Disney and Pixar villains are always riveting because they're generally an authentic reflection of evil in the real world, presented through a more palatable lens. Often, kids don't realize the prodigious depth of their complexities the way that adults do, but they're still frightening enough to provide the necessary angst to make their viewing experience entertaining.
It's only as we get older that we understand how these films explore real-life themes through a horrifically unvarnished lens, which in turn makes them all the more satisfying when we rewatch them as adults. In the world of too much at our fingertips via cellphones, tablets, and laptops, as well as the unfortunate rise of AI, the Toy Story 5 (2026) villain might just be the most problematic.
Ultimately, it's too real, too uncomfortable, and a reality that most people probably don't want to confront. At the same time, no one wants to critique tired parents and how iPads are necessary to calm fussy kids. Still, the nuance here can make Toy Story 5 the most timely and gripping film in the series yet.
Lilypad Is A Truly Complex Villain In 'Toy Story 5'
While we have yet to watch Toy Story 5 and don't know how the film will address Lilypad's rise or her eventual fall, some of us are old enough to remember Disney's Smart House (1999), and this movie is likely why we flinched at the idea of a Siri or an Alexa when they were first announced. We've watched countless movies where artificial intelligence can take over and how dangerous it can be. While they don't become pixelated 3D villains right in front of our faces in the world, we see the colossal impact of AI and how it's taken over countless creative jobs while altering many industries for the worst.
There are also a number of studies being conducted today on how iPads can be dangerous for children, and it's outright shocking, to be frank, when a kid knows exactly how to open up a smartphone, whereas we have to remind our grandparents of their passwords too many times. These matters bring out complex conversations with people in the real world, showing that disagreements can be had with rights and wrongs from both sides. It might even be more daunting than a cartoon villain wanting power solely for the heck of it because that's a story we're all too familiar with.
Toy Story 5 is clearly presenting us with a subject matter that's currently a large part of most conversations in our world. With the state of things as they are, this can lead to many intriguing debates that, when the film releases, it'll be riveting to see what message the story is sending out. In the trailer, there's also an obvious distinction between Lilypad being "of the time" while the other toys are now "old" and "dated." There's a message about the fact that Bonnie is having trouble making friends, and a tablet surely isn't going to help with that when we see the ramifications of scrolling in how our TV and movie viewing experience is changing because of second screening. People aren't going to theaters, or even when there are movie nights, they're sitting with their phones in front of them as opposed to socializing in the present. In other words, there's a lot to deconstruct here.
The Debates 'Toy Story 5' Can Prompt Could Make Lilypad One Of Pixar's Most Interesting Villains
The best part of any villain ultimately boils down to the complexities we see in them and how they stir disputes about humanity. Understandably, none of these toys are human, yet their personalities are similar to those of humans, making the films even more authentic in how they come across. The familiarity that we see in them is what makes them some of Pixar's best. But there's an explicit isolation in Lilypad because there's a stark difference in how we view technology and all its mechanisms that are too complex for those of us who aren't in tech.
Still, technology supplies enough depth for us to question anything and everything that takes place on the internet, especially how AI crawls through and takes everything without our consent. (The obvious beat in the trailer where Lilypad records Jessie's conversation without her knowledge is outright terrifying!) There's also the idea of how the internet is often a more cruel reflection of the real world, and in various spaces, perhaps even fandom, ruthlessness and the lack of boundaries are larger issues that need to be discussed.
As a villain, Lilypad could represent so many facets of the internet that have taken a turn for the worse and aren't exactly trustworthy places to rely on. We can have conversations about what real research is and how it's been skewed so drastically that an algorithm only feeds people what they've previously looked at, versus what's factually accurate. There's much to explore with the nuances of how this villain isn't a caricature, but will likely be an open exploration of how drastically the world has changed from the original Toy Story (1995) to now. In short, problematic likely doesn't even scratch the surface of what Lilypad can represent.
