At the film’s U.K. launch event in London last week, Hanks described a scene from the upcoming Pixar film as among the most emotionally devastating he has encountered across the entire franchise. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor said the scene depicts a young girl being hurt by messages others are sending about her. She does not understand why she is being targeted or what she has done wrong — and that confusion, Hanks said, is what makes it so painful.
“That is a very prescient thing to have in a motion picture today about little kids and toys, don’t you think?” Hanks said, adding that the film confronts society’s growing reliance on devices and screens.
Toy Story 5 centers on Bonnie receiving a Lilypad tablet as a gift. Her obsession with it forces Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the gang to contend with technology as an existential threat to playtime. The film opens June 19.
Tim Allen, returning as Buzz Lightyear after years of uncertainty about his involvement, echoed Hanks’s admiration for the script’s ambition. Allen said he was struck that Disney and Pixar — tech companies themselves — were willing to scrutinize their own role in the cultural shift away from physical play. He recalled preview screenings falling completely silent during key scenes, with audiences left murmuring that the film reflects where childhood is heading. “You can’t make people play again,” Allen said, “but you can show them that engagement with toys and engagement with your life and your friends is a little more satisfying than being on your device.”
Directed by Andrew Stanton and co-directed by Kenna Harris, the film marks Harris’s feature directorial debut. The returning cast also includes Joan Cusack and Tony Hale, while Anna Faris, Ernie Hudson and Conan O’Brien join as new additions. Randy Newman returns to score the film — his fifth Toy Story feature.
Hanks said the franchise has consistently taken him to emotional territory he does not expect. The cyberbullying scene, he suggested, is no different — a small, quiet moment inside an animated children’s movie that lands with the weight of something much larger.
