The latest installment in the Disney & Pixar animated film series "Toy Story," "Toy Story 5" (directed by Andrew Stanton and co-directed by Kenna Harris), will be released on July 3rd. Eight still images from the film, showing familiar characters like Woody, Buzz, and Jessie, along with four new toys including the cutting-edge tablet LilyPad and the high-tech toilet training toy SmartyPants, were released all at once on May 13th.
"Toy Story" was Disney & Pixar's first feature film, with the first installment produced in 1995 and released in Japan in 1996. The story of a boy named Andy whose toys come to life and go on adventures when humans aren't looking, and the full CGI that brought toys like Woody and Buzz Lightyear to life, became a worldwide hit. The second installment was produced in 1999 (2000 in Japan), the third in 2010, and the fourth in 2019. Throughout the series, actor Toshiaki Karasawa voices Woody in the Japanese version, and entertainer George Tokoro voices Buzz Lightyear.
In the latest film, "Toy Story 5," Woody leaves Bonnie's room and works with his friends to help abandoned toys. Jessie, a cowgirl doll, takes over as the "sheriff" of Bonnie's room and leads the toys, watching over the imaginative and shy Bonnie as she grows up. Bonnie loves playing with toys like Jessie and Buzz, but the other kids have grown out of their toys and are engrossed in tablets, making it difficult for her to connect with them and make friends.
When Bonnie's parents, worried about her, present her with a state-of-the-art tablet, the "LilyPad," her daily life is turned upside down. Seeing Bonnie engrossed in the screen like other children, Jessie worries that the smile that shone in her playtime is fading, and she asks Woody for help. Teaming up again with Woody and Buzz, Jessie rises to the challenge of bringing Bonnie back to life... As Jessie and the other toys begin to question their own existence, wondering, "Are toys no longer needed these days?", the dynamic duo of Woody and Buzz Lightyear join forces once more to confront the threat of "digital."
The newly released stills show Woody and Buzz clashing with Lilypad, a rival who believes Bonnie needs to "graduate" from being a toy and catch up with the others, as well as scenes of the two interacting just like they did "back then" when they were both kicked out of the room. There are also scenes of Woody, who left to rescue abandoned toys, returning to Bonnie's room in a poncho for the first time in a while and reuniting with familiar friends like Forky, Mr. Potato Head, Hamm, and Rex, and a large group of Buzz cautiously making their way through the vegetation, raising expectations for the adventures that the iconic Woody and Buzz duo will embark on once again.
Furthermore, we get to see three new "high-tech toys" appearing alongside Jessie and Bullseye. Smarty Pants, a white toilet paper roll-shaped toy with colorful push buttons, is a sarcastic and talkative toilet training toy. Forgotten by his owner, he had been "sleeping" for a long time, but his encounter with Jessie has prompted him to venture out into the world again. Atlas, a blue hippopotamus-shaped toy, is a cheerful and reliable digital map toy. Equipped with GPS, he acts as a guide on adventures. Snappy, a pink toy digital camera, is cute and caring towards his friends. He treasures photos of memories.
Smarty Pants and his two friends always act together, but they meet Jessie and her friends along the way. What will become of the toys' home, and what is the "true role" that toys can play in this age where smartphones and tablets are commonplace...? Toy Story 5 will be released nationwide on July 3rd.
