They’ve got a friend in us
Despite the multiple attempts to put the franchise to rest and having us kids who grew up on the first movie say goodbye to our favorite toys, the Toy Story franchise keeps chugging along, whether it be by shorts or spin-offs. But on a couple of occasions, Pixar felt they had something strong enough to warrant a full-blown sequel and here we are with a Toy Story 5. And you know what? Audiences are still flocking to it. It’s the series that transcends generations because at some point, we all play with toys.
Toy Story 5’s still got the juice
According to Deadline, Toy Story 5 is proving that the franchise still has legs with an early Thursday preview of $17.5 million at the box office. This beats Toy Story 4‘s preview of $12 million, but falls below The Incredibles 2‘s $18.5 million. This makes Toy Story 5 the second-best in early weekend openings. Our EIC has pointed out that there hasn’t been a big animated movie since The Super Mario Galaxy Movie back in April, so even if some warn of franchise fatigue (the kind that doomed The Mandalorian and Grogu), it shouldn’t hurt Pixar this time around.
What did we think of Toy Story 5?
The film was getting good buzz (no pun intended) prior to its release and our Chris Bumbray echoed the positive reactions with an 8/10 review, where he says, “Toy Story 5 is terrific and, at certain moments, comes close to equaling the original trilogy. In fact, the first half hour of the film may be the strongest in the series to date, even if it begins to spin its wheels a bit later on. Ultimately, the film winds up just a notch below the original trilogy, but well ahead of the fourth movie and easily Pixar’s strongest overall film since its heyday.”
He also stated, “In the end, I had a wonderful time with Toy Story 5, which benefits from having the director of Finding Nemo and WALL-E, Andrew Stanton, at the helm. It genuinely feels designed as a full-circle experience for the kids who grew up with the original trilogy and are now in their thirties or forties, facing many of the same issues Jessie is. It’s bittersweet, often moving, and much closer to the brilliance of the original trilogy than you might expect.”
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