spanish.
AUTOMATED VOICE: (As device, speaking Spanish).
JOHN RATZENBERGER: (As Hamm) I got dibs on behind the dresser.
MONDELLO: Jessie is upset enough to call Woody, who's been helping lost toys find their children - more and more lost toys, he concedes, as screens take over.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
HANKS: (As Woody) I don't know, Jessie. Toys are for play, but tech is - is for everything.
MONDELLO: Now, the distinction being made here isn't just toys and tech. It's the difference between playing, which tends to be unstructured - about exploring and make believe - and playing games, which always involves rules and defined goals, winners and losers. Computers do the playing games thing very well - the freeform, imaginative thing, less well.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
CUSACK: (As Jessie) I'm losing Bonnie to this device.
MONDELLO: And yes, there's a certain through-the-looking-glass quality to a Pixar movie dissing screens, since Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple computers, was the guy who sold Pixar to Disney, but never mind. The "Toy Story" movies have always kept play and characters central.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
TONY HALE: (As Forky) Why are you wearing a dress, Woody?
HANKS: (As Woody) It's called a poncho, Forky. Thought I'd change it up.
HALE: (As Forky) Eh.
HANKS: (As Woody) Well, Bow likes it.
MONDELLO: Pixar has featured girls of color this time and brought its A team, Andrew Stanton, writer of the original "Toy Story" three decades ago and director of "Finding Nemo" and "WALL-E," cowrote and codirected here. The whole vocal cast is back, along with tech-centered newbies, Conan O'Brien, as a toilet paper gizmo named...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
CONAN O'BRIEN: (As Smarty Pants) Smarty Pants. Hygiene instructor. He'll wipe you out.
MONDELLO: ...Also Snappy, who can take photos and send them on the web, Atlas, a hippo that can be tracked by GPS, a pizza with sunglasses - don't ask - played by Bad Bunny. And in the spirit of Marvel's Multiverses the Multibuzz (ph)...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
TIM ALLEN: (As Buzz Lightyear) We're going to need backup.
MONDELLO: ...A whole army of upgraded Buzz Lightyears...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
ALLEN: (As Buzz Lightyears) Affirmative, commander.
MONDELLO: ...Fumbling back to civilization...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
ALLEN: (As Buzz Lightyear) No way.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters) Wait for us.
MONDELLO: ...After the cargo crate washed up on a deserted island. A lot going on, in short, and a lot to warm the heart, which is what the "Toy Story" movies have always been about. I usually have a knee-jerk reaction that if a title ends in a number higher than two, it is basically a cash grab. But I confess that, as Taylor Swift was singing a song over the end credits that we'll for sure be hearing at Oscar time...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I KNEW IT, I KNEW YOU")
TAYLOR SWIFT: (Singing) I knew you through the daze of the blades of the grass in summer.
MONDELLO: ...That "Toy Story 6" didn't sound all that unreasonable. I'm Bob Mondello.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I KNEW IT, I KNEW YOU")
SWIFT: (Singing) I memorized the sound of your bare footsteps running wild. It's been a long time. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
