Toy Story 5 Softens Tech-Addiction Critique as Disney-Pixar Ties It to a Real Lilypad Product
Updated
Updated · Vulture · Jun 18
Toy Story 5 Softens Tech-Addiction Critique as Disney-Pixar Ties It to a Real Lilypad Product
3 articles · Updated · Vulture · Jun 18
Summary
Disney and Pixar blunt Toy Story 5’s warning about kids’ screen dependence by centering Lilypad—a tablet-like device they are also turning into a real LeapFrog product.
That tie-in leaves the film criticizing compulsive device use only lightly, offering parents reassurance instead of harder questions about limiting children’s access to connected screens.
Bonnie, now 8, spends hours fixated on Lilypad, and even after group-chat bullying her parents disable one function rather than remove the device—underscoring the movie’s softer stance.
The review says the sequel still delivers one standout emotional sequence and welcome returns for Woody, Buzz, Jessie and Forky, but struggles to justify the franchise’s continued existence.
Set against Pixar’s longer history of wrestling with technology from WALL-E onward, the film is portrayed as repeating familiar Toy Story beats rather than seriously confronting digital life.