Disney’s dilemma with Toy Story 5

Woody and Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 5. Photo by Disney/Pixar

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Three decades ago, the first Toy Story movie burst onto cinema screens, its computer-generated animation signalling a stunning new cinematic breakthrough.

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But these days, technology is increasingly suspect, and now we have a bizarre situation that sees one of the most successful franchises in Hollywood history questioning its very roots with a cautionary tale about the perils of progress.

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Toy Story 5 may be making tons of money, but it also finds itself under assault from more than one quarter. There are those who think this latest instalment in a lucrative CGI success story shows a further decline in quality. There are others who applaud it for reflecting current social concerns by putting Woody and his toy-box pals under threat from a menacing tablet named Lilypad. There are still others who, believing that all tech advancement is sacrosanct, see Toy Story 5 as an outrageous act of betrayal by a franchise that owes its very existence to the march of progress.

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Meanwhile, an online trawl through this continuing debate suggests that many feel that this latest Pixar entry doesn’t go far enough.

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“Toy Story 5 chickens out on its critique of our own Tech Addictions” — that’s the verdict of one reviewer.

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There’s a delicious irony to this situation. Thirty years ago when the original Toy Story romped onto screens and demonstrated the wonders of computer-generated imagery, it was hailed as revolutionary. Such accolades were premature: there were serious limitations to the technology.

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But mythology prevailed, and as Hollywood scrambled to get onto the CGI bandwagon, traditionalists would see Toy Story and what it represented as a high-tech enemy, an unstoppable force that would kill the classic, hand-drawn artistry that had given us films such as Bambi, Snow White and The Lion King.

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This was always a faulty indictment. Traditional animation remains with us to this day — but not at major Hollywood studios where the boardroom brass, always seduced by the latest bauble, would soon abandon the past and commit their dollars to a CGI present. Even Disney, once it brought Pixar securely under its umbrella, would eventually throw its own groundbreaking heritage under the bus.

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There is no denying the glories of Toy Story, an undeniable charmer, or Shrek or Finding Nemo. But this hasn’t stopped key figures in the CGI revolution from mourning Hollywood’s sanctioned demise of old- fashioned 2D animation. They knew that the old ways often worked better.

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Dollars aside, how formidable has been CGI’s affect animation history? The Collider website recently submitted its choice of the 10 greatest animated films of the last century, Only three — Toy Story, Shrek and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse — are CGI products. So much for revolutions.