‘Toy Story 5’ starring Tom Hanks, Joan Cusack’s favorite childhood toy
The Toy Story 5 cast, including stars Tom Hanks and Joan Cusack, choose their favorite childhood toys.
NEW JERSEY — On a Monday night in Cranford, dozens of families gather around a 40-foot-tall television to teach their children a lesson about screens.
Woody and Buzz have survived sadistic neighbors, evil toys, and an overbearing nursery school ruler. But in Toy Story 5, which hits theaters June 19, their latest enemy is something millions of parents are already familiar with: the screen. Across the country, parents seeking balance with technology are using the film to start conversations in their homes.
“That’s something everyone cares about,” said Blair Maroney, a mother who came to the screening with her 6-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. “If something like this happens, it can surface and get people talking about it.”
Families of nearly 60 elementary school students participated in the screening and brief discussion after the film, hosted by the Balance Project, a nonprofit organization that aims to help children balance independence and mindful use of technology. The turnout reflects parents’ growing concerns about answering questions about screens, free play and childhood in the age of tablets and AI chatbots. The group also hosted screenings in Arlington, Virginia, and has screenings planned for next week in Shrewsbury and Highlands, New Jersey.
(Warning: Spoilers ahead!)
‘Toy Story 5’ tackles conversations about screens, free-to-play and the rise of iPad kids
A few cell phones glow in the dark as parents scroll before the movie begins. Restless children, excited by sugary drinks and chocolate bars, struggle to sit still in the theater’s red vinyl seats. The crowd falls silent as the screen shifts to a desolate land of forgotten toys.
About 15 minutes into the film, viewers are introduced to Lilypad, a new tablet with the ability to play games, answer questions at lightning speed, and communicate through a chat platform called “The Pond.”
The Cranford audience shifts in their seats. Bonnie becomes the toy’s owner at the end of Toy Story 3 and quickly becomes obsessed with it.
As Bonnie spends more time on her device, she becomes increasingly withdrawn, even though she appears to be connected to more friends online. Jesse, with the help of Woody and Buzz, sets out to help Bonnie make friends in the real world.
At one point, Jesse befriends a gang of high-tech toys, including a low-tech potty training product called Smarty Pants and GPS and camera devices Atlas and Snappy. As the toys work together to help Bonnie, 8-year-old audience member Molly Moscatiello turns to her mother, the founder of the Balance Project.
“Here, you can use it as a tool,” she said, gesturing toward the screen.
The correct and incorrect answers to “Toy Story 5” according to parents and experts
Kathy Hirsch-Pasek, a psychology professor at Temple University who studies the role of play, praised the film for its timely depiction of technology “as our lives move into the age of AI.”
The film builds on a May recommendation from the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office, which warned that screen use begins in early childhood. And more experts are talking about the rise of iPad babies (toddlers who can be seen glued to their screens in restaurants, grocery stores, and on airplanes) and chatbot companions, which are gaining attention in the wake of high-profile lawsuits over children’s mental health.
A 2025 Pew Research report found that 62% of children under the age of 2 watch YouTube, up from 45% in 2020, and 84% of children between the ages of 2 and 4. Nine out of 10 parents say their children under 12 watch TV, but 68% use a tablet and 61% use a smartphone. Approximately 1 in 10 parents say their child aged 5-12 has used an AI chatbot such as ChatGPT or Gemini.
“‘Toy Story’ is a wake-up call for parents,” Hirsh-Pasek says. “My hope is that the nostalgia parents have for this film, and the beautiful way it’s expressed in the film, will help them realize that we’re losing more than we’re gaining.”
In the end, Lily redeems herself. She is not portrayed as evil, but as misguided and misunderstood. Woody even says that Lily is “one of us.”
Shara M. Broughman, a New York-based licensed clinical psychologist, said she would have liked to see Lily ostracized like the villains in “The Lion King” and “Sleeping Beauty.” She worries that the ending will simplify Lily’s character from bad to good.
“It seems like the bad guys weren’t really that bad after all,” Broughman said. “Younger children did not understand the nuances and negative critical comments that adults would have understood about what this film was saying about cyberbullying and mental health.”
Nikki Petrossi, a low-tech parent advocate who runs the podcast “Scrolling 2 Death,” said in a June 21 video that she found Lily’s morality unrealistic.
Petrossi shared in an Instagram post: “I have a little problem with Lilypad having such a time of introspection and sacrificing herself for Bonnie’s happiness.” “That’s not how these devices and the people who make them work. They want our children’s attention more than anything.”
Brofman also pointed out the irony that a movie about the harms of technology ends up promoting a technology product. Belkin sells Lilypad-themed iPad cases, and LeapFrog Toys has launched a tablet-like Lilypad device for 3- to 5-year-olds. Its description touts that kids can “stay connected with Jesse, Buzz, Woody, and the Tech Trio by sending text messages using emojis and preset messages.”
“This definitely kind of obscures, if not erases, the important commentary that I think this film worked hard to make about the harms of these devices on cognitive, social and emotional development and mental health,” Broughman says.
The conversation continues even after returning to the theater.
After the movie, some families stop to take pictures with the life-sized Woody and Andy as restless children run around the lobby and adults check their phones for missed messages.
It was a full-circle moment for parents like Jamie Knight, who saw the original Toy Story in theaters when it premiered in 1995 and now sits next to their children.
Knight and Maloney co-founded the Balance Project’s Scotch Plains and Fanwood communities in January.
“There’s a moment where Jesse says, ‘These devices are growing too fast,’ and that really resonated,” Knight says. “Childhood is very short to begin with, so let’s not make it any shorter.”
So, if you ask me who is your favorite character?
“Lily,” Knight’s 6-year-old daughter Brooke exclaimed. “I love frogs, too,” said Maroney’s 5-year-old daughter May. When she pulled the Jessie toy she had brought with her, she heard a voice say, “Yee-haa!”
Taylor Lewandowski, 10, said the film’s technology theme was important. Some of her friends use Roblox “all the time,” she says. She is only allowed to use the family’s iPad on weekends, and she can get frustrated with that rule.
But her main thought was about Rosie, the stuffed koala she always played with.
A few years ago they were best friends. When Rosie came home from school, she would climb on the chandelier or sit at her desk. But lately, she’s been sitting untouched among a pile of toys.
After seeing Toy Story 5, Taylor said he plans to take her back.
Rachel Hale’s role covering youth mental health for USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Pivotal and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input. Contact her at rhale@usatoday.com.@rachleighhale With X.
