The toys are back for playtime this Friday for Disney-Pixar’s Toy Story 5, and traders had high hopes for its Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The results, however, are running slightly higher than they expected.
In early June, before the review embargo dropped, traders on the market for Toy Story 5’s Rotten Tomatoes score predicted the film will finish with a Tomatometer rating of 93.3% by June 22. As of June 18, it’s sitting at 95% “Fresh” rating among movie critics.
What’s it about?
The new Toy Story movie picks up two years after Toy Story 4. Woody, voiced by Tom Hanks, returns to Bonnie’s room after life on the road. Some old favorites are still part of Bonnie’s collection, like Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Tim Allen, cowgirl Jessie, voiced by Joan Cusack, and his trusty steed Bullseye.
Some new toys have also joined Bonnie’s toybox, like the toilet training tech toy Smarty Pants, voiced by Conan O’Brien, a knife turned into a talking toy named Karen Beverly, voiced by Melissa Villaseñor, and Pizza with Sunglasses, voiced by Bad Bunny.
However, a new high-tech toy joins Bonnie’s bedroom and threatens the rest of the gangs’ beloved playtime in the form of a kid-friendly tablet called Lilypad, voiced by Greta Lee. Bonnie becomes enamored with the new tech toy that lets her play games and interact with friends on “The Pond” and monopolizes her attention.
The positive reviews
The vast majority of reviews collected on RT.com gave the new Toy Story movie a big thumbs up.
The Boston Globe’s Odie Henderson gave the film three out of four stars and says it breathes new life into the franchise by addressing real-life trends through Jessie’s struggle to stay out of storage. The movie also makes “several very funny in-jokes about the logic of its universe, as well as use callbacks to emotional moments from prior installments. Jessie discovers a truth about herself that actually made me tear up.”
The San Jose Mercury News’ Randy Myers gave Toy Story 5 a full four stars. He said its moving storyline “will warm even the coldest of hearts, particularly in the scenes with Bonnie and Blaze combining their imaginations for collective creativity when they play with toys (re-created joyously through old-school animation).”
RogerEbert.com’s Robert Daniels awarded the movie three out of four stars. He calls it a strikingly relevant film that has something to say about how technology is affecting children’s attention and emotions. He also said he “couldn’t help but be moved by the animated picture’s digestible message, which resonates not only with parents and children alike but also with those worried about a social media culture that values creating an impossible standard by prioritizing image over being yourself.”
The negative reviews
The bad reviews may be in the minority but Toy Story 5 also received some not-so-glowing reviews from critics and media outlets.
The Film Maven’s Kristen Lopez gave the film a D+ rating. She says the problem with the new Toy Story movie is how it “seems even more adrift at how to tell the same story about toys questioning their existence that hasn’t been said before. The fragmented narratives have diminishing returns on interest, and the war between tech and toys ends up remarkably simplistic and twee (especially for a company that has embraced tech for decades).”
IGN’s Clint Gage questioned the necessity of a fifth Toy Story film in this day and age. He says the movie has some fun moments with its classic characters but “this movie may be more of a downer than it was fun.”
Despite a small number of mixed reviews, Toy Story 5 remains comfortably in "Fresh" territory and is currently tracking ahead of trader expectations. Whether it can maintain a score above 93.8% through opening weekend remains an open question.
The takeaway:
Kalshi markets now predict:
Toy Story 5’s Rotten Tomatoes rating: 93.8%
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