Tom Hanks Discusses Screen Addiction in Toy Story 5
US actor Tom Hanks has expressed that the latest installment of the Toy Story franchise sheds light on children's addiction to screens, describing the issue as one that evokes "terror in the heart."
The fifth film in the animated series features Woody, Buzz, and Jessie facing a new threat from a frog-like tablet called Lilypad, which captivates the children in the story.
"This is a generational thing," Hanks told the BBC's David Sillito. "One generation has this thing that defines them technologically in society, and they pour everything into it."
He added that the cast could relate to the storyline because they had all encountered the "disinterest" of young people who "look down at their phone, look up, look down, look up."
"A moment in the movie where we look out on the cityscape and we see that blue glow of a phone in bedrooms and whatnot, and it does strike terror into the heart," Hanks said.
Returning Cast and New Characters
Toy Story 5, scheduled for release later this month, features Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Joan Cusack reprising their roles as Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and Jessie respectively. Greta Lee, known for her role in Past Lives, joins the cast as the voice of Lilypad.
Previous Toy Story villains have included characters such as Lotso, a large purple teddy bear; Sid, a troubled next-door neighbor; Al, a ruthless toy collector; and Gabby Gabby, a vintage doll with sinister motives. However, the new antagonist in Toy Story 5 is technology itself, presenting a novel challenge.
This theme resonates with parents worldwide and arrives amid ongoing discussions about the potential negative effects of excessive screen time, particularly involving social media.
Tim Allen on Modern Attention Spans
Tim Allen, who voices Buzz Lightyear, shared an anecdote about taking his teenage daughter to the cinema. He noted that she struggled to maintain focus throughout the film because children today "are so used to seven-second movies on Instagram."
"She actually looked at a motion picture and went, 'I get it! He's going to be the villain and they're going to do this'," Allen recalled.
He recounted having a minor disagreement with his daughter, telling her, "from now on, if we go to movie theatres, we watch the movie, and you can [complain] about it afterwards." He acknowledged, however, that she was not wrong.
Allen explained that young people are accustomed to narratives with a beginning, middle, and end within seven seconds, making it difficult for them to engage with a two-hour film, "other than Avatar," which he described as "an experience."
Soundtrack and Taylor Swift's Contribution
The soundtrack for Toy Story 5 will feature a new song by Taylor Swift titled "I Knew It, I Knew You." Swift expressed her excitement about contributing to the film, stating she had "always dreamed of getting to write for these characters who I've adored since I was a 5 year old kid watching the first Toy Story movie."
Origins and Evolution of Toy Story
Before its 1995 release, the original Toy Story film was not highly anticipated by critics, who viewed it as a children's movie with the novelty of being the first entirely computer-animated film.
However, Toy Story combined an engaging storyline and sharp script with impressive visuals. Children were naturally drawn to the concept of toys coming to life, while the film included witty jokes for adult audiences.
Allen described the experience of seeing the film for the first time as "really startling," noting that the aesthetic was initially unfamiliar compared to traditional cell animation.
"Anybody who saw the first one, compared to cell animation, thought it looked weird. It looked like, 'what are we watching?' But the story was really clever and they put it together with the two of us," he said, referring to himself and Hanks.
Early versions of the film showed promise, but Allen noted it took time for the creative team to develop the comedy and the characters of Woody and Buzz.
"They shot one that didn't come out so good," he said. "They made one that was a little bit too caustic. The two characters were fighting the whole time, it wasn't very interesting. But then they made Woody be a little more understanding and Buzz a little, forgive the word, dumber. He was self-delusional, he didn't realise that he was a toy. And it was really quite interesting. And that was new. They'd never done this before."
Franchise Success and New Themes
The success of Toy Story led to several sequels and the 2022 Buzz Lightyear spin-off, Lightyear, as well as significant sales of the toys featured in the films.
While earlier movies focused primarily on the toy world, Toy Story 5 is the first to address the impact of technology, exploring both its advantages and risks.
Critics have yet to provide their assessments of the new film and its effectiveness in addressing children's relationship with technology.
Joan Cusack and Parental Perspectives
Joan Cusack, who voices Jessie, expressed her belief that the film's storyline would "resonate" with parents who are managing screen time limits for their children.
Generational Views on Technology
Allen acknowledged that concerns about technology are not new and that each generation faces its own debates. He recalled his parents expressing similar worries when he was young.
"As soon as I said 'put that phone down', I remember my parents going 'turn the music off'," he laughed.
"Once FM radio came to the United States, and we started getting rock'n'roll, we listened to music all the time, my parents were saying 'turn that off', everywhere we went we had to have music playing. So there's some memory of this, and then once we got TV we wanted to watch TV all the time. So it's been around, the evolution of this has been around."
