August 6, 2026 – Long after childhood's end and the toys are left behind, Toy Story keeps finding new ways to keep old toys not only relevant, but renewed. Toy Story continues in this episode with the toys up against a new challenge, social media.

Social media, and its deleterious effect on children and all of society, has resulted in legal restrictions against social media use by children in Australia, China, Germany, Italy and Maylasia, with many European countries making plans to follow suit. This Toy Story addresses some of the same issues these laws try to address, such as social isolation, mental health issues and a withdrawal from actual, real life friendships.

In this story, eight-year-old Bonnie, who has trouble making friends, receives a computer play tablet named Lilypad “Lily” from her parents. Bonnie soon becomes addicted to Lily and begins to neglect her toys, including the cowgirl toy Jessie, who has assumed a leadership position over Bonnie's other toys. Tension grows between Lilypad and the other toys. Jessie and the other toys are alarmed at what is happening to Bonnie, but Lilypad thinks Bonnie is O.K.

Lilypad assumes it is superior to Bonnie's old toys and tries to help Bonnie make friends by sending out friend requests to other children on social media. This seems to work well at first, but then the other children begin to make fun of Bonnie because her interests and sensibilities are different from theirs. Bonnie sees their mockery of her on social media and becomes depressed. Realizing that Bonnie needs real friends who share Bonnie's interests, Jessie sends word to her old friend Woody and asks him for help.

Woody and his friends have taken on the task of rescuing discarded toys. This problem has been getting worse as more children get addicted to social media and abandon their toys. Woody responds to Jessie's request for help and joins her, in the battle against addictive social media. A series of adventures ensues, as Jessie, Woody and the other toys try to cheer up Bonnie and help her find a real friend. Along the way, the toys on the rescue mission find some more toys that have been discarded at another house. The discarded toys turn out to be helpful in getting Bonnie together with a new friend. A whole army of Buzz Lightyear toys from a shipwreck gets into the act as well.

Writer-directors McKenna Harris and Andrew Stanton have crafted a funny and heartwarming story with a real emotional impact about the importance of love and real friendship. Most of the people and toys in this movie are just trying to do the right thing. In today's world, that is complicated, but in this story, the toys get together to set things right. Even the talented people at Pixar go astray once in a while, but here, they find their way back home. This movie rates a B+.

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