Will Woody or Buzz Lightyear save the toys from extinction?
That question was at the heart of the “Toy Story 5” footage that Disney and Pixar shared with theater owners on Thursday at CinemaCon. One scene found the toys dealing with being shunted aside by their owner Bonnie (Scarlett Spears), in favor of Lilypad (Greta Lee), a tablet designed in the face of a frog that allows its owner to build chat groups and play interactive games with friends for hours and hours. That could spell the end of the line for Sporkey, Rex, Hamm, Bo Peep and the other dolls and action figures that once delighted Bonnie. So to figure out a way to battle all that screen time, the toys send out an SOS to Woody, who arrives, in the second sequence, paunchier, balder (“someone needs a brown marker”) and wearing a poncho that’s straight out of a Clint Eastwood Western. But that makes Buzz feel unappreciated and the two friends soon clash over who has been deputized to save the day.
Clearly the world of toys has changed a lot since 1995 when the first film debuted in theaters. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, who took the stage in Las Vegas to debut the first look, acknowledged that 30 years have passed since “Toy Story” first captivated audiences.
“We looked at a video of us doing the first one — we look like our grandchildren,” Allen quipped, while Hanks said he looked like he was in “junior high school” when he saw the behind-the-scenes look.
Along with Hanks and Allen, the cast includes Joan Cusack, Greta Lee, Tony Hale and Conan O’Brien. Andrew Stanton, who oversaw “WALL-E” and “Finding Nemo,” directs. The film is expected to be one of the year’s biggest given that the franchise has generated over $3 billion at the global box office.
As part of its show-and-tell to exhibitors, Disney showed footage and teasers from “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” “Avengers: Doomsday” and the live-action remake of “Moana.” Disney has a lot of fans in theater owners, not only because it releases major blockbusters, but due to its commitment to leaving its movies in cinemas for at least 45 days. Windowing, or the length of time a movie is exclusively on the big screen, has been a major topic at this year’s cinema.
“Toy Story 5” is scheduled to be released in the United States on June 19.
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From Variety US