In Toy Story 5, the problem really is these damn phones (and tablets)

The Toy Story franchise began with a story about a vintage doll feeling threatened by the arrival of an electronic action figure. Woody and Buzz’s rivalry embodied a shift that was happening in the ’90s as children’s toys were becoming more technologically sophisticated , and while toys have gotten even more tech-focused in the years since, there’s also an entirely new world of smart gadgets and digital platforms that now shape kids’ playtime. Though Toy Story 5 is a continuation of Woody and Buzz’s adventures in humanland, it is also a poignant exploration of what it’s like for kids to grow up in a world where they’re often encouraged to experience life through screens. The movie frames tech as an almost inescapable element of our reality that can hurt us in ways that outweigh its potential benefits. But its story highlights how — for all of tech’s potential to do harm — we still have the ability to choose when and how we let newfangled devices into our personal lives. Set a few years after Toy Story 4 , the new feature from director Andrew Stanton (who cowrote the script with Kenna Harris) zooms in on a now eight-year-old Bonnie Anderson (Scarlett Spears) as she enters a new phase of her childhood. When she’s by herself, Bonnie still loves coming up with elaborate melodramas for Jessie (Joan Cusack), Buzz (Tim Allen), and Forky (Tony Hale) to star in, but she’s self-conscious about playing with toys around her new neighbors. …