Stubs - Toy Story 5

Toy Story 5 (2026) voices Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Conan O'Brien, Scarlett Spears, Greta Lee, Shelby Rabara, Mykal-Michelle Harris, Craig Robinson, Frank Welker. Directed by Andrew Stanton. Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Kenna Harris Produced by Lindsey Collins, Jessica Choi Run Time: 102 minutes. Color. USA Animated, Adventure, Comedy

The toys are back in town and it’s good to see them.

Honestly, I was a little nervous about this film, based on fears that the Toy Story franchise would eventually run out of steam. But after 31 years, I’m happy to say that it can still make me cry.

Second Opinion - Toy Story 4

Note: This review contains spoilers for Toy Story 4.

Toy Story 3 had arguably the perfect sendoff to the original Toy Story trilogy, ending it on a very emotional high note. The enduring popularity of the Toy Story brand, however, would ensure this would not last long, as a fourth entry, Toy Story 4, was released nine years later in 2019. While this movie is arguably a good example of an unnecessary sequel - I remember liking it when I first saw it, even importing a 3D Blu-ray copy - I hadn’t actually watched it again until recently when revisiting the series for the next unnecessary sequel, Toy Story 5. I still liked it on a second viewing, but still felt it didn't quite reach the same emotional high as the third film.

Toy Story 3 (Film)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3.

While a third entry to the popular Toy Story franchise would seem inevitable due to high box office returns, Toy Story 3 had quite a rough development. The short version is that, due to the distribution contract Pixar had signed, Disney owned the rights to all of their characters and could make sequels for any of their films, which strained the relationship between the two companies. Disney would push forward with their own Toy Story 3, to be produced by new studio Circle Seven Animation, for a 2008 release. Disney’s acquisition of Pixar, however, placed Disney Animation under new management, Ed Catmull and John Lasseter, with Circle Seven shutting down shortly after and sequel production transferred to Pixar. Pixar would craft a whole new story, which would eventually see the light of day as the final version of Toy Story 3 in 2010. Although the film would cost about $200 million to create, making it one of the most expensive films ever made at the time, it was the first animated film to make over $1 billion, even becoming the highest-grossing animated film ever until Frozen, and would receive numerous nominations and awards, including an Oscar for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (“We Belong Together”).

At the time the film came out, when I was in high school, I felt cautious optimism going in; optimism from Pixar’s flawless track record up to then and caution from how the third film in a series usually isn’t as good as the first two. Fortunately, it stuck the landing as perhaps the perfect ending to the trilogy (with not a dry eye in the audience by the time the credits rolled). Admittedly, I hadn’t seen this entry as much in the interim, partly due to the devastating emotional core and some rather heavy imagery, but by the time I finished watching it now, over 15 years later, I remembered why it had left an impact at the time it had come out. However, I had also forgotten how intense it could be at the same time.

Hoppers

As I said in my review of Elio, Pixar’s track record has proven rather hit and miss in the 2020s, complete with Elio itself finishing its theatrical run as a box office bomb that maybe made its $150 million budget back. This made me less enthusiastic about their follow-up film, Hoppers, at least at first. The more I saw the trailers, however, the more my curiosity got the better of me and I ended up watching it on opening weekend. Although I didn’t have high expectations going in, I had a genuinely good time and walked away with a willingness to actually rewatch a recent Pixar film later, which rekindled some hope for the studio’s future.

Zootopia 2

Ever since seeing the original Zootopia in 2016, I’ve always felt that there was a lot of untapped storytelling potential for its setting. While this has come in the form of comics and children’s books, as well as the short-form Disney+ series Zootopia+, I’ve felt a lot more could be done with a longer story, as the premise seems to lend itself perfectly to an episodic TV series. While this does not appear to be happening, the next best thing came nearly 10 years later with the announcement of the sequel film Zootopia 2, though my expectations were tempered a bit by Disney’s recent sequel track record. It is then fortunate that the film not only surpassed these expectations, but actually managed to improve on the first in some ways.

Tron: Ares

Note: This review contains spoilers for Tron: Legacy.

About fifteen years after the release of Tron: Legacy, and coincidentally about fifteen years after the start of this blog, Tron fans finally witnessed the release of a third film, Tron: Ares. Although Legacy director Joseph Kosinski had plans for a sequel, which would have been known as Tron: Ascension, it entered development hell due to a combination of Tomorrowland bombing at the box office and Disney’s buyouts of Lucasfilm and Marvel, though the company never outright cancelled it. Around 2017, plans shifted to the Jared Leto-led sequel that we have now, with a different writer (Jesse Wigutow), director (Joachim Rønning) and composer (Nine Inch Nails) to boot. As a fan of the franchise, I felt hyped going in despite the chosen lead, as I simply felt glad that Disney gave us more Tron at all. However, now that I’ve actually seen Ares, in IMAX 3D no less, I can happily say that although it’s not the best written installment, it was well worth the fifteen-year wait.

Elio

I hate to say this about a studio that I loved growing up, but the 2020s have not been kind to Pixar. Although they’ve had hits with Soul and Luca, duds like Lightyear and, to a lesser extent, Elemental have stood out far more than they would have in the past. This feeling perhaps contributed to my lack of motivation to see Elio, their latest release, based on both the original 2023 teaser and revised 2024 teaser, the latter of which had occurred due to a test screening in which not a single person said they liked it enough to watch it in a theater. My apathy felt justified when, despite the revised direction and positive critical reception, the film had bombed at the box office, making only $154 million on a budget of about $150-200 million. Of course, we remained undeterred in our streak of viewing every single Pixar film in some form or another and finally gave it a try when it hit Disney+. Sadly, although I did like it a little more than I thought I would, I still thought while the credits rolled that I would have felt ripped off if I had paid for the full theatrical experience.

Lilo & Stitch (2025)

2002 saw the release of Lilo & Stitch, which launched one of Disney’s most lucrative franchises that continues to see legacy support in some way, shape or form. As an anecdotal testament to this, I’ve attended the Animation Academy attraction twice on a trip the California Adventure park, where a Disney animator guides guests through drawing a character, and there was some crowd control for drawing Stitch in particular. 2025 eventually saw the franchise enter Disney’s recent push for remaking their animated films into live-action and/or very realistic CG, with the remake simply bearing the Lilo & Stitch moniker. As someone who is largely not a fan of this second wave of remakes, I was turned off enough by the announcement to not see it in a theater, but decided out of morbid curiosity to watch it anyway after it made its way to Disney+ just to see how bad it was. After satisfying my curiosity, I feel that skipping the theater was the right call on this one.

Stubs - Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts* (2025) starring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko,   Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus Directed by Jake Schreier. Screenplay by Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo. Based on Marvel Comics. Produced by Kevin Feige. Run time: 127 minutes. Color. USA. Superheroes, MCU

This summer saw the end of the MCU’s Phase Five, Thunderbolts*, and the beginning of Phase Six, The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Both under-performed at the box office but both were better films than might have been expected. My loyalty to the MCU sort of expired after the end of Phase Three. I’m sure I’m like a lot of viewers who decided after 11 years, the goal of the continued MCU seemed to have only one purpose, to make money. The expansion into “must see” TV shows didn’t help and my devotion faded.

However, I do like to keep my toe in, but I’m more cautious with my dollars. Thunderbolts* looked interesting but was it worth $100 to see it (tickets and refreshments included)? My answer at the time was no, and I waited for it to appear on Disney+, which it has done recently.

I will have to say that I was very surprised and the movie was very well-made, with good acting, action, and story.

Freakier Friday

While each generation can say they have their own adaptation of Mary Rodgers’ book Freaky Friday, probably one of the more iconic adaptations would be the 2003 film starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis. So much so, in fact, that it would be the first to get a sequel 22 years later, Freakier Friday, featuring the return of Lohan and Curtis in starring roles. I did have some interest in seeing this film after watching the 2003 Freaky Friday, but I will admit to having some concerns over its quality due to have Hocus Pocus 2 turned out. Feeling confident enough to see it in a theater, it was not only far better than I expected, but I even say it’s what Hocus Pocus 2 should have been.

Moana 2

Note: This review contains spoilers for Moana and Moana 2.

The success of Moana in 2016 meant an inevitable follow-up. In 2020, Disney originally announced such a follow-up as Moana: The Series, a five-episode long-form musical comedy series meant for Disney+ in 2023. During development, however, the team kept getting asked about putting it on the big screen to the point that in January 2024, the project had officially pivoted to a theatrical sequel with the original cast reprising their roles. Although the final film, Moana 2, released in November 2024 to mixed reviews, it still made over $1 billion against its budget of $150 million (a massive profit unless Disney’s accountants somehow believe otherwise). Based on word of mouth, I (fittingly) waited for the eventual Disney+ release so I could see the finished product for myself without potentially wasting good money watching it in a theater. As it turns out, Moana 2 really feels like five episodes of a TV series stapled together, making it the modern equivalent to the likes of Atlantis: Milo’s Return.

Second Look - Moana

When I first watched Moana in 2016, I will admit that I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it at the time, but I did at least like it enough to get a copy on Blu-ray to watch it again in the future. Although the Blu-ray went untouched for years, the arrival of its theatrical sequel on Disney+ gave me an excuse to revisit the movie, as well as re-evaluate it for more than just the animation. After watching it again for the first time in nearly a decade, I found it to be far better than I remembered it being. Barring maybe Encanto (which I thought was okay), I would even go so far as to say it was Disney’s last good animated movie in years.

Gnomeo & Juliet

Romeo and Juliet, one of the most well-known English language plays of all time, has inspired and influenced countless stories and received countless adaptations of its own. Since the setting doesn’t really matter for telling this story, it was perhaps inevitable that someone would have the idea of reenacting it with garden gnomes, as is the case with Gnomeo & Juliet. Although the film didn’t have the smoothest development, starting life as an Elton John passion project rejected by Disney until Miramax (under the same company) greenlit it in 2006, it did see the light of day through Disney’s Touchstone label (following a distribution shuffle) in 2011 to middling reviews, but a profitable box office run that earned nearly $200 million against a $36 million budget. In the years since, I had avoided watching the film based on the somewhat negative reputation that it and its sequel had developed. When I finally watched it through a 3D Blu-ray, however, I actually found it at least a bit more entertaining than its 55% Rotten Tomatoes score would suggest.

Deadpool & Wolverine

Following the success of the original Deadpool, Fox had plans for at least two sequels: Deadpool 2 and another film featuring the X-Force. However, the Disney/Fox Merger, which completed in 2019, nixed those plans and left the future of any X-Men films uncertain, though Disney CEO Bob Iger had assured audiences that Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool would be integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and that any Deadpool films would remain R-rated despite Marvel’s prior PG-13 output. While Marvel Studios spent some time gathering the creative team for a third Deadpool film, Hugh Jackman, who had retired the role of Wolverine after his performance in Logan, joined Reynolds on the project after learning that the film wouldn’t conflict with Logan. When filming finally started in 2023, the production faced a notable delay when the dual WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes kicked in, as the initial WGA strike meant that Reynolds couldn’t improvise any dialogue on set, but SAG-AFTRA joining in put filming on hold until its resolution, after which it compensated with a new release date of July 26, 2024.

The finished film, Deadpool & Wolverine, has released in a very interesting climate. Although the MCU remains popular, it has suffered diminishing returns during Phase Five and Marvel Studios has fatigued viewers to the point that they scaled back their TV and film production. Deadpool & Wolverine not only has the honor of the first R-rated MCU film, but also the only MCU film of 2024 (with Joker: Folie à Deux the only DC film of the year). On top of that, the film released during the same weekend as San Diego Comic-Con, which meant that thousands of fellow nerds potentially had to go up to four days dodging spoilers and I couldn’t watch it until the following Monday. Considering the added pressure for the diminishing box office returns of the post-Endgame MCU films, it’s very fortunate that Deadpool & Wolverine felt more than worth the wait and mostly lived up to the hype.

Inside Out 2

Following the release of Cars 2, the quality of Pixar’s output had become inconsistent and a step down from their golden years, which allowed the original Inside Out to stand out as their best movies in years at that time, and it still holds up to this day. Their sequels have also been rather hit or miss, so when Inside Out 2 was announced and the trailers began to arrive, I wasn’t sure how to feel about it since their preceding film, Elemental, didn’t really impress from a storytelling standpoint and original director Pete Docter was not at the helm. Despite this, I was still willing to attend an afternoon screening on opening day, with an article in the physical Animation Magazine giving me at least some assurance that some care was taken with staying true to the original. Having gone in with tempered expectations, I walked away feeling like I had seen their best film since 2021’s Luca.

Frankenweenie (2012)

Tim Burton’s 1984 live-action short Frankenweenie has an odd place in his career. Not only did it have a more niche audience for the longest time, only seeing a home video release within certain releases of The Nightmare Before Christmas, but the short’s creation also led to Disney firing him for what they considered a waste of company resources. Fast forward to 2007, when Disney hired Burton to direct two 3D films, one of which was a feature length remake of Frankenweenie, this time in stop-motion. The finished product would release in 2012 to generally positive critical reception and also had the honor of being both the first black-and-white feature and first stop-motion film shown in IMAX 3D. In the context of its creation and release, Frankenweenie is certainly a technical achievement, as well as a personal one considering that not many people can say they got to remake a project that got them fired by the same company that hired them. In the context of the rest of his output, however, Frankenweenie’s second chance at life doesn’t change the fact that it’s not one of Burton’s best creations.

Elemental (+ Carl's Date)

Within the last year or so, there have been fewer movies we’ve been willing to see in a theater, mainly due to having some varying degree of interest that’s not high enough to justify paying higher ticket and refreshment prices for a group of multiple people. Pixar’s Elemental is one such film, with it being a combination of the advertising not grabbing my attention enough and because of how underwhelming much of Pixar’s recent output has been. Not even the included Up short provided enough of an incentive, and so we opted to wait until it was recently added to Disney+ before considering it. On watching it the same week it was added, it turned out to be better than the trailers made it out to be, but still not one of their stronger films.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Note: This review contains spoilers for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

We’ve made it no secret that our enthusiasm for the Marvel Cinematic Universe has waned since the shift to more of a lifestyle brand following Avengers: Endgame. Each successive film (and one TV show) we had seen in Phase Four didn’t do much to keep us invested, with little enjoyment outside of Spider-Man: No Way Home (which still requires seeing almost 30 other movies for the full effect) and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. As such, we had little interest in the films from Phase Five outside of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Despite this, however, we went back and watched Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Quantumania) solely to see how they introduced the main villain of the current Saga, though we did so through Disney+ because we had no plans on actually paying money to watch it in a theater. Unfortunately, we quickly regretted the decision, as the film embodied issues that have plagued the MCU since the beginning, but were exacerbated post-Endgame and never properly addressed.

Stubs - Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 3 - Best MCU Since Endgame?

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (2023) starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki, Maria Bakalova, Sylvester Stallone. Directed by James Gunn. Screenplay by James Gunn. Based on Marvel Comics. Produced by Kevin Feige. Run time: 150 minutes. USA. Superhero, MCU

As he departs for DC, James Gunn leaves the MCU and Guardians of the Galaxy with what may be the best MCU film since Endgame (2019), which is four years and approximately one and a half phases later. This says something about Gunn's prowess, as well as the relative weakness of MCU fare of late. As it is, this sequel comes about six years after Vol. 2, which itself was not one of the greats.

WALL-E

“What if mankind had to leave Earth and somebody forgot to turn off the last robot?” This was the question Andrew Stanton posed at a now famous lunch in 1994, where, following the success of Toy Story, he and fellow Pixar pioneers Jon Lasseter, Pete Doctor and the late Joe Ranft discussed ideas for their next projects. The films that came out of this lunch were A Bug’s Life, Monster’s Inc., Finding Nemo and WALL-E, the last of which had a much longer development time, finally seeing the light of day in 2008. While longtime Pixar fans may feel divided on some apsects of WALL-E, the film received critical acclaim on release and has not only since been preserved in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, but has also seen a re-release through the Criterion Collection, the first Pixar film to do so.