The reunion of the beloved ‘Toy Story’ stars took place under sunny skies in central London this Thursday. The much-awaited U.K. premiere event featured many famous faces, including Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, newcomer Greta Lee, and the director, Andrew Stanton.
Scheduled for release on June 19, the new installment of the franchise addresses the impact of technology on everyone, especially children. In the movie, an eight-year-old Bonnie gets her first gadget and struggles with excessive screen time. Weighing in on the movie’s central theme, Hanks shared a crushing take on technology.
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Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Tom Hanks teased some moving moments in the fifth installment. “These movies, they end up speaking [to] and puts in words [and] stuff that everybody is thinking anyway,” he explained, referring to Disney’s tackling of technology problems.
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“There’s one of the most heartbreaking scenes I’ve ever seen in any of the Toy Story movies—when that little girl is getting her feelings hurt by what other people are texting about her, and she doesn’t understand why,” the actor revealed.
“She doesn’t know what she did wrong, but it hurts, and that is a very prescient thing to have in a motion picture today about little kids and toys, don’t you think?” Additionally, Hanks mentioned he experienced many moments of surprise while playing Woody and being part of the franchise.
Turns out, the role made him feel a range of emotions. “They always take me to some other emotional place that I’m both happy to [go] and mad that they’re going to make me do this,” he jokingly noted.
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Meanwhile, Tim Allen expressed his delight in showing viewers new dimensions of Buzz Lightyear. For those not familiar, the movie features an incredible scene with 500 versions of Buzz. The group will take on a tablet named Lilypad, which is stealing Bonnie’s attention.
“There’s a lot of Buzz in this, a lot of different Buzzes,” Allen noted. “They’ve opened up what he is and what makes him special. I think the word you’re looking for is Space Ranger.” Allen also agreed with Hanks, saying that the project impressed him in its originality and uniqueness.
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“We’ve dealt with things I couldn’t…I’m really impressed Pixar did this, that they came up with an idea—that they actually do.” As someone who has been watching these movies all along, Allen is convinced that they will inspire many parents whose children spend too much time on gadgets.
According to him, one can’t push people to go outdoors and play. But he believes such movies can always encourage people. They can show how engaging with friends and toys in real life can be more satisfying. Talking about the creation of the movie, Andrew Stanton admitted to being aware of its plot from the very beginning.
“…One of the first things that came to mind was I knew I wanted it to be about Jessie, I knew that devices were sticking around for years with kids—they weren’t going away after the pandemic, and I knew 50 Buzzes made me laugh,” he said. “So I started out with those ingredients from the grocery store.”
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