Updated

Updated · Slate · Jun 17

Woody, Jessie Battle Bonnie's Screen Habit After Lily the Lilypad Replaces Her Old Toys

Updated

Updated · Slate · Jun 17

Woody, Jessie Battle Bonnie's Screen Habit After Lily the Lilypad Replaces Her Old Toys

Q: Does Woody's return threaten Jessie's new leadership role as sheriff?

No. The available reporting indicates Woody’s return supports Jessie’s leadership rather than undermining it. The film explicitly positions Jessie as Bonnie’s sheriff after Woody handed over that role at the end of *Toy Story 4*. Coverage of *Toy Story 5* describes Jessie as the character taking center stage, with director Andrew Stanton framing this installment as a major Jessie story and exploring her emotional arc, including abandonment and purpose. Woody’s role appears to be functional and emotional, not political within the toy group. He is called back to help rescue Jessie and Bullseye and to deal with Bonnie’s growing fixation on Lily the Lilypad and screen-based play. That makes him more of a returning ally than a rival claimant to authority. The broader conflict is also external, not internal. The movie’s tension comes from Bonnie’s shifting attention to digital technology and the toys’ struggle to remain relevant, not from a power contest between Woody and Jessie. Even when Woody becomes active in the rescue mission, that is presented as mission leadership in a crisis, not a reversal of Jessie’s status as sheriff. Taken together, the story suggests Woody’s return reinforces the group’s bond while leaving Jessie’s leadership intact.

3 articles · Updated · Slate · Jun 17

Jessie and Woody drive Toy Story 5 as Bonnie’s new interactive toy, Lily the Lilypad, pulls the 8-year-old away from her older toys and into heavy screen use.
Bonnie’s online turn backfires when a group chat with 3 girls from her dance class leaves her mocked for still playing with toys, sharpening the film’s conflict over digital play.
Jessie and Bullseye are stranded in another child’s bedroom after a series of mishaps, forcing Bonnie’s toys to call Woody back to mount a rescue and try to reconnect Bonnie with imaginative play.
Andrew Stanton’s first turn directing the franchise in its 5th installment updates the original Toy Story rivalry for the internet age, but the review says the film stops short of making Lily a simple villain.
Across 31 years of the series, the sequel is framed as a timely argument about childhood in the digital era, using new gadget-toy characters and action-heavy set pieces to defend play rather than reject technology.