REVIEW: ‘Toy Story 5’ sounds the alarm on childhood screen addiction – with Pixar’s trademark charm

Bonnie is an 8-year-old girl with a vivid imagination and boundless creativity. She recently staged a “wedding” between a plastic fork and a knife. She regularly invents adventures with her cowgirl doll Jessie and plush horse, Bullseye. And, of course, there’s her space ranger friend Buzz, who often joins her on make-believe trips to the stars.

But Bonnie is also an introverted child who struggles to make friends. Hoping to help her connect with others, her parents do what many modern parents might do: They buy her a personal tablet-like device – called a Lilypad.

Not surprisingly, Bonnie soon becomes entranced with her new tablet – so much so that her traditional toys begin wondering whether they’ve been replaced.

“I’m losing Bonnie to a device,” Jessie confides to a fellow toy.

Will Bonnie ever play with traditional toys again?

The new movie Toy Story 5 (PG) follows Bonnie and her parents as they navigate the challenges of technology, screen time and childhood in the digital age. That journey becomes more difficult when Bonnie grows moody and withdrawn after spending hours on her Lilypad – and then irritable whenever its battery dies and she’s forced to find something else to do. The situation takes a more serious turn when Bonnie becomes the target of online bullies.

The film contrasts Bonnie’s love of traditional toys with the screen-centered lives of the neighborhood children – all of whom are glued to their devices when Jessie climbs the house after sunset in search of a playmate for Bonnie. The other children are “just sitting there doing nothing – they ain’t playing with toys at all,” Jessie says.

Toy Story 5 includes the charm and heart that have made the franchise a family favorite for more than three decades, while delivering a timely message our screen-addicted culture desperately needs to hear. After all, Bonnie’s gift for creativity and imagination begins to fade under the influence of the Lilypad, which even leads to her being mocked for her love of toys. Her screen isn’t simply introducing something harmful; it’s replacing something valuable – creativity, play and real-world friendship.

The back end of the film follows Jessie (Joan Cusack), Buzz (Tim Allen) and fan-favorite Woody (Tom Hanks) as they work to bring Bonnie together with Blaze, a farm girl across town who shares her love of imaginative play and hasn’t been consumed by screens. By the time the credits roll, Lilypad is out of the picture.

Lilypad isn’t depicted as a villain – but she’s far from the harmless companion that Woody and the gang are, either.

Toy Story 5 is like a giant billboard for parents: Think twice before handing your child a personal device. The film’s message is reinforced by a growing body of research showing that excessive screen time can hinder children’s social development and contribute to anxiety, depression and other emotional challenges.

It’s one of the best family films of the year.

Toy Story 5 is rated PG for some thematic elements and rude humor. Entertainment rating: 5 out of 5 stars.