Review: 'Toy Story 5' brings the playthings back for another fun adventure, and delivers a gentle message about limiting screen time

It’s time to play with your favorite toys again, as Pixar bring out “Toy Story 5,” the latest chapter of the animation studio’s longest and most durable franchise — a witty and warm-hearted adventure that makes a strong case for the importance of physical play in an increasingly digital world.

Little Bonnie (voiced by Scarlett Spears) still likes to play with her toys — Jessie the cowgirl (voiced by Joan Cusack), Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen) and the rest — but she’s starting to notice that other kids don’t want to play with her. They’re all spending their time looking at screens, so Bonnie asks her parents to let her have one, too.

Her parents, eager to help Bonnie fit in, get her a Lilypad, an electronic gadget that provides both games and social contact with the girls from her dance class. Bonnie’s toys, now led by Jessie, see Lilypad (voiced by Greta Lee) as a threat to their existence — and Lily, programmed to believe that what she’s offering is in the child’s best interests, isn’t going to give up her new dominance easily.

Jessie enlists some help, their old friend Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) — who, if you remember from “Toy Story 4,” has teamed up with Bo Peep (voiced by Annie Potts) to help abandoned and discarded toys in the wild. 

Before Woody arrives, though, Jessie and her horse, Bullseye, get separated from the rest — and end up at the house where Jessie’s first owner lived. (We even see the tree with the tire swing where Jessie was abandoned, first seen in a flashback scene from “Toy Story 2” with that tear-inducing Sarah McLachlan song.) 

The family living in the house today includes a little girl, Blaze (voiced by Mykal-Michelle Harris), and Jessie sees that Blaze could be the real friend Bonnie really needs. Jessie finds that she must make new friends with Blaze’s discarded tech devices — including a toilet-training gizmo, Mr. Smarty Pants (voiced by Conan O’Brien) — to reach Bonnie through Lilypad.

Director and co-screenwriter Andrew Stanton — who directed “Finding Nemo” and “WALL-E,” and has wiring credits on all five “Toy Story” movies — creates a sprightly story that likely will appeal to viewers of all ages. Stanton and co-director/co-writer McKenna Harris also deliver a firm argument for the importance of limiting children’s screen time and encouraging physical play and its imagination-stretching benefits, which has been a welcome constant ever since Buzz arrived in Andy’s room more than 30 years ago.  

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‘Toy Story 5’

★★★1/2

Opens Friday, June 19, in theaters everywhere. Rated PG for some thematic elements and rude humor. Running time: 102 minutes.