Toy Story 5

9:34David Sims:You know what? I do like constructing things

9:38Griffin Newman:We don't mean making a bed out of like wood We mean like making your bed The fact that he interpreted that way Is all we need to know A smidge telling

9:49David Sims:It depends on the day It's a big depends on the day Can I ask you a question? Because I don't think any of us have ever been to where you live Do you have like novelty sheets? No, no, no, no I have grown up bed sheets I gotta say I'm a little surprised Bedthreads I can call out the company Bedthreads I was always a Brooklinen guy and then I feel like they haven't sponsored the podcast in a while sorry come on back Brooklinen please Brooklinen I need to get a new duvet a very good company called Bedthreads Romley gifted me and then I bought some additional stuff from them it's a mature brown and cream linen Okay, still feels very Woody-coded to me.

10:34David Sims:Maybe subtly. Maybe very subtly. Maybe you can add some, like, red and yellow throw pillows. Sure. Kind of, like, Disney-bound your bed a bit. Ben, to answer your question, the other toys choose to shut down so as not to be caught, right? And obviously, in the first movie, they willingly break the rule because Woody reveals himself to be alive to Sid in order to save the day, right? But it feels like it's more like a moral code kind of thing. And Buzz always would just go into seemingly hypersleep without it being acknowledged. And in this one, there is the moment where the human guard comes when they're by the dock.

11:10David Sims:The future Buzz. The tech buzzes, the high-tech buzzes. And they go like, why did we just shut down? Yeah. But they basically say that it's like a defensive protective maneuver in Star Command programming or whatever. Okay. That they enter like a shutdown mode in self-defense. And then they start to unpack what's going on, you know? Yeah.

11:29Griffin Newman:I think I should buy some more... next year.

11:31David Sims:I'm trying to remember what movie this episode is about. Oh, Toy Story 5. So what's the podcast? Blank Check with Griffin and David. I'm Griffin. I'm David. It's a podcast about filmographies, directors who have massive success early on in their careers and are given a series of blank checks to make whatever crazy passion projects they want. And sometimes in one year, they make the least existent film of 2026 going straight to Hulu. This is true. No offense to it. I mean, maybe a smidge

11:59Griffin Newman:of offense to it. And then And within mere months...

12:02David Sims:Within the blink of an eye, one might say. Yes. Have another movie open over like$150 million domestic.

12:08Griffin Newman:It sure seems like it might not hit$200, but it's going to do a very solid$150 plus. It did 17.5 Thursday night. Very good preview numbers for a movie that is... I don't know if you know this.

12:22David Sims:Yeah. For children. It's for children. Allegedly. The only animated film that has beaten that as a Thursday preview is Incredibles 2, which made 182 openings. Which is the current record holder for animated films. And it beat it by 1 million. Yes. Right? Inside Out 2 didn't beat it. No.

12:39Griffin Newman:Yeah. Inside Out 2 was just this incredible moment. The hold. Well, the hold wasn't. But no, no. It was this moment where everything had been opening poorly and people were, like for like three months. The box office is dead. People were back to like, movies are over. Yes. And then Inside Out 2 was coming out and everyone was like, no one even cares about this. The trailers have been kind of whatever. And then it opened huge and everyone was like, Oh, well, all right. You know, like, it was sort of the start of people being like, well, I guess some stuff does work. And then more and more stuff started working and it's kind of turned around.

13:08David Sims:Yeah. Toy Story 4 had a 12 million preview. They were projecting last night that this was doing 13, 14, and it came in many millions above that. So it feels like it's overperforming. In a year where the box office is doing great, and not only that, there is a robust variety of different types of movies. I love the movies. I love the movies. We loved a movie. There was people pocket watching Disclosure Day because they were like, it feels like they're not even trying to advertise this to Gen Z. And then it opened. And in the opening weekend, which was above estimates or above projections, then they were like, oh, and look at the exit tracking.

13:44David Sims:It was 75 % over 30. And I'm like, what's the problem here? Yeah, fucking one. Every movie doesn't have to be for everyone. Right. They successfully got 50-year-olds to go to the movies? Good.

13:57Griffin Newman:I agree. I There was just a really funny post On the Blinkies right And I wanted to find it But it's It's I don't know where it ended up But someone We've been talking about

14:06David Sims:The films of Anterstan Yes

14:07Griffin Newman:We have We have And the miniseries is of course called Podsy

14:11David Sims:Podsy Podsy

14:12Griffin Newman:Someone just said that The Star Wars The Mandalorian and Grogu Standee had tipped over At their And someone just posted The Mandalorian That's what it feels like And I just haven't really gotten That's what it feels like Everyone's like The movies are back And Mandalorian's just like on the face down and everyone's like, who cares? There couldn't be a better failure

14:32David Sims:amongst the successes. And it's not even that I have spite for that movie, but it just represents every bad habit of studio filmmaking for the last 15, 20 years. Even your,

14:42Griffin Newman:not quite beloved, but your some, you know, Masters of the Universe, which you sort of enjoyed. I feel like. I haven't seen it yet. Yeah. But like that one too, it's just kind of like, nope, this form, this rule book is going to get tossed. I don't think it's bad for that movie to flop. I think it's probably beneficial to the movie culture.

14:58David Sims:Yeah. And in fact, everything I dislike about that movie is the stuff... Is the formula stuff. The old rule book. That is, I think, causing it to fail and that I think we need to wash out of the system.

15:10Griffin Newman:I still think, obviously, you know, it seems Spider-Man will do well. Some of these things are going to stick around. Well, and we're today talking about the fifth film in a franchise. And we're talking about Toy Story 5, which...

15:19David Sims:That is potentially going to break records for the franchise.

15:22Griffin Newman:...is a movie that I think is successful and very enjoyable, but... obviously I'm, I'm happy you have it and I'm happy people have it. I don't, I don't think it really, it does not quite justify its existence. If, if you, you know, if you point a gun at me, sure. I'm like, I don't know that it really added enough new that we had to have it, but at least it's good. And at least it's doing well and it's well-made. And I'm like, I'm kind of basically like, it's all good. Yeah. But I wasn't like, wow. Yeah. They had a whole, you know, sort of room in the toy story world that they'd never experienced.

15:57Griffin Newman:I'm like, I feel like we're hitting a lot of the stuff we've thought about before in Toy Story, but that's okay. Here's what I'll say.

16:03David Sims:I think I put the other four above it. I rate four much higher than most people. I do two. You like three less than this, I assume.

16:11Griffin Newman:I think I'd put this over three. I just don't like three. I rewatched three and four after we saw five. And four grew in my estimation.

16:20David Sims:Four I just love. Four is great. But four is very controversial. Whatever. The things on the Reddit you would not believe. I would. The Toy Story Reddit? Yeah, where people call Bonnie a, and I quote. The Normal Zone? What? Someone did the Anthony, I almost said this to Ben before the record, and then I said, when we were in the theater, and I was like, I'm going to save this for the on-mic response. Ben is stunned silent.

16:44Griffin Newman:I don't think that's acceptable. I think that person should apologize. I also just want to say that. To the cartoon character, Bonnie. Before you got here, I was telling Ben and David that I have spent some time on the Toy Story Reddit recently. It's a deranged place. It's a really sad place. Sad and scary. I used to be on the Bluey Reddit because I just wanted to know when new episodes were dropping. And after a little while, I was like, I think I cannot see even just headlines from this thing anymore. These people are out of their mind. Because three quarters of them are like, childless adult here, but I love Bluey more than I love my own family.

17:19Griffin Newman:And you're just like, oh my God. Right. It's a, you know, it's a special interest or whatever. But like, I wasn't getting like calling a child the C word vibes from the Reddit. I was getting more like I'm like, you know, a 30 year old man and I'm trying to decide which of my toys to bring with me to the theater.

17:39David Sims:I would say that's half of the Reddit. Okay. I would say that's half and that's the sweet half.

17:45Griffin Newman:And that's the sweet half. That's the well-intentioned. That's the emphasis I put on that. That is the innocuous. I'm not saying sweet. I'm saying like, that's the like, oh, that's sweet. I understand that it's not at least malevolent, but it's maybe a little...

17:58David Sims:You know the Anthony Bourdain meme about Henry Kissinger where it's like you read about what he did and you're going to want to attack him with a hammer at a restaurant or whatever. Someone recently posted that with Bonnie where when you...

18:12Griffin Newman:It's once you've been to Cambodia, you'll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands is the Bourdain line.

18:18David Sims:And it was once you read the full... You know what it was? It wasn't even the full plot breakdown. It was that the little golden book had shipped. So people were breaking down the spoilers from the story from the children's book adaptation. And it was replacement. Once you read the little golden book adaptation of Toy Story 5, you'll never stop wanting to beat Bonnie to death with a hammer. What? Why? They don't like... What's the hate about? They're like, Bonnie is disrespectful to the toys. What? She's a child who doesn't know they're alive. Okay, all right.

18:49Griffin Newman:I think we gotta I'm like We gotta pivot away from No I'm like actually Really upset by all But they're They're maniacs on the internet They're maniacs on the internet And what they don't understand Of course is that Andy is a cuck loser And Bonnie rocks Andy is absolutely A cuck loser With every increasing film Andy is found dead in a ditch Bonnie is such a champion Especially because Like the plots Of the You know like The first You know the Andy movies You know the way he plays Pretty uninspired Totally It's so basic It's the way they portray Bonnie playing. Her imagination. It's so fun. Now, I mean, I think they also realize as they made these movies, like, oh, right, that's interesting.

19:28Griffin Newman:We should have more and more fun with that. You know, like depicting the play or whatever. But the first two, you only see it from the outside. There's a bad guy and then Woody and Buzz fucking kill him. Evil Dr. Porkchop. Yeah. One of the baddest guys of all time. He's a terrible man.

19:44David Sims:I mean, once you read. He's a terrible bank. Once you read about what Evil Dr. Porkchop did, you'll never want to stop beating him to death with a hammer. And if you beat him to death with a hammer, you'll get a bunch of coins inside of him. Today we're talking Toy Story 5 directed by Andrew Stan, which is a fascinating case of a fifth film in a franchise directed by someone who's directed none of the previous, but has quietly kind of been the author of this whole franchise. He's always had a hand. Yes. Three is the one he's involved in. The author? In so many ways, he was, I mean, he's certainly been the dominant.

20:16Griffin Newman:He's also trying to erase the participation of one hugging fella.

20:20David Sims:Here's my thing with lots of hugging Lasseter. You look at the movies he made where he didn't have everyone working with him. And you're like, huh, where is the juice? Is that Cars? Is that what we're talking about? Or does Cars not even count there? But also like the fucking Skydance animated films that he's now overseeing. Yeah, but he's not even directing.

20:41Griffin Newman:I think John Lasseter was quite vital to the original Toy Story, I assume. No question. But Stanton was always involved, you're saying? Yes. Threes? With three? Three's the one he's least involved in. Oh, it's the worst one. You know what? That was my take re-watching it. Yeah. It's so nasty. I mean, I've ranted about it before. Like, I just, yeah. I think it's a movie that's just, like, about grown-ups feeling guilty or about growing up, whatever. And I'm like, you need to take a pill and relax. Like, calm down. I also think the moment where they're all gonna die in the furnace sucks and is ruined by a stupid deus ex machina that makes no sense.

21:16It makes no sense.

21:17Griffin Newman:The whole thing sucks. That movie is stupid and now Tarantino's out here being like, that's the best movie ever made. Why'd they ever make more? Please come on our podcast, Quentin. I respect a lot of the movies he's made, but you're also annoying. He's too busy hanging out in Tel Aviv.

21:29David Sims:Yeah, that's right. Maybe someday we'll tell you what movie he almost did on this podcast. Let's keep it. But we're not going to talk about it today. It is this weird thing, though, where, right, there's a portion of people who also are just like, that is the best ending the franchise will ever have and it is disgusting. David is putting a middle finger up to that person, to the straw man. And then he successfully pivoted to a straw man. F.U. straw man. Here's the thing I like about this movie, and this is sort of the internal battle of what you're saying. This is the first one to not even attempt to be an ending since 2.

22:02David Sims:Totally, right.

22:03Griffin Newman:Yes, exactly. Four still had that responsibility, it seemed, where they were like, well, I guess we'll make it a goodbye to Woody.

22:09David Sims:People are so upset at the idea that we're ruining the sanctity of the three ending that we need to have an ending that's similarly kind of emotional and built around closure. And this one is like, who are we fucking kidding? You know, I...

22:22Griffin Newman:We'll probably keep making these as long as...

22:24David Sims:Dana Walden said recently that this is the most streamed franchise on Disney+.

22:31Griffin Newman:Can confirm. From my household. Right. Above any other Disney, Pixar,

22:35David Sims:Marvel, Star Wars thing, this is so infinitely valuable to them. These characters are so beyond evergreen that this movie does feel in certain ways a little bit more like the Toy Story shorts and Toy Story of Terror, which I love, where it's just like let's just have another adventure. Right?

22:51Griffin Newman:Yeah, basically. It's got a defined angle. It does. I think it's smart. And it's cleaning up some nerd business. It does some good cleanup. For you nerds out there. I'm taking my daughter to it on Sunday. Wait, what screening are you going to? Nighthawk. When? I think noon. Because we're going with the Ehrlichs at 11. I thought you were leaving. That night, Red Eye. No, I'm taking her Sunday. Yeah, we're going Sunday. Okay, well, and no, I won't be at that one. I think it's noon. Sorry. But, um, I wonder what she will make of... I'm constantly questioning what kids get out of, especially this movie.

23:33What will she make of the big tech message

23:34Griffin Newman:of the kind of, like, kids should play like this, not like this? Because it's like, this is a little old for, like, you know, like that... I don't know that my daughter has thought too hard, so far about like socializing, right? You know, which is a big part of this movie. But your daughter's very Bonnie-coded in a lot of ways. Your daughter reminds me of Bonnie. That, that, that's totally fair. I know what you mean about how she plays, but you know, this is heady for a five-year-old. I'm not sure it'll translate. And I'm almost certain, and again, she's five. So like, you know, she's not the only viewer of this movie that she will not understand the Jesse, the big Jesse plot.

24:07Griffin Newman:I think that's going to go completely over her head to the point of confusion. Interesting. But she's seen two. Yeah, she's not going to get it. She's not going to get that, like, Jesse named her daughter after a toy. Like, that's just not going to make sense to her. I love that so much. That's the one thing in this movie that I didn't like.

24:23David Sims:But we could talk about it. That emotionally devastated me. And I thought in a way that was not overstated, which I appreciate, that they didn't make too much of a meal out of the moment. And that it's not the ending point. Yeah. That it is a beat. It's a beat. Are you going to name your potential future child after a toy? I had always said I was going to name my kids Brewster and Ripley. After a movie. Brewster and Ripley. Yeah, after Ellen Ripley and Brewster McCloud. That's what I always said. After Ellen Ripley. Or Ellen DeGeneres. That's so true. Yeah, I could name my child Little Ellen. Or David's mom.

25:00Yeah, sure. An homage to a great woman, if you so choose. I should name my child after David.

25:07Griffin Newman:Why do I consider that? I'm not sure that Ripley's... I'm trying to remember when Ripley's first name becomes... Is Ripley's name in the first Alien? I forget. Ellen, you mean? Yes. Like, does Cameron give her a first... You know what I mean? Like, because in the first movie, everyone's got, like, a last name and, like, you don't really know much about them. I think you'll at least see the readouts. You might. I don't remember.

25:27David Sims:Yeah. In my memory, she's Ellen from the beginning. Let's find out. I'm Ellen. I mean, I think it's definitely harder for young boys to have toys that have, like, names that you would give your child, like, Bionicle, you know? Well, if you call your child Bionicle,

25:43Griffin Newman:like, you get put on a little list for the government. You know, just keep a little eye on you. Meanwhile, my favorite toy was named Samantha Parkington, which is a totally normal name for a girl.

25:54David Sims:Bionicle's also the name of the property. It's not the name of a character. Okay, what are the names of the characters? Please name a Bionicle, please.

26:00Griffin Newman:I'm looking it up. But I wonder what she will make it up. So I'm very interested to see. I'm very intrigued to know what her take will be if she has one. She also might just kind of be like, you know, that was great. Like Jesse and Forky and all my friends were in a movie and I had a great time.

26:18David Sims:I think it's always been the magic of these movies, though, is that they move fast enough and they're bright enough. And there is the sort of cheat code they have of, oh, you can like explore existential themes because your movie stars a cowboy, a spaceman and a dinosaur. And they're fun.

26:30Griffin Newman:Like visually, you know. But I do think it's why she likes Three the least. Because Three is kind of the slowest and kind of the most about the experience of grownups. Three for me. It's her least favorite. She never asks for it. It's my least favorite. I guess I would. I think I do put this above Three.

26:48David Sims:Wow. Wow. He changes rankings. I'm working on it in real time. I've only seen this movie twice. And it's been a mad rough to see it twice. Griffin's seen this movie twice and it technically was released last year. night. And I'm only holding two more sets of tickets. I also saw it twice. I went with Griffin to both screenings. Yes.

27:09Griffin Newman:You sure did? You're saying this like you're admitting it to the police. Let's be clear.

27:14David Sims:We walked out of the theater of the previous screening and you said is there a way to see that again before we record because I would like to.

27:22Griffin Newman:Because our screening was you know we're recording this. A week ago. I really enjoyed it and I really connected with the message of talking about technology. Yeah, yeah. Totally. In our contemporary society. But what if they make a Toy Story about how podcasts are bad? Then we're fucked. Toy Story 6 is like, Bonnie's listening to too much podcast. Toy Story 6 should be the toys start doing a podcast and pretend they're humans. Right, but so they have to hide their identities

27:49David Sims:and hire actors to play them. And then people are trying to push them to pivot to video. And they're like, Oh my God, Griffin, I love this. Yes. Because it's building off of what we established. in Toy Story 5, which is now the toys can communicate through text.

28:04Griffin Newman:I don't think you learn Ellen's name until the camera one. There's no readout. There's no moment where you see a screen being like Dallas, Ripley. You know what I mean? So I think they came up with that later. The other characters all have first names. They have later given first names. But they're credited just as Dallas, Ripley, Lambert, Brett, Kane, Cash, Parker. You're looking at the end credits readout right now. Interesting. and like it kind of makes sense because of course famously Ripley was sort of written without a gender. Yes. You know and so maybe they didn't even think about it.

28:37David Sims:I think most of the characters were sort of that was kind of the idea. That was the idea. No gender, no race or whatever.

28:41Griffin Newman:Right. And then like obviously in Cameron's film he's like no she's a mother. Yes. You know we're going to get into all of this and she has a first name but even in the aliens I mean how many times does she say like I'm Ellen? Like does she say that to Newt?

28:57David Sims:Like, I think she says I'm Ripley. Every time the DJ drops a track and she does a little dance to welcome her next guest, she goes, I'm Ellen.

29:04Griffin Newman:Okay, before we lose the thread. This has been an Ellen-centric series when you think about all the dories. I wonder why. Yes, go ahead. You were discussing how your daughter's going to react. I wonder, yeah. And I'm wondering, just like with her and kids overall, how is the screen time of it all going to connect with kids? Like, what is your daughter's relationship to tech? She watches TV on an iPad and she knows that we often are like, that's enough TV on the iPad. I would say that is her only relationship. She doesn't do anything else on the iPad. No. She doesn't even really know how to use the iPad.

29:38Griffin Newman:Like, I know that that happens at a certain point that they kind of like start to be like, oh, I get that if I, you know, scroll over to this and press this, I can read Politico. The most she can, which she loves. ProPublica. And I'm just like, no, like, you know, you can't read that stuff like Daily Wire. that's where you're going to get your news. Fair and balanced. Newsmax. Right. No, she doesn't even know. She knows how to press a button to make the next episode play. That's the most she's learned so far. Yeah. You know, when freaking Peppa Pig is, you know, been spooling up. What is the angle on Peppa?

30:14Why is that stuck around? I don't see the appeal. I don't either. Yeah. I'm not a fan. I don't like Peppa. Oh, Peppa herself? Yeah, she's all right. She seems like a nice girl. She's a bit naughty. Oh, okay. Well, no. Interesting. She's a troublemaker. Well, she likes jumping in muddy puddles. Yeah, so there you go. I get it now.

30:32Griffin Newman:I get it now. It's just one of those things in Peppa Pig where she's like, what do you like? And I'm like making eggs in the morning, you know, for everyone. And I'm just like, I like jumping in muddy puddles. I'm like saying it to myself. I'm like, it's all she fucking likes. She says it every time she does it. It's like her catchphrase. It's like, I'm Peppa Pig and I like jumping in muddy puddles. Yeah. I just really respect that the animation style for Peppa Pig is so crude. It sure is. It's an interesting design style. I love that. It's got its thing. As we're getting more and more like Uncanny Valley shit.

31:01Well, yeah.

31:02Griffin Newman:I don't truck with the weirdly low-stake CGI human people. That sucks.

31:08David Sims:Well, my friend Spike often refers to as cartoon shows that look like shampoo bottles. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Just human slop.

31:15Griffin Newman:Whatever you want to. Like Peppa Pig Yes I'm like This is artfully made in its way And it's got its bit And I find it a little grating But I'm not like This is evil like Cocomelon or whatever They're all British Yeah they're British From what kind of region? What's their accent? They seem to sort of live in the countryside Okay I also I just find the dad kind of annoying Interesting I don't like that He's kind of a buffoon I don't like that he has the hairs I don't like the hairs either He needs to shave It makes sense because he's a pig On his chinny chin chin Exactly He's got the kind of like spiky hair Yeah, I don't like it.

31:46Griffin Newman:Yeah, Ben likes it. You know, I'm so, you know, I'm a Bluey loyalist. And Bluey is just so much better than Peppa. But Peppa's fine, you know. She's fine. I like Peppa. I like Gabby. Like, I mean, I don't like Gabby. Like, I don't like to watch it. Gabby is in, like, Gabby's dollhouse. Yeah, but I mean, like, my daughter likes Gabby. And I'm like, Gabby's fine. She's all right. Yeah, exactly.

32:04David Sims:It's a little, again, a little loud. When you leave the room, Gabby's like, listen, they're out to get us. The great replacement theory. I guess that wouldn't make sense for Gabby. of color. Right, right. Ben, as someone who's going to, you know, start a family in the future, like, screen time is really something that, like, terrifies me. It's like, I'm like, do I become Ted Kaczynski the minute I have children?

32:32Griffin Newman:Why not just moderate? Why must you be Ted Kaczynski all of a sudden? I mean, as a parent, I really am interested. It's not that hard. No, it's not hard now because she can't read. well she's getting there but yeah sure it's gonna get harder when she's like you just don't let him have the tablets the way that Bonnie gets so upset by the group chat it really it really though affected me it made me feel like so much empathy especially for younger generations and that this is just from day one they're growing up with dealing with all of this I will say just to provide the more measured take as the only parent in the room.

33:18Griffin Newman:I think that the worst of it kind of already happened when there were parents who had no experience of their own with tech. I think you're right. And we're kind of just letting kids because it's like, oh, your friends have a cell phone. You can have one, too. And now there's a lot more awareness. And like my parent generation is a lot more kind of like those things are like cigarettes. Like, you know, we're going to keep them away as long as possible. Right. Awesome.

33:42David Sims:not addictive makes you badass you can get up anytime doctors recommend and like there's just a lot more hyper awareness about that

33:51Griffin Newman:your kid you know obviously this movie depicts essentially like very low stakes but mean bullying right and like your kid will experience social stuff at school anyway that sucks but yeah obviously nobody should be socially networked I shouldn't be none of us should be none of us should barely be so you see how they behave

34:11David Sims:If this movie had been made 10 years ago with this subject matter, it would have been a nightmare. I think this is the right point to make it because of what you're saying, where we are in the cultural bell curve. And it's sort of in this like, we've all now kind of engaged with the worst of what this can be. It's also not going anywhere. I always say this to like my friends who I made on Twitter, including this loser.

34:34Griffin Newman:This is true. Podcast wouldn't exist. Like I'm like, I'm like in the future going to say to my daughter like, oh, yeah, you know, I made all these friends on Twitter. and she'll be like, the website that's illegal that elected Donald Trump? Digital hell. The website that's like in history books is like, you know, a low point in society. I'm like, yeah, but you know, sometimes like there'd be good memes. There's a lot of funny stuff on there. Drill was there. Drill, yeah. You don't even know about horse e-books. Oh my God, horse e-books. Oh my God. Oh my God. And it'll be like, you know, when our parents are like, oh yeah, back in the day you would just leave the house at the age of five with a gun.

35:11Griffin Newman:You just get on your horse and ride into the woods and the parents assume they'd see you later.

35:16David Sims:You do a quick stand by me. You learn something from it. What was everyone's screen names? I was Brother Fallout.

35:23Griffin Newman:I still am in a lot of things. Oh, yeah. That's who you are on Reddit. Brother Fallout. That's me. When I was really young, my first, my hotmail address was KingDazza2000. Yeah, there you go. This is what I'm talking about. KingDazza2000. That's, they let a 13-year-old pick his own email. Yeah.

35:38David Sims:Right. It came up in our recent Patreon episode, but after the release of A Bug's Life, I was briefly FlickLover98.

35:47David Sims:That's a little preview for free. And the full discussion can be found on Patreon. And you can. Please subscribe. Please subscribe. But then I very quickly pivoted to I Am A Fool Are You One Too. Oh. Yes. What's that? Is that a song lyric or something? It was a bit from, I think, Mad Magazine had like a counterfeit money drawing and that was the serial number on it. And I thought it was really funny. I am a fool spelled out and then letter R, letter U, number one, number two, which when I got older read as I'm a fool, are you 12? And then of course in high school, I changed it to Fly Brewster Fly.

36:25David Sims:Yeah, right. And that's a - Which was my original Twitter, Twitter, Twit handle. David's opening five at the loudest bag. I need some - Did we get that Papa John's order in? Yeah. Oh, yeah. So Marie and I are going to record some social videos after this. These are terrible. What are they? What are you eating? Cookie dough bites? Cookie dough bites. No, thank you. Papa John's has three promotional pizzas right now, and I will read them. Space Ranger Roni, an intergalactic pizza mission awaits. This out-of-this-world personal pizza. That's what makes it intergalactic. It's out-of-this-world. Has double pepperoni cheese and pizza sauce and original crust.

37:00David Sims:Serve with rootin' tootin' ranch. So the pizza itself sounds pretty normal, other than, of course, that hyper special Root and Tootin Ranch. Then we got Reach for the Pie. This ain't just any... Not bad. Not bad at all. This ain't just any personal pizza. It's got Italian sausage, banana peppers, cheese, and pizza sauce served with, you guessed it... Root and Tootin Ranch? Only in U.S. markets. And then the third pie is Sheriff's Roundup. This personal pizza's got grilled chicken, onions, cheese, and barbecue sauce on original crust. and interestingly enough, it comes with a side of, let me check my notes here, Rootin' Tootin' Ranch, only in the U.S.

37:37David Sims:and Canada, it's replaced with special garlic sauce.

37:39Griffin Newman:You guessed it, Frank Stallone.

37:43David Sims:Can you guessed it, Rootin' Tootin' Ranch, be my new, you guessed it, Frank Stallone, with any cast list? Yeah, that's good. I'll have the one with the banana peppers, please. We're getting all three.

37:53Griffin Newman:Okay, great. No, we're going to get them all. I'm just trying to figure out how to order. Okay, so, sorry, just to go back to this. I got this figured out. I had several screen names. One of them was Clothes Lover 13. Clothes, like one wears on one's body? Yeah, because I was into fashion. And then Punky Monkey 090 stuck around for a while. That was like when I got into Green Day. And it was a combination of Green Day and... God, what was the name of the... Paul Frank.

38:26David Sims:Paul Frank? Julius the Monkey? The monkey. Yeah, wasn't his name Julius? Yeah, but I just was, I had all of that fucking shit. This makes sense. This checks out. All of that, yeah. So it was combining my two interests. And Ben Hosley. I had briefly Cyber Ben 85.

38:44Griffin Newman:That's great. Based off of the net. Straight down the middle. Do you remember? Of course I remember the net. And we will be covering the net one day.

38:51David Sims:When we do a John Avnet series?

38:53Griffin Newman:I think there's a way to do a fun Patreon cyber series. Okay. Sort of 90s cyber thrillers. Hackers, lawnmower man. Lawnmower man. Do we put antitrust in there? If you want. I've never seen that one. Virtuosity. I'm starting our order. Oh, yeah. Excuse me. I'm doing the order because I have an account. Just tell me what you're getting, though, because how many are we getting here? I'm getting three pies, right? No, I get four. You get four? Yeah. There's four people in this room. They're personal. There's a Toy Story 5 create your own personal. Oh, interesting. Yeah, let's... All right, now, can we get the Rootin' Tootin' Ranch, though?

39:30Griffin Newman:Oh, we can. I think our listeners are going to love this. I'm sorry. I haven't had Papa John's in God knows how long. You can get Alfredo sauce on the side of your pizza? It sounds disgusting. What kind of fucked up individual is like, you know what? This thing that has cheese in it really needs a little bit more of? What kind of fucked up individual?

39:49David Sims:His name is Papa John Schlatter. We know he's one of the most fucked up men alive. He is a smidge fucked up. a day? No, you know what, Griff? Just get

39:56Griffin Newman:two of the Space Ranger Ronis. Okay. Because that one's the most appealing to me anyway. Okay.

40:10David? Yes? I've had some bad meals in my life. I can imagine. Do you know about Huel? I know about Huel. Okay. A love sponsor of this show.

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40:49David Sims:I like the RTDs. I got the chocolate peanut butter. I keep those in the fridge. You know, we often record in the morning. I don't remember to eat breakfast. I'm watching the movie and then I'm heading out the door. I didn't eat anything. I just grab one of those. I chug it down. I feel great. I'm ready to do bits. Right. H-U-E-L.

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41:31Okay,

41:36so maybe try and guide us back to talking about the movie And like the tech of it all Like, how did the message hit with you guys? It's portraying like Well, let me zoom out for a second here if I may So, Toy Story 4 is very successful Very successful, although I feel like not quite the barn-born burner they wanted it to be. We've talked about this. It made a lot of money. It made basically the exact same amount of money as 3. Yeah, right. But there had been this big jump.

42:03Griffin Newman:And it had been a long time since 3, obviously.

42:06David Sims:In between 3 and 4, Finding Dory comes out, has a huge growth from Finding Nemo. Incredibles 2 comes out, has a huge growth. Right.

42:12Griffin Newman:It made a good 250 mil less than Incredibles 2. And it was sort of like, isn't Toy Story the number one franchise? That was the thing.

42:20David Sims:It was like, does Toy Story actually have a ceiling? And three established it. Right. And now it's sort of flat here. But these characters endure. They want to make another one. They make money. Right. Andrew Stan has said basically that he, they went to him and said, do you have any ideas for five? Wow. And he said, let me sit in a room and see if I can come up with something. And if something actually excites me, I might noodle with it. And he was like, I wasn't gunning to make a fifth Toy Story movie, but I didn't like the idea of anyone else doing it. And he said, I sat down and the two things I thought of immediately were how do they react to tech?

42:56David Sims:And what if there was an island of 50 buzz layers? He had that idea immediately. And this is the thing he's always said, which is, and this is why I'm saying like, not that I'm taking away John Lasseter's credit as a director on the first two movies, but that he has been the main screenwriter of all but three. Stan is the guy who writes the text of these characters. And most of the big ideas tend to trace back to Stan, including Forky, our greatest friend. Right. Who Marie has constructed and placed on her desk. Yeah. So David's wife is sitting on my desk right now. She is. Very quietly and respectfully.

43:31David Sims:And so he built from there. And then once he had written the script, he was like, this is what I find interesting. If you guys want to make this, I'd happily direct this. If this is too weird for you, totally understand. He goes ahead and makes it. He appoints Kenna Harris to be his co-director, which we've talked about as kind of an apprentice position, but really tried to elevate them on this film.

43:52Griffin Newman:And they have a co-writing credit on it. Correct.

43:55David Sims:And said that he felt like, I don't want to just be like a dude in his 50s or 60s, like steamrolling this franchise. I need to get like a younger voice in here. I need someone who grew up with these movies and now works at Pixar and sort of talked about it as a Woody Jesse dynamic. And the two of them have said that when they started writing it, but they were much more kind of binary of, well, tech is bad, and the movie is about them defeating tech. And they said they kept getting to like the halfway point of the script and realizing, Lillipad's a really uninteresting character. If all of what drives her is get rid of the fucking toys.

44:31David Sims:Right. And so they had the hook of, well, what drives Lillipad? She thinks that she's actually better for Bonnie than the toys are. She thinks they're outmoded, but she's still serving the same function, which is to help her connect.

44:47Griffin Newman:It would be different if she was actively like, I want to ruin a kid's life. You would kind of be like, this doesn't, that kind of breaks the sort of universe because like the toys are always ostensibly there to serve the child. They know that that's their sort of deep purpose or whatever.

45:02David Sims:I think it was more that she's so against the toys that she doesn't even notice that she's harming Bonnie was the kind of thing. If that ran throughout the entire movie, they found it dramatically flat.

45:13Griffin Newman:Of course.

45:14David Sims:As the movie was starting up, I was kind of like, oh boy.

45:17Griffin Newman:Totally. Is it just them fighting a thing? Because then it's just, right.

45:19David Sims:That was my greatest concern from the trailers. And I heard them say that in an interview. And I felt a little relieved. And I do think that's the smartest thing the movie does is like, you're not beating tech. It's here to stay. Yes. There is good that can come from it.

45:33Griffin Newman:Right. I would say as a parent, I've already encountered people who are trying to like keep their kid from ever looking at a screen. Impossible. And it's just sort of like, well, that's silly. Yes. And in my opinion, I'm not, you know, I know people are very, very. Ted Kaczynski. Yeah, that's what I'm moving to a cabin. Very touchy about parenting. But like every school has like a smart board. My wife's a teacher. She uses a smart board. Smart boards are screens. This is like a smart blackboard, basically. Exactly. It's like, you know, it's become the default in a school. It's just like, you know, they can put lots of things on it.

46:04Griffin Newman:They can put, you know, just stuff they've written on it. But they could also show you a video once in a while or whatever. And I'm like, we all watch videos in class. Like, this is not, this is just a smooth and wielding. Yeah, this is a streamlined way of a thing that's always existed. But there are some parents who are so worried about screens that I, you know, they're just like, well, I really don't want my kid to really ever look at a screen. And it's kind of like, well, that's ridiculous. We live in a society. Right. Yes. And I was happy this movie, right, did not just charge at this as like, well, tech's evil and kids should never like, yeah, you know, like, it's a, right, it's a war we're going to fight.

46:41there's absolutely balance but I as an adult will say that I have not been participating in social media I don't know when I hit that point

46:52David Sims:as we often would say maybe the only person who knew how to do social media correctly I would just check in from time to time but at this point I just yeah I'm really off it it just makes me feel bad it is really funny

47:05Griffin Newman:that your Twitter profile picture is still a picture of your pierced ear see this is what we're saying He was good at it. And I also feel like, too, with just like the texting of it all and how that's become so much more prevalent in our lives. Yeah. I struggle with it. I really do. I do as well. I find it overwhelming. And I find that lately I've been really struggling to even just keep up with it. I like kind of just can't deal with it. See, I enjoy texting because it's social. So it kind of like, it feeds my extrovert energy of like, I like to have social contact. I enjoy texting just fine.

47:45Griffin Newman:I mostly use it to bully eight-year-olds, obviously. So like, the movie resonated for me in that regard. David's on the pond all the time. He's playing, what's it called? Frog Rush? I can't say I remember.

47:55David Sims:Turtle Rush, maybe? Yeah. So it was a tag or something? There's something with turtles.

47:59Griffin Newman:Turtle tag, maybe. Yeah. But I hear you. I mean, you know, it's what they call like frictionlessness, right? is bad. Anything that's frictionless is increasingly just like, this is a big thing in gambling, right? It's different if you go to a place, you gamble some money. We're not saying that can be harmful and that can make people crazy. But if you can just kind of bet$1 ,000 by going like, boop, it's a little too easy. There's no friction. And then suddenly you can get yourself very hooked very quickly. My colleague McKay Coppins, the Atlantic, who is Mormon and thus banned from gambling wrote a whole article about how basically the Atlantic were like what if we staked you 10 grand to see what happens if you start gambling on your phone like just to explore like this new thing and he got fucking addicted like you know oh my god I mean he's fine but like he writes about like yeah man like very quickly like I was like going to the bathroom to check my phone to like you know like look at the the day's best it's serotonin hit of course and it's too easy too easy it doesn't feel real obviously right Right.

49:05Griffin Newman:So especially with your kids, you worry about, you know, exposing it. Yeah. Yeah.

49:09David Sims:I think this movie has kind of the right balance of those things. And I think a problem that the Toy Story franchise is always fighting against is that 2, which I like as much as any movie ever made, reaches such a satisfying dramatic point, which is Woody and Buzz have come to an understanding of their own inevitability. Yes.

49:32Griffin Newman:It's why 2, it's why 3 irritates me. Yeah. Two, and five, I think you will agree, basically has the same ending as two. It's Jesse having the realization or whatever, but it's the same thing where they're like, right, I'm a toy. Yeah. Yes, your kid will grow up. It's about the journey, you know, that we all have to accept that and we're going to have a great time while we're being played with. And like, that's what it's all about, baby. Then of course, three just makes the huge mistake of being like, in my opinion, the huge mistake of being like, well, so much time has passed. we should explore what happens when Andy is older and has to give away the toys.

50:06Griffin Newman:And I'm like, I don't know. Or you could do what Five does, where it's just like, I don't know. Bonnie's still a kid. Who cares?

50:12David Sims:Well, Three, I think, the thing I bump on in Three is that it feels like, A, it's just kind of taking subtext from the first movie, the first two movies and making a text. Right. And B, it is, a lot of it's a double beat of One and Two. It's stuff that the characters have, like, come to understand, but now they're facing it. Right. And it's less interesting because they've already expressed their understanding of what's coming for them. And I know they've always said about three where it's like, well, but it's different to say you understand what's happening and then to actually live through it.

50:44Griffin Newman:They say in three, right? Right.

50:45David Sims:That's like the line, right? Right. I think what's different in this and what I liked about it and I thought was a good distinction is Jesse's kind of crisis is, does it even matter? It's not like, is it coming to an end? Because she has this thing of like, Like, I've been through two kids already. I know that this ends. What I'm questioning now is it's less about are we going to be thrown away and does that make me feel useless? It's more about whatever they sort of serve as an idea. And this gets into the sort of stretchiness of the Toy Story metaphor of like, how are toys supposed to help a kid?

51:21David Sims:She's like, are we oblivious? And is this kid suffering? And am I going to be forgotten? And there's just like no impact. And I think to a certain degree, Three, I was saying to Ben, I think, you know, the Toy Story movies change what they map onto. Like, what I like about Toy Story is that they're always 50 percent literally just about what if you were a toy. Like, exploring the internal logic of that and the comedic and the dramatic possibilities. And then the other 50 percent, and Jane Nicholson did a great video about this when Toy Story 4 came out, is they don't all ascribe to the same kind of mapped metaphor.

51:55David Sims:One is sort of about being a child. Two is sort of about being a parent. I think three is more about religion. Four is about retirement. I'm lost. Three is about religion? Well, I think it's about like the idea of reckoning with a God who has abandoned you. But it's also about reincarnation and new ownership. And Lotso is like a cult. Sure. Okay. I thought it was like, wouldn't it be cool if we did like a prison escape movie with toys?

52:21Griffin Newman:Yeah, that's the best stuff in the movie. My problem with Pixar, as I say in my review, it's not just Toy Story. It's Inside Out. It's Inside Out and Toy Story, the biggest culprits. There's other ones that I can... Is there like... Well, this inanimate thing is alive and you should feel guilty. That you're killing them by ignoring them. And like, it's something I struggle with very much in the Toy Story movies. And it's why I don't like the Jessie plot in two, where she's like, I was abandoned by my owner. And I'm like, no, your owner grew up like a normal person and stopped using toys. And Jessie's like, I was killed.

52:55David Sims:That can still hurt.

52:56Griffin Newman:I'm traumatized.

52:57David Sims:She's not saying she's killed. There's a difference between saying I'm traumatized because that hurt me and saying I was killed. She's not killed.

53:03Griffin Newman:The movie presents it as a traumatic, horrible thing that happened to her when toys leave her, like, dresser and she has normal things teenage girls have. Clothes and makeup and things. And the movie just, I have always, I ranted about this on the Patreon. It irks me. It really drives me crazy. I think we're just hearing a lot of guilt you have. Yeah, exactly. Unprocessed guilt. This is what a guilty man would say. Obviously, the most audacious thing they ever did was Inside Out, where they're like, when you forget about an imaginary friend you had when you were a kid, that's murder. He's dead.

53:33Griffin Newman:He's dead. You're just like, I'm sorry. I didn't realize he had feelings.

53:39David Sims:I have the exact opposite read of these things, which is I think they're about the sort of existential dread of being in a universe that doesn't consider that you have consciousness. And so these things are not being done to you in a way that is hurtful. These things are being done to you out of like obliviousness. But this is not real. I think there's, I don't think there's a dramatic. There's a nice sentimentality to it.

54:06Griffin Newman:There, there's gentle. Well, it should be right. But then like Jesse's like, I can't do it. You know, like where you're like, right. She's like a whole person. And that's why I like for, because it's kind of about like, should we reckon with that? These are conscious beings. Yeah. Like, but that's, I assume also why fans got mad at it where it's like, Well, now we're just sort of breaking the convention because it's like, what, now Woody can just kind of live where he wants? But that's the distinction to me.

54:31David Sims:Is he even a toy? I feel like what you're describing falls a little more into Velveteen Rabbit territory, which is like... Right, Clive.

54:37Griffin Newman:The ultimate original guilt trip. Right, right. Like, you're just teaching your child, like, right, when you stop loving your toy, like, it's sad.

54:44David Sims:You literally killed him. He's thrown on the fire because you infected him with your human sickness, right? Like, that's what that is.

54:52Griffin Newman:Oh, God, I'll never read my kid that fucking evil,

54:55David Sims:book, I'll tell you that much. What I've always loved about Toy Story is, right, that's the metaphorical element where you were sort of discussing, right? And how it relates to, like, the human condition. And then the other 50 % of it is quietly this sort of bizarre sci-fi premise. Right, which I like. Why are they alive?

55:12Griffin Newman:What's the outer boundary? Are they immortal? Like, they don't need food or air. No. But they can be destroyed. Yes. And then they're dead? Right. I guess if they are destroyed. I think it's just. And also if you put them in a box, they're sort of like, they're not quite dead, but they seem to basically kind of go coma. There's also the Forky of it all. Well, then the Forky of the greatest character of all. You become a toy if you are played with. Like he's made by a child and he is the child's plaything. So thus he is cursed with consciousness. Right, right. Like, you know, and you know why I love Forky is he's like, I reject consciousness.

55:52Griffin Newman:I wish to be trash. I'm trash. Right.

55:54David Sims:Trash is warm. Trash is safe. I'm wearing a Forky t-shirt that says love is trash, which is, of course, against the message of this movie, which is Forky is happily married, although, of course, there are struggles in a relationship.

56:05Griffin Newman:There are, although Forky trash is good, so maybe love is trash is a positive message for him.

56:11David Sims:You know what? You're right. That's a very positive read on my t-shirt.

56:13Griffin Newman:Right? Like, he likes trash. Yeah. He's pro-trash. He is trash.

56:16David Sims:He is trash. He's made of trash. He's made of trash. He's pro-trash. His wife is trash. I have a question for you, Griffin, because... Please, his wife's name again? Karen Beverly. Karen Beverly, duh. This is the great bit is that Forky is, of course, a spork. Yes. They made him. They designed him. They showed him to the child of a Pixar employee. And they said, what would you name this character? And the child said, Forky. And they went, it's funnier that the kid gets the utensil wrong. Right? Of course. And then they similarly designed Karen Beverly. And they went, this kid's going to name her Knifey.

56:43David Sims:And they said, what's her name? And the kid said, Karen Beverly. Pretty funny. So funny. And so that's why. That is the mind of a kid. Go with the logic of what an actual kid would do. Don't explain it. Absolutely. Forky. So you had like a list of topics you wanted to address on this episode, one of which was Forky status as a gay icon. Forky has become a queer icon. There's a lot of there's a lot of Forky pride stuff. Is that so? Which I've been fascinated by. Your shirt that says love is trash has a big rainbow on it. So he's got a rainbow on his foot. Oh, you're right. There's a rainbow sticker on his foot.

57:12David Sims:That's why Forky isn't a LGBTQ fork icon? There is so much Forky pride merch. And it's not just Forky with a rainbow on its foot. It's like Forky holding a pride flag. This is what I'm trying to figure out.

57:25Griffin Newman:Is it like it's just the Babadook where they were just kind of like, I don't know. We just decided he's ours.

57:30David Sims:Reclaim him. He's speaking to the culture in some way. And speaking of cultures and respectful relationships to cultures through the Toy Story franchise. Yes. Marie, of course, on her trip to Japan got for me one of my grails. Samurai Woody the cowboy. It's amazing how many lists you've been added to. And we're going to pull the string, which I promise them is not offensive.

57:54Okay

57:55Griffin Newman:He said something in Japanese He did Do we know that Is he saying like Did you hear the samurai sword? That's not a samurai effect I was gonna Is he Sounds sort of out of breath on that one That's very Tom Hanks Is he saying the classic Woody phrases Or is he saying something completely different I guess that's my question

58:15David Sims:Reach for the sky samurai sword Right I don't know if anyone If any of our listeners

58:20Griffin Newman:Like, is he saying there's a snake in my boot?

58:22David Sims:You know what? I should record these and send them to Weiger and get him to translate. Can Weiger speak Japanese? Yeah. We found this out recently. Wait, what? When Weiger went to Japan, he's like, of course, I'm bilingual. For him? Yeah. You're my favorite deputy. Hey, buddy, it's Weiger. Thanks to Griffin for the shout out. I don't want to overstate my proficiency with the Japanese language. but I have been learning and a big part of that has been my studies with my tutor. So because my tutor is also a professional translator, I figured we'd just throw her into the mix and see if she can help us puzzle these out.

59:06Konnichiwa Tanaka-sensei. Konnichiwa. So are you familiar with the Toy Story franchise? Oh yeah, I've seen it, yes. Did you see Toy Story five the most recent entry not yet you of course know woody um the the cowboy the protagonist of this series yes there is a samurai woody toy um and it it has some lines of dialogue and so i'm gonna play these for you one at a time and then if you can just um talk them through uh what your what your translation might be okay so here we go

59:45Just. He said.

59:52Wait. Yeah. So he say, wait a little, stop. Got it. Yes. Would you have any idea what the context, like, is that a common Japanese phrase you might say? Just wait, stop. I wouldn't say it because it's masculine. Stop. When do I say that? Can you stop if somebody was, I don't know, pulling my hair or something? I don't know. Oh, so I wonder if what's happening is that's Woody the doll kind of being like, hey, stop pulling my string. Something. Do you think it's maybe? OK, so that that's a little bit of a fourth wall breaky there and directly addressing the the the person playing with the doll as if they are the toy.

1:00:39Maybe. OK. All right. Next up. Let's let's listen to this one.

1:00:47And again, is the samurai Woody. So we have that little sword clash at the end. Yes. He said,

1:01:03So this is like bullseye run like the wind. That's like his, he ride like the wind, I guess is what they would say in English. Yes. So this is like the thing he would say to his horse. And this is a Woody catchphrase. You know the horse bullseye? He appears in the second one when Woody has a bunch of additional friends. Ah, I see. That's unnecessary context, but there you go. All right, let's see what this third one is. Oi, Yose, Yose, stop it, Yose! Stop it, I'll ask you! Okay, what is being said there? He said, Oi, Yose, Yose, stop it, stop it. Stop it, stop it. I'm telling you to stop it. So again, scolding the person, pulling his string?

1:01:53Something, yeah. He's telling somebody to stop something, whatever they're doing. There again, it's directly addressing the kid, which you would not do unless you were trying to scare them. I mean, if you're a samurai, I don't know. Yeah, that sounds... The point is, it doesn't feel samurai specific, right? Yeah, it doesn't have a samurai spirit in it. Okay, all right. We got one more.

1:02:18he said you beat me uh yeah that does it get an idea it's guy i got it dirty hand you use dirty hand so he you used a dirty hand wait does does it mean a literal dirty hand like the child is filthy no like uh you know when you compete you do it right and sometimes they cheat so then i tell it i was like whoever was doing something to woody was using like a cheating like a dirty trick yeah that's what we might i might say in english got it yeah this is a kid's toy though this is a child's toy i mean perhaps the samurai theming is meant to age it up a little bit but i i don't know it it seems it seems like only one of these is at all specific to Woody as we know him, which is his ride like the wind line.

1:03:09Wait, Toy Story 5 was shot in Japan? No, there's not really a Japanese connection. This toy just happens to exist. Oh, got it. Well, Aiko, thank you so much. Before we go, I did want to add, this is a movie podcast, and you are, in addition to being a translator and an excellent teacher, you are an actor and a comedian, And in fact, you played one of the cowgirls at the starting line in the film, The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift. Yes. Your line was seto, is it? Yeah. So we supposed to start the race. Somebody else says, my friend Kyla says, ready. I says, seto. Another person said go. Because as you know, in Japanese, it's seto.

1:03:55We have to enunciate the vowel. But people are complaining. They're like, she's saying set go. She's saying it wrong. I'm like, I don't think Universal Studio would publish the movie with my, you know, wrong thing. Right. Yeah, but I lost the voice. I don't think my voice was right. I think they might have done ADR. Got it. Because I lost the voice because so much fume and gas. Do you have any specific story you remember from your time? Because you have a couple of scenes. One of them is with Vin Diesel. I'm not sure if he was actually there. I was with this rapper, actor, Little Bow Wow. Yes, yeah.

1:04:36And he's my size, but he was so popular. Like all these women were around him. So I was really shocked by that. A short king. He's a short king and he was just so popular. So I was shocked. like Toy Story, a franchise that will be around for a long time. Yeah. Aiko, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. There you go. Not really very illuminating. Clips don't seem to be in character for Woody and frankly don't make a lot of sense. seem to mostly be scolding children for playing with a toy improperly. Anyway, my review of Toy Story 5, Bonnie's Mom, thicker than a hand-spun milkshake.

1:05:31Bye, buddy. There's a snake in my boot. It's many mysteries to that man. The greatest man there ever was.

1:05:41David Sims:Yeah, number one person tied with Mike Mitchell. Sure, of course, let's not forget. Mitch is going to be so angry about the three seconds where we said Weiger was number one. Luckily, he never listens to Blackjack. Does Mitch speak any other languages besides English? Boston. Boston, okay. Boston, right. Yeah. No, I couldn't think of a better joke. Yeah. Okay, so this movie, the plot, what is it? It opens, I love the opening of this film. It opens with a desert island. Yeah, that's right. I forgot about that. First person POV inside the Buzz Lightyear helmet.

1:06:15Griffin Newman:A cargo... Right, okay, yes, okay.

1:06:18David Sims:You scan the wreckage. You hear the breathing. It's similar to Buzz's awakening in the first Toy Story. Right. But then you see... Right, like a cargo ship that's turned over. The beach is littered with Buzz Lightyear's, and they all start to turn on and activate, and these are the new high-tech buzzes. Right. These are Wi-Fi-enabled buzzes that look very much like the original Buzz but have kind of a shiny airplane job. And they've got a device in their chest. Their symbol glows. Yeah. They're networked. The little screen.

1:06:46Griffin Newman:Everything's got the internet now. Kind of screen.

1:06:48David Sims:And they function as like, I don't know, they are lesion. It's kind of like a hive mind, like a floribus situation. And you just have this thing of all of them like waking up and waking each other up, like very lost post-crash, like, are you okay? They don't really have language yet. No, they don't speak. It cuts to them at night. Like, this is already a surprising cut to just be like, where are we in this? How much of this were you prepared for? Because I assume you've been scanning the leaks and the rumors.

1:07:17Griffin Newman:Yeah, yeah. Because I knew the movie had an iPad. Same.

1:07:20David Sims:Also, I believe they screened this opening at CinemaCon last year. Like, they had this done. Sure. And so a year ago, there were some stories that were people like, the opening of Toy Story 5 is really bizarre. I'm curious to see what this movie is now because I was not expecting this. It's an MMA fight and... Yeah. Not MMA, sorry, wrestling. It starts with an AW wrestler kicking. Yeah. I want to say someone in the Reddit, because I may... I'm just watching Ben fix Samurai Woody. Marie caught me. I just was trying to make sure he's comfy. You really are looking at him like he's a little person.

1:07:52And I'm like, you know what?

1:07:53David Sims:Ben's glowing. He's a sweetie. Look at that. What was the thing I was going to say? Oh, people were calling out that I said AEW instead of WWE in the Disclosure Day episode.

1:08:06Griffin Newman:Sure. And they were kind of calling it out positively, I feel.

1:08:08David Sims:No, just that I used a different specific, that I didn't go for the most obvious wrestling league. And they said, like, how funny would it be if Griffin got really into wrestling and went to the AEW all or nothing? I want people to know. You went. I fucking went. You went with Singer, right? I went with Matt Singer, Brendan McDonald, friends of the show. They took me to my first ever wrestling event. It was really fun. And I sat next to a blankie who bought me drinks and a T-shirt. I just want people to know. I had a great fucking time and I like Orange Cassidy. Is this going to be your sport now?

1:08:37I feel like you've always had a little fun. It's closer to theater. And that's why. It's sketch comedy. Let's call it what it is. Athletic sketch comedy. It's very athletic. They're impressive athletes. They do all kinds of crazy stunts. And Orange Cassidy's bit is that he's a guy who's sort of like too cool to wrestle.

1:08:54David Sims:So he shows up wearing a Canadian tuxedo and sunglasses. His hands in his pockets. And he does crazy moves refusing to take his hands out of his pockets because he doesn't want to show any effort. Right. It's a pretty funny bit. Buzz Lightyear's all make a campsite They make a fire Then they look up at the night sky They see stars And they start remembering Star Command I think this is such a good bit That the movie finds a way to like Exploit like seven different ways across the runtime

1:09:23Griffin Newman:I just feel like they could have shouted out Lightyear more You know, it's an important movie It's part of the canon But David, these are the toys Not the man that the toys are based on I'm just awaiting Lightyear 2 Do you know Do you know I have it on good authority that they had a trilogy planned. Of course they did. I mean, that makes sense. I'm sure they thought it was going to be a big deal. And the second movie, we add the aliens. Right. Oh, like the... The claw. Are the aliens not in this one? The first time I saw it,

1:09:50David Sims:I thought they were not in it at all. And this time I looked, they're in some of the group shots early, but they're like, even when they go to the garage, they're not in the box.

1:10:00Griffin Newman:Yeah. It's enough of them.

1:10:01David Sims:Yeah. They've had their time. It's cool how the buzzes are able to climb up the crane. By, like, climbing on each other, like zombie style. I love seeing the action of these new buzzes. I like that, yes, they can sort of form, like, larger shapes and things. I was a little, like, afraid of them. They're scary in a good way. I think they're too powerful.

1:10:23Griffin Newman:Yeah, sure. Let's stop them. I think we need to stop them. I think they can be weaponized. They're drones. Well, I think... Look, the limitless, like, you can't hurt, you'll hurt yourself thinking about it. These toys have access to the internet now. They're sentient beings. They seemingly can do all kinds of things online without us knowing. Wait, are they on our Reddit commenting? Well, this is the thing I actually discussed this with someone. Yeah. And I was like, it's something a movie doesn't want to deal with and that's fine. But I was like, if toys were talking to each other on the internet, as they basically do in this, that's actually creating a paper trail, which I feel like kind of violates their we can't be seen being alive.

1:11:04Griffin Newman:It's like, at a certain point, the government might kind of be like, hey, like... It's going to become an X-File. There's like other beings talking on these apps. Like, what is this?

1:11:15David Sims:But that's already started in three. I mean, Trixie, the Kristen Schaal character, does have a texting relationship with other toys. Yes. She's emailing, at least. Yeah. Trixie, I feel, is the most Marie-like of all of the characters. Absolutely. She doesn't really, she has like a line in this maybe. She's got a couple jokes. She does. Like Jeff Garland's character is silenced, unsurprisingly. He is still there. Silenced for speaking the truth on how he wanted to hug people as well or whatever it is he did. He kept saying, ow, my vagina on set. That was his joke. Who do you relate to the most?

1:11:50David Sims:Rex? No. Well, in the early films, it was Jesse and then Forky. I unsurprisingly relate very hard to Forky. My face when I learned Jeff Garland. was not going to voice anyone

1:12:01Griffin Newman:into this movie. What is it that you're showing? The Uncanny Valley Jeff Garland. They made like a CGI Jeff Garland for like the finale of the Goldbergs because they'd already fired him, but like they didn't want to like kill the dad off. I think they did.

1:12:15David Sims:Am I wrong in thinking they did one season post his death? Like post the character death? I don't think. But that was to finish off the season they already had shot. I'm not even sure that he died though. Or did they just kind of like,

1:12:27Griffin Newman:you know, say like, he's on vacation. My memory is that they've... I'm not... Yes, he died off-season. Right. Like, yeah, but he was used for a graduation episode in season nine. Right. Because they had fired.

1:12:39David Sims:There was a season 10 where Wendy McLovin Covey got, like, a big pay raise, deservedly so. It's so funny. Because she became the only parent. But now, show us your impression. You were about to go into it. Yeah, Marie, can you take a picture of this? No, he's not facing me. You gotta face me. Basically, he was so annoying and would just make hypersexual jokes all the time to the cast and crew that for years they built... I'm kidding! It's funny! For years they did a thing where they basically would shoot him out of every episode in one day, isolated from most other actors. And then finally it got like, that's too extreme, but they had a bunch of episodes that already had been written with the assumption they'd get the one day out of him for the end of that season, so they finished it with weird CGI.

1:13:25David Sims:guy.

1:13:25Griffin Newman:And I think they threw in some outtakes and some whatever, you know, like they did what they they patched together.

1:13:30David Sims:He doesn't talk in this. The potato heads have been recast. They also only have a couple lines. I think this is kind of smart. And I heard Stanton and Harris talk about this where they were like, the cast has gotten too big. It's an embarrassment of riches. Sure. Anytime we cut to the Bonnie's room, we try to put them all in the same frame so you can at least see everyone. Yeah. But like, realistically, everyone's getting three lines in this movie outside of our main cast. Totally. Who do you relate to? Or who do you feel like you are in this universe? You are so... Bo Peep. I like Bo Peep because she's like, I'm fucking...

1:14:05Survivor.

1:14:05Griffin Newman:Griff, you're the Toy Story expert here. Is there a David-coded Toy Story character that I'm not thinking too hard about? You sometimes have Potato Head energy. I was going to say Potato Head. I'm a married Spun. I'm a married Spun. He's too grumpy. I actually, like, Potato Head in the early movies, I'm kind of like, can you fucking relax once in a while? He's always so down on everything. He's a roast comedian.

1:14:26David Sims:He sure is. Well, he loves his wife. He does. He's got three children. Yes. The monkeys. The aliens. Oh, the aliens, right? The monkeys are in his butt. Right, the monkeys are in his butt. These are all important

1:14:36Griffin Newman:things to know. You're also a little bit of Ham, I think. Sure. Ham in those early movies is also kind of just like kind of an ombudsman type. Yes. Like he's always kind of in the mix and organizing and stuff. I don't know. I liked Ham.

1:14:50David Sims:Lasseter was always, of course, the Pixar good luck charm. He was in every film. And then since Lasseter was ousted, he stopped doing them. And I did notice that his billing is very low on this movie. Does he have a line? Him says something or other. He says a couple things. And I was like, that's really similar to a joke from three. Or that's really similar to a joke from four. I am wondering if Don Rickles style, they did just use outtakes for him on this one and pay him. And he wouldn't come in. It's pure speculation on my part. but I noticed that the billing order, the end credits was not alphabetical and he was all the way down at the bottom.

1:15:24Yeah. Well, he noticed. He noticed something. Sleuth over here.

1:15:27David Sims:Yes. Did you make a post on the Toy Story Reddit about this? No, I refuse to engage with that place. Good for you. It's a place for heathens and maniacs.

1:15:35Griffin Newman:I'm Duke Caboom.

1:15:37David Sims:You are not Duke Caboom. You're not Duke Caboom. You're not Duke Caboom. Why not? Because Duke Caboom is like a failure with an inflated ego, you know?

1:15:46Griffin Newman:Yeah, but he's come low and he's come... I guess I'm not really Duke Caboom. We love him, but you're not Duke Caboom. Okay, I'm just trying to think of characters. I'm the doll from Four. What's her name? Dolly? Gabby. You are kind of Gabby. Because Gabby's kind of like... You're a mean girl. She's kind of like lost in her... Like she's never been able to escape high school in a way. You know what I mean? Like she's one of those people who's just kind of like... Watching the Mets on her laptop. Yeah. Love the Mets. One last night. beat the Phillies. David's wearing a Mets. I don't care about the Phillies.

1:16:21Yeah. Let's go Mets. Yay!

1:16:24David Sims:Just to finish this loop, Timothy Dalton, not back as Pricklepants, who gets a couple good jokes. Oh, really? I didn't notice that.

1:16:32Griffin Newman:Was he not in four either? I feel like,

1:16:34David Sims:had he not departed the role already? He was in four, and in Toy Story of Terror, someone else voiced the character for Forky asked a question, and it's a different guy who's doing it for this. Right. And I looked up this guy, and I was like, what do I know this guy from? And the answer is he played Jeffrey Epstein in the Netflix movie about the Prince Andrew interview, which is when I watched that film, it's a non-speaking role. I was like, this is the worst role you could ever have as an actor. You are just physical double for Jeffrey Epstein in close-ups non-speaking walking through Central Park with Prince Andrew.

1:17:09Griffin Newman:Can I just read a great Ben Hossley tweet out? Please. I've just been scrolling through his tweet. One of our finest. This is from April 2021 Vanity license plate that says Fang God He's so He never misses

1:17:26David Sims:We're so lucky to have him And he never misses Ben can you talk about some of the things you liked about this movie Because I feel like you were surprised by how pro you were Great jokes I thought this was really funny The parents when Bonnie and Blaze are finally connecting towards the end and the parents are watching and when they start to come in, they're like, get out of here, act normal. This is Ben's favorite moment. He did the Leo point at the screen last night when it happened. Like, it's your favorite part.

1:17:59Griffin Newman:I know that feeling a little bit when you're like, when I brought my daughter over to someone's house for a play date and you are kind of doing the like, it's like, we're introducing the fish to a new, you know, tank and we'll see if she can thrive or you know where you just they kind of just like run off to their room and you're like good good good great great great great like they're doing it they're doing it as your daughter famously says I shy yeah your daughter does say I my daughter does say I

1:18:24David Sims:my daughter says that too yeah our daughters have that in common when we go to Bonnie's room we open with the wedding being staged I feel like or very quickly get to that Forky and Karen Beverly are getting betrothed Bonnie's in a phase where she just wants to watch marriages all the time you're reading another Ben tweet It's so good.

1:18:43Griffin Newman:I ate too many pasta and my apt is small. I don't know what that means. That is March 13th, 2020. So it's right before lockdown. Maybe you're just kind of like, you know, exploring like what it felt like to kind of be carb maxing and not being able to go out. My apt is small apartment. I assume. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Feathers are bone hair, right? That's a, you know, that, I mean, that's just, that's just what's bouncing around that. Not going to hit all the time.

1:19:12David Sims:What a brain. Feathers or bone hair. Bonnie's in the stage where she's really enjoying putting on fake weddings. And so Forky and Kevin Beverly are getting married, which is the thing the movie treats as. If Bonnie gives you a wedding, then that counts. It's legally binding. But also, Prickle Pants, if he's officiating, it's legally binding because there was one playtime where he was a haunted priest, I think, or a haunted reverend. He's ordained. He's ordained. Right.

1:19:39Griffin Newman:Yes. Yeah we're in the Right in the The sweet Bonnie vision To the You know It's very like little It's like kind of Pastel-y I was gonna say Little golden book style Which is really cute I thought it was clever We've never gone into Playtime vision In this kind of way No because in Two you see Andy's Is it two or three No it's three That begins with The train chase A recreation of Play from prior Toy stories Yes But it just looks like An epic movie Correct It doesn't have like a style Beyond the style we know

1:20:09David Sims:And I would say that's what we've done. Like, if you go to play, it just becomes... The Buzz video game in 2 is like, you know,

1:20:16Griffin Newman:it just looks like Toy Story.

1:20:17David Sims:I think this is like a really, really cool visual choice. Yeah. And I like that it's always a murder mystery, that they imply that there's always a who poisoned blank to these wedding ceremonies. This is so accurate to my playtime as a child. Oh, I thought you were going to say to your wedding. Well, no, but no one died. But it was always like soap opera level. Sure. Like people were having affairs. There were weddings. There were secret children. This is a big thing about Bonnie. There were murderers. The problem with Andy that gets exposed more and more as we're deeper into the Bonnieverse is that Andy is incredibly nonspecific.

1:20:57David Sims:Beyond just how creepy he looks as like an early CGI human. He does look awful. It is like the Pixar people all had children who weren't yet at this age.

1:21:06Griffin Newman:Yeah, I mean, Andy likes cowboy because he like Woody, so he wears a cowboy hat. And then he likes Spaceman because he like Buzz, so he wear a helmet. I'm going to read another Ben tweet. Okay, good. November 2019. I hope the Star Wars universe reveals the chocolate planet.

1:21:21David Sims:This is what's incredible. They're all good. Ben would just sit down and just spit out a thought like that.

1:21:27Griffin Newman:You know, every few weeks. Like, you know, he would take his time. Yeah. Yeah. Just kind of check in from time to time. Right.

1:21:33David Sims:They always had the tone of imagining Ben just sitting in his study, stroking his chin and then going, huh. And then sharing this missive with the world. You know that like gif of like a guy with like a quill? Yes. And it like is on fire because what he's read to write is so fire. That's always so funny. That's like every one of Ben's tweets. All of Ben's tweets feel like they were written in ink with a feather. Yeah. A hundred percent. Or I'm sorry, a bone hair. Right. Right. Yeah.

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1:22:59David Sims:for 12 month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms.

1:23:12Griffin Newman:Okay, so, all right, what's happening? Oh, yeah, Forky is married. Forky, you know, I love Forky so much, but, you know, relegated to minor character.

1:23:20David Sims:He gets good jokes. Gets a couple of jokes. I have no offense at this. I'm not defensive about it. I think he gets good stuff to do. Forky had a movie. He had a movie, exactly. And I think this movie very smartly is like, let's really lock in on four kind of main characters and then our double A gang, which we'll get to. The thing I was going to say is this is another thing that feels like a nice little corrective cleanup. A thing I don't like in three is the subplot of Buzz has spent 10 years trying to build up the courage to hold Jesse's hand. Feels so infantilizing. It is. Well, they are toys and their romance is tough to imagine.

1:23:56I agree with you. I don't like this. I don't like my Buzz being a bitch. No.

1:23:59Griffin Newman:But Buzz, this is sort of addressed in both three and four, right? Buzz's crush. Like, what are the other... His crush develops at the end of two.

1:24:07David Sims:In three, it is he has spent 10 years in a toy box with her, not saying anything, just being awkward. Right. And at the end, he accidentally holds her hand, and they look at each other.

1:24:18Griffin Newman:Right, yeah.

1:24:18David Sims:In four, they're like kind of together, but they don't get that much time. Four really doesn't know what to do with Jesse.

1:24:24Griffin Newman:Yeah.

1:24:24David Sims:Which is my biggest gripe with four. Yeah. And then this one, I like that it's like, he's jealous that he hasn't gotten to do the wedding with her. They are clearly in a relationship, and they have a work relationship as well.

1:24:36Griffin Newman:Do you not just think, like, the topic of romance in these movies between toys is just, it's a naughty topic? This is my other take that I shared with Ben,

1:24:45David Sims:is I think this is kind of like the romance movie, because I think what Jessie is working through in her, like, past owners, and this fear of losing it, is more of a breakup thing It's like, can I commit to something irrelevant? Can I? Yeah, sure. I've been hurt so many times before. It's that. And it's also like, if it ended badly, then did it mean anything in the first place? That's what she's looking for. That's what the tree moment's about for me. You know? Wow. It's like, can you have something that meant something that didn't last forever? Would you name your child after an ex? No. That's an insane thing.

1:25:20David Sims:That seems like a bad idea. Yeah, I agree. That's where the metaphor gets stretchy. I also, we'll get to the tree moment, but there's some other angles I think you need to consider there for why I think I buy it. So Buzz is now her, like, right-hand deputy. Jessie is leading Bonnie's room. Right, she's got the sheriff badge. She's the new Woody, yes. Right. Which is something Stanton said he wrote into four pointedly.

1:25:44Griffin Newman:Yeah, four ends with that idea of Woody giving Jessie the star.

1:25:48David Sims:Not thinking that he was going to do five, but saying, I think that is where the franchise should go. I think we've put so much story on Woody's shoulders. The movies are ready to move over to someone else. And Jesse's probably overdue to be the center at one of these. So very quickly, Bonnie's parents notice that she has no friends. I mean, she says it to them. She does. It's heartbreaking. Because she sees like neighborhood kids. Why does no one want to play with me? And just doesn't know how to talk to them. She's so shy.

1:26:20Griffin Newman:She's twins next door, and she's trying to build up the courage to play with them. The movie does not address whatever's happening at school, which, you know, it can't because it would be, like, that's just too much to deal with. But I guess the idea is that Bonnie is struggling to make friends. She's shy.

1:26:34David Sims:You see that in 4, too. You see that the other kids at school are not particularly nice to her. That's why she makes 4K. Because she's alone.

1:26:40Griffin Newman:Right, but 4 is set on the first or even, like, a preliminary day of kindergarten, so you don't really know what her social sense is going to be. It was orientation, yeah. Exactly, yes. But she's shy. She's shy. She's struggling to whatever, socialize or whatever. And her parents, you know, who, again, are mediocre parents, deal with this by buying her a tablet computer called Lily pad. They, like, dump it on her fucking bed, being like, here you go, this will help you make friends. The implication is that this is, like, a very popular device. It's being marketed as, like, help your kid connect to other kids.

1:27:16That's connected to sort of a closed loop for kids social network.

1:27:19David Sims:Right. the lily pad. And that's the cell that has successfully worked on the public. I did think, watching it a second time, do her parents' oversights make a little more sense if they have a second kid? If in between four and five... You mean if they're just kind of like, you know, I don't know, we're stretched thin. It's true, Bonnie is an only child. Right. I was like, they seem hyper-focused on Bonnie and also making some easy mistakes. Maybe. I don't know. Maybe one of them has a drug problem. The movie has to happen. Yeah, yeah. Maybe one of them has to turn a problem. But I guess, like, they're not taking enough of an active role where they should have, the parents should have made, like, a play date.

1:28:00Right? Like, what are they fucking doing? They're just, like, leaving her in a room. Waiting for her to kind of make it happen through, like, a group chat.

1:28:07Griffin Newman:I guess so. Again, you're, look, I'm analyzing the behavior of cartoon parents in a cartoon movie that has to have an iPad to have the story happen. And obviously it's hard to make your kid make friends at this age, I'm sure. Cause you can't like go to school and be like, Hey you, you know, my kid wants to be your friend. Like, you know, that's not going to work. Yeah. That's not how kids make friends. For sure. Uh, so, I mean, obviously she goes to dance class as we know, because that's who she's connected to via Lily pad. That's true. So she's already going, they have signed her up for classes, but clearly she's struggling to make friends.

1:28:39Another lesson of this film is that dance is really clicky.

1:28:43David Sims:Yeah. And the girls are mean. This is the thing I love. and friends of the show, Adam Volrich, Dom Nero, host of the Eye of the Duck podcast, I was texting with them about the movie and they said, a good thing this movie does, in their opinion, that I agree with is it definitively establishes some kids are just shitty. Lily gets redeemed.

1:29:03Griffin Newman:Yes. Somewhat. It makes no effort to be like, oh, and those kids, they didn't mean it. It's just kind of like, yeah, no, I guess they suck. Fuck those kids. Some kids suck.

1:29:10David Sims:Yeah, people are just bullies. Kids can be mean to each other. Totally. It's just the nature of the world. Because the Sid argument, you can always say, like, Sid's creative. He doesn't know he's hurting them. He doesn't think they're alive. Like, he's not an ill-intentioned person. Also, it seems like his home life is... He's got a bad home life. There's a lot of stuff going on there. There are a lot of kids with fucking negligent parents who are growing up shitty in the world of Toy Story 5.

1:29:31Griffin Newman:I guess so. Yes. But also, kids are mean to each other. Again, it's like, you can only control so much in the world. Of course kids will be mean to each other. It's how kids explore everything. They don't, you know, they don't have fully developed senses of empathy or whatever. They're not, you know, it's happened in pre-K. Like, you know, of course, kids are mean. Jesse's very invested, almost like a parent,

1:29:53David Sims:in how do I get her to connect and feels like she can help facilitate.

1:29:56Griffin Newman:You know, like, Woody is like that in three and four, especially in four, like, the whole idea is he's like, well, I'll go to kindergarten to help Bonnie. And it's kind of like, bro, you know, you're being too extra.

1:30:08David Sims:This is the dramatic tension where they're like...

1:30:10Griffin Newman:You're being a bit of a... Fuck, what's the ranch called? Root and tootin. You're being a little root and tootin ranch dressing about this.

1:30:16David Sims:You're putting a little too much root and tootin ranch dress on. But, yes, she tries to do it and then realizes that she accidentally embarrasses Bonnie. That other kids are growing out toys. I remember when the trailer came out, David. Yes. You were like, I reject this premise. My daughter loves toys more than anything. What is a... I don't remember this. What do you mean? You did text this. The idea that it's like toys are outmoded. No one cares anymore. Text the place and everything. She's not going to want to play with her toys because she'll only want to play with the iPad or whatever.

1:30:43Griffin Newman:Uh-huh. Right. Okay.

1:30:44David Sims:What is a sort of like studied thing is that kids are aging out of toys at an earlier age. Sure. And tech is often thought of as the sort of like, that's what's bridging the gap. And Jesse keeps saying throughout the film that technology is making kids grow up faster. I know it's going to end. And I do think that is true. I agree. Yes.

1:31:02Griffin Newman:This is the fear. Right. And that Bonnie seems a little bit younger. She seems... I like how you said Jesse says that like, it's like, Jesse, who's a professor of toyology. Correct. with a degree from the University of Toy. Yup. You know, kids are growing up faster. I'm like, Jesse, you live in a closet. Like, you know, what the fuck? You're not reading periodicals on this. It's spacious.

1:31:24David Sims:It's a walk-in. Yeah, where is she getting, like, where is she getting all of this, like, exposure to others?

1:31:30Griffin Newman:She gets on the walkie-talkie and Woody's like, I live in a skunk robot. Yeah. And I'm hearing a lot of things, too. You have to remember, Jesse and Woody have been alive for, like, 60 years. Yeah, they've been alive, right? like 60 to 70 years if they're like 50s or 60s toys right that's the idea but the whole thing was that Jesse wasn't played Jesse wasn't played with for like 30 years the thing the movies won't touch is who was Woody's owner before Andy I thought it was his family heirloom but they won't say he won't talk about it he talks about Andy like his first owner that's true and he's not like of course I'm a fucking old toy and I was played with by Andy Senior before he went off to the war and he died or whatever.

1:32:13Griffin Newman:I really thought four

1:32:14David Sims:was going to do one line. Uh-huh. And they didn't. It's always just familiar. They just clearly are kind of like,

1:32:19Griffin Newman:it's too complicated. Who cares? Right. And also the short answer. They also want to explain like, why is there a Pope car in the car world? Are the cars Catholic? Well, because they need guidance.

1:32:28David Sims:What do you mean?

1:32:28Griffin Newman:No, but I'm just saying like, Toy Story 3 is about religion.

1:32:31David Sims:Some Popes are Catholic. Some cars are Catholic. The Vanessa Redgrave car is Catholic. Vanessa Redgrave voices. Yeah. And Franco Nero. They play Luigi's Italian aunt and uncle car.

1:32:43Griffin Newman:Sounds very not stereotypical. Wait, this isn't real. This is real. This is the movie that makes the other movie look like the other movie. Cars 2 is the most demented film ever made.

1:32:51David Sims:I rewatched it again recently to be like... Vanessa Redgrave voices an Italian car? In a small role. I would even say an insignificant role. She maybe only speaks Italian in the movie? In the English dub? Yeah, her and Franco Nero play Italian relatives who they visit in a small cars town. Okay, so Bonnie gets the tablet. Well, no, I was going to mention, in Jesse's failed attempt, because this predates it, in Jesse's failed attempt to try to set Bonnie up to make friends, she ends up behind the house with the toys who are all now traumatized by being abandoned by their owner. They're in a kiddie pool or whatever.

1:33:30David Sims:There's the kiddie pool. It's some of our Partisaurus Rex friends. And all these toys are like doomsday, like tech is coming. You don't understand. It's over There's like The monkey with the symbol Yeah Wind up doll That's pretty funny Calling out funny moments The bunny with the drumsticks He's just like He's like Doing the Homer Simpson Meme kinda Sure David's just giving me A blank look Yeah I mean I remember Blank check look That's what he's giving me Funny in the bank So Jesse's got this Warning of Beware Right They're all iPad addicted now Tech is coming And then she sees The box arrive Lilypad comes out And immediately She's got an attitude Attitude, she's also just like Fucking addicted Immediately

1:34:12Griffin Newman:But Ben Griffin's saying that Lily, the character, has an attitude Lily has an attitude, Bonnie's addicted She's kind of snarky, she's kind of like Well, I know what's best, you know, like she's got that vibe Calls Jessie Jessica Which I think is funny because I think that is Kind of the vibe of tech of like, well, I've solved all the problems I as technology Voiced by Greta Lee In the grand tradition of Pixar being like I don't know, who's like kind of been in some good grown-up movies recently.

1:34:38David Sims:Yeah, also, who was sort of cresting three years ago when we started developing this movie. At one point, it was announced that Anna Faris was in this movie, and it's unclear if Greta Lee replaced her or if she was supposed to play a different character.

1:34:50Griffin Newman:Anna would make sense as like a kind of chirpy, annoying tech, you know, Anna's so good at that kind of, like, you know, making fun of that. But it's almost better to have a voice that's a little stealier. How's Anna Faris in Scary Movie 6? She doesn't look well, is all I will say.

1:35:05David Sims:I would agree with that. She is so good in Scary Movie 6. And it helps that she's doing the Jamie Lee Curtis, I've been going crazy in my house waiting for my revenge. Oh, that's what they do?

1:35:16Griffin Newman:I haven't seen the film. I've been seen it multiple times. I've seen it twice. I think it's very funny.

1:35:21David Sims:I think it also is like really good at the legacy sequel shit. Sure, it's making fun of me. The whole movie is the legacy sequel characters being so angry at the young characters who are like trying to be like, we're the leads now. And they're like, fuck you guys so hard. this sucks no one wants to see your movie and Anna Faris plays the sort of shell-shocked PTSD trauma plot survivor character did you see it? did I see Scary Movie 6? how many times did you see it? Marie's just Marie's just looking at me she's going into the sunken place

1:35:52Griffin Newman:people won't even say that whether you saw it they just look at you like this David's doing the whale except I know wait in the whale meme he's actually doing a different face in that yeah so I can't do it in the whale meme he's thinking that people People are amazing. People are amazing. No, I didn't see, I've never seen a single scary movie. I'm not sure that I've ever seen one in full, to be honest. This one has a really good K-pop Demon Hunter parody that is fully animated. I think you're the only person, like, I don't know, on the planet. People were generally negative about this film. I'm like a little surprised.

1:36:23David Sims:I'm not like saying like five stars. Go see it. I was like, I think this is funny. And I rewatched all the previous ones recently. And they're not better than this. But are they worse? Several of them are. Right. And I feel...

1:36:39Griffin Newman:No, sorry. But are they good? Some of them are... Half of them are not. Four... Five is one of the... In my memory, they're kind of all bad. Five is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Right. And that's one Anna Faris isn't even in.

1:36:51David Sims:Correct. That's one of the worst films, like, ever to get a wide release. Truly.

1:36:57Griffin Newman:Maybe you just couldn't handle the truth of all the satire.

1:36:59David Sims:Five was written and shot, directed by Malcolm D. Lee. Yes. To primarily be a Black Swan parody. And then in January, Mama came out and opened pretty well. And they panicked and went, what if the movie's Mama instead? And they reshot the movie to be 50 % Mama six weeks before it came out. Sounds good. With David Zucker taking over.

1:37:21Griffin Newman:Yeah, I was about to say, that sounds good.

1:37:22David Sims:Yeah, it feels like that.

1:37:23Griffin Newman:I'm going to read another Ben tweet. A movie made in a month. December 2019. In the Sopranos pilot, Christopher mentions his cousin went to my high school, then shoots someone. It's true. That's the tweet. It's just a fact.

1:37:35David Sims:In high school. Bonnie gets on the pond. She starts making friends. She gets invited to a sleepover. Jesse and Bullseye sneak into the suitcase to accompany her. And she is embarrassed by having toys.

1:37:48Griffin Newman:Yes. So this is the thing. Right. Like Bonnie is now being seen as a baby by other kids because she wants to play with toys and do goofy voices and pretend. Yes. Right. And Lilypad really takes it as a like, see, I'm right. I'm right. She just needs to be networked. She needs to be keeping up to date on all the games they play on my OS. Every morning before school, she has to be like, you know, checking in with the group chat. Even the way that they engage with each other is they're all just sitting next to each other, but looking at a screen. Yes. I just have to address this. Ben is basically acting like we just watched like a news hour.

1:38:30Griffin Newman:I know. Can I have a PBS NewsHour documentary about how kids actually are? It is a movie. I'm not sure they're all actually in their rooms tapping away on tablets. I don't know. I see teens out. Well, the teens, it's different. The teens, it's bad. They're sitting at the table, you know, at the whatever, at the fast food place, and they're all just staring at their phone. They're not engaging with each other. I'm kind of like that. Right. We're all, we've all been guilty of this in our lives. I mean, David, you have been. Same, but I'm trying to get away from it. Every episode staring at a screen.

1:39:02Griffin Newman:Well, that's true. I mean, how else would I tell you? Ben Hosley on my birthday in 2019 tweeted, I've decided my new bit is I'm serious. Which is funny. No greater bit. Oh, shit. Okay, I was not sure if I was going to do this. We don't have to. Do it. Screen time challenge, guys. Screens down? So what do you... What's our screen time? Oh, to literally do the count? To, like, look it up? Yeah. It can't be good. Okay, I just need to preface this by saying my job is phone. Yeah, unfortunately, I mean, we're all kind of in job is tech territory. That is the thing I deal with a little bit. It's not so much job, although I don't like that it's job.

1:39:48Wait, are we doing daily average?

1:39:50Griffin Newman:Yeah, whatever it says every week. I got five hours, three minutes. Oh. I'm four hours, seven minutes. That's great But that's because My job is phone But also my job is computer I was about to say I text people From computer I think that perverts As do I Yeah And I slack from Yes Yeah Mine is Five hours, 12 minutes

1:40:09David Sims:I seemingly Either turn mine off Or never turned it on So it has no report for me It says Look here 18 hours App and website activity

1:40:18Griffin Newman:Turn on or not Oh wow You broke it But I have the problem Also of like Because I'm always like I should get one of those brick things And I should brick my phone more office and blah blah blah and then I'm like but like it's so irritating how so much of my life is on the phone yes my admin you know that kind of like the school shit the class app like the fucking shopping I do for this family or whatever all this crap at school once and I had to download an app for it that's really Glass Dojo you had to get yeah or something I don't know and I'm like this is fucking nuts. That is. It's there to like, you know, pick up this child.

1:40:55David Sims:I try to push away, but it is like the nature of what we do and this being a thing that exists on the internet. There's just like a constant amount of stuff that we need to respond to that happens through devices. It's annoying. In addition to obviously watching a lot of stuff and like researching a lot of stuff. And then, you know, obviously there's a Blitz event right now with Lily, Pat and Bonnie and I'm trying to unlock. Oh, Jesus. Oh boy. I bet your Disney Emoji Blitz time is probably bigger than... That might be a scary number to read. I will say this. I went to battery usage, and it does say that 20 % of my battery usage is Emoji Blitz, which I think I got down a little bit.

1:41:30What would happen if you stopped playing Disney Emoji Blitz? We can throw out any sort of wild hypotheticals in this episode.

1:41:37Griffin Newman:What would happen if there was no planes in the sky? What if pigs took their place and flew? All right, so Bonnie gets quickly hooked on the pad and she's just a little zombie and she doesn't want to play with her toys anymore. She's getting bullied for playing with toys, which is constantly what we do to Griffin. This is true. That's true. Of course, Griffin is not eager. I laugh all the way to the bank. And we should say, because Jesse and Bullseye, right, they go off with Bonnie and then end up getting sent over to Bonnie's original house.

1:42:10David Sims:Yeah, no, no, no. You're skipping a couple steps here because, of course, what happens first is she gets on the walkie-talkie with Woody. Right. This is my hottest take in the movie. I think Tom Hanks remains great at playing this character. I think everything they do with Woody is funny. I do think this movie would kind of work better if Woody was not in it.

1:42:28Griffin Newman:Woody lifts out of the movie for sure. But I don't remember feeling like he was actually like actively a drag on the movie. He doesn't drag anything. Like, but it is certainly, the movie is basically like, well, you're here because you have to be, but the joke will essentially be like, we don't really, you don't really have a purpose. He's kind of bald now. No, I mean, the guys are fine. I love his poncho. His poncho is cool. I'm like, okay, Woody. Not just his poncho, but his ponch. He got a poncho. He's got a poncho, which actually I've struggled with the physics of that. The stuffing has come loose.

1:42:58It's redistributed in his body. It makes actually perfect sense. But then why does he suck it back in? Because he's self-conscious. Yeah. Much like his bald spot. Because he has air that he breathes? No, he's like pushing it back.

1:43:10Griffin Newman:David, stop. All right. Okay. It's a posture thing. But Woody is firmly supporting and is a supporting character in the film. A thing that I didn't like. Yes. The walkie-talkie. Why, you know, like... Buzz doesn't know it exists? Yeah, I'm not sure why that needed to happen, except for the plot mechanics that Buzz kind of accidentally thinks he needs to get involved.

1:43:32David Sims:I read it as, yes, a Jesse insecurity thing of that I consult Woody for help and also Buzz's insecurity of if she knows... Why would she consult me or whatever? It's both of their fragile male egos. I buy this. It doesn't feel like it undoes for, you're like, if Woody's whole thing is that he goes around saving toys and we see him saving a little Matty Matheson out of a tree with his gang. Yeah, no, I didn't care. He comes back. It doesn't feel like it's undoing anything. And then he's just funny. It's just a lot of bits of him and Buzz fighting and people joking about how old he looks. But he is firmly supporting it.

1:44:06Griffin Newman:I assume there are people on yawn internet who are like, they, you know, Toy Story 4 ends with an emotional goodbye. How could they undo this? They're ruining the emotion of that moment And to them I say You know It'll be okay I also think The ending still stands

1:44:20David Sims:Like I'm a four lover Right And it's like The ending is still like Yeah Well if he got a call that he needed They needed help He would do that He's around And then he'll leave again Which he does Sure Yeah Does it ever come up Do you think Bonnie's ever like Hey what ever happened to that other fucking cowboy Well you have to remember in four She doesn't really like Woody I know but she doesn't know he exists Yeah, we lost that somewhere Right, they just don't care that much about Woody But do you think Andy ever, who lives next door Is like, hey, where's Woody? My fucking beloved toy David, you sound like the Reddit now They're like, Andy gave it to her with a speech Explaining that he was the most important character And she didn't even notice Andy doesn't live next door

1:45:00Griffin Newman:Isn't that how he ends up giving her the box? No, because the mom, Andy's mom But it's like Andy's moving Andy's mom was going to college Yeah Andy's mom donates him to the preschool. Bonnie's mom runs the preschool. Yeah. But then why is Andy there at the end? Because Andy's mom is like, I don't know, maybe he's like, oh, that's a little. I thought they lived next door. No, he drives. He drives. I just rewatched the movie. Who gave him a license? He's going to college. He's 18 years old. No, but what state? Where do they live? Tri-county area, of course. He got a tri-county license. Tri-county.

1:45:36Griffin Newman:One of them fancy tri-county licenses.

1:45:38David Sims:Once Woody comes in, they try to really go aggressive against Lilypad. Right.

1:45:43Griffin Newman:They go to war. They unplug her. Right. They're like, and when do they discover that if you say, hey, Lily, she snaps into Siri mode? Because I thought that was later. Much later. Very funny. I liked the running bit that every time a tech toy is running low on battery, they're drunk. That was good. Well, this is kind of what I was trying to get us to. So Jesse gets knocked out of the house.

1:46:05David Sims:I just had to establish Woody coming back first. Jesse gets knocked out of the house and then found by an elderly hippie burnout couple, which is another thing I love, that they're just specific people. It's very California.

1:46:17Griffin Newman:Yes. Sounds like we're saying funny a lot. I thought the movie was funny. I had a good time with this movie. I was having a good time, right? I wasn't sitting there being like, well, well, well.

1:46:27David Sims:Just pay some respect to the Ben Hosley News Hour. Also, every time he's speaking in this way, he is sitting at his desk with his hands clasped in front of him. I'm going to read a Hosley treat right now. Did you guys talk about how we got new chairs in the office and that they're like better for our posture?

1:46:42Griffin Newman:This is from December 2018. Hey, country road's too curvy. It's true. So who voices Dino? The old couple. I didn't notice anyone specific.

1:46:55David Sims:But they notice, of course, that Emily, Jesse's original owner, wrote her name inside the trap. Right. And her address. That's what's vital. So they take her to this sort of, I guess it's like in the boonies or whatever, because it's kind of on a farm. Right. A horse girl named Blaze. Is the now occupant of this home. With her parents.

1:47:15Griffin Newman:Now, Griffin, are you feeling worried? I know that like, I'm sure this was a big part of the rumor mill. Yes. Of like, okay, they're going to dig into the Jesse owner thing. Yeah. Are you sitting there like, I hope we meet Jesse's original owner? or are you worrying like, this is my, that was my guess, that you're worrying like, oh no, Jesse's owner will be a character. Some pictures. This is something that'll be in the movie in a big way.

1:47:40David Sims:Some pictures and stuff hinted at the original house and people were like, that looks like the tire swing from the Sarah McLachlan song.

1:47:47Griffin Newman:Totally, right. People were kind of picking up on the kids. And I was like,

1:47:49David Sims:her going back to the house is interesting. I like her sort of reckoning with stuff. I don't want her to see Emily.

1:47:56Griffin Newman:Yeah.

1:47:56David Sims:That was a big thing for me.

1:47:58Griffin Newman:I obviously am less emotionally invested in this series than you, but I too was just kind of like, I think that'd be a mistake. Yes. And I think, again, I'm thinking about it from my kid's perspective. I'm like, I think my kid wouldn't get it because she would be old. Yes. And it would just be kind of confusing. I mean, Emily's quite, quite likely dead at this point. Either dead or an old woman because one assumes she owned Jessie in the 60s or whatever. Yes, correct. Correct.

1:48:21David Sims:So I didn't want them to do that and I was very relieved that it's like, nope, this is a new family who lives here. There's a new family in the house. It allows her to tackle new issues while also dealing with the echoes and the reminders of the past. And when we get to this house... I do wonder if my kid will be like,

1:48:35Griffin Newman:I don't get it. Like, because it is weird that it's like, wait, so this is Jesse's house, but it's different people. I don't know. We'll see. I wonder. We'll see. Again, she might just be like, I like the potty robot. Like, you know, who knows?

1:48:45David Sims:Yeah. I mean, like... I like the internal logic whenever Toy Story gets into, like, the different types of toys and the different types of psychologies. But we basically go to the pool house at this ranch, the garden shed, that has mostly kind of, like, pool toys and beach toys and things like that. They haven't been played with in years. This is like Combat Carl. I don't think it's a pool house. I think it's just like... It's a playhouse. It's a playhouse. No, it's a playhouse. It's a little playhouse. It's a playhouse.

1:49:08Griffin Newman:It's not, yeah.

1:49:09David Sims:It's a lot of like beach toys. It's like summer toys.

1:49:11Griffin Newman:I guess so, but it's one of those little plastic houses you get a child. Yeah. Right. Whatever.

1:49:15David Sims:But Combat Carl's not an outdoor toy. He's not, but she's like drawn tattoos on him and put a tutu on him. This is a different Combat Carl from the Combat Carl of Toy Story 4? This is voiced by Ernie Hudson because, of course, Carl Weathers was previously combat Carl and has passed away.

1:49:29Griffin Newman:I also love the little pizza guy played by Bad Bunny. Of course. That really made me laugh. Pizza with sunglasses. That's the kind of Toy Story joke that'll get a chuckle out of old Simsie right here.

1:49:40David Sims:And then we meet Smarty Pants. Yes, so they've all been sitting here waiting for Blaze to return for a tea party. It's been years, but what killed them all, what ended the tea party was tech, the first device that ended everything for them, and it was Smarty Pants, which Jessie reveals she was sitting on. the MVP of the movie, right?

1:49:57Griffin Newman:Conan is killing.

1:49:58David Sims:Is on fire in this fucking thing.

1:50:00Griffin Newman:What I liked about what he's doing is he's giving a real performance. Real. It doesn't really sound like Conan. No. Certainly not like the Conan we all listen to on the first and only podcast. Conan O 'Brien needs friends. Best and last. He's, you know, he's sort of thought up a character here. Like, obviously, when you see him in Bonnie's pretend verse and he's got the Conan hair, that's a clever little nod to who's voicing him. But my friend was like, I didn't realize that was Conan. It almost feels like when Conan voices

1:50:30David Sims:the angry audience member on his show, when he goes like, what are you doing? Yeah, right, right. It's like, it's sort of a kind of like voice in his repertoire, but it's him turned all the way up. And this is the other part where I was like, oh, I think I see what the movie's doing and it's smart. There was this sort of bridge era of tech toys that Jesse is going to view as enemies. They're just like Lilypad. Right, but they are obsolete themselves. They're the same as her. In a way. They're limited tech toys who had an emotional relationship with her because they weren't just a tablet to the internet.

1:51:05David Sims:They had specific purposes. Smarty Pants, as he likes to point out, is not a chair. He is a potty training tool. He is meant to help you log your pee-pee and your poo-poo. I wonder if such things... Which makes it so funny every time that he gets really kind of like high and mighty about his position. Right. Right. I mean, I think all those gags are good.

1:51:25Griffin Newman:Always. Like every little joke he has. Every little, it's like a, you log one for pee and two for poop. And then what is it? A fart? It's a 1.5? Yeah. Or should like a heavy fart or whatever.

1:51:35David Sims:But he's doing this sort of like, this is a number one, a number two. Like a really putting, I would say, a lot of rootin' tootin' ranch on his line deliveries.

1:51:44Griffin Newman:And the bit of, you know, he, wait, wait, wait. His batteries have died. Right. His batteries have died. So he's kind of drunk. He's like Foster's Brooke. He's good. Yeah.

1:51:53David Sims:Yeah. But he gets really excited at the idea of Jesse being able to reconnect him. His batteries are low, but she has a common purpose. She needs to get back. He has tech. He can help her get back. So she lets him into the house. He finds Atlas and Snappy, a GPS for kids, and a, like, low-tech digital camera, who all three of them connect to each other with, like, outmoded USB plugs. Yes, Snappy voiced by Shelby Rabara Yes Not an actress I know She's from Steven Universe That Anna Faris was supposed to play Snappy at some point It was never clear And then Atlas is Craig Robinson Reliable Yes These three are basically able to like together linked up With new batteries installed Form a little like social media tech team I like that they sort of have consciousness but then they also have access to the outside world.

1:52:50David Sims:Snappy can see things. Atlas can locate things. And Smarty Pants can do text. Right. This is the Pixar thing. They're so smart how they decided to create these characters and how they'll be used throughout the movie. I said to Ben, I think this is a real Stanton thing where he really likes the internal logic of what's a different type of toy? What would be the psychology of that toy we haven't explored before? and what's a specific way that character can play into the story and activate something that couldn't be done by any other character. Like, there's no character put on the board in this movie in a major role who doesn't serve significant story function in the third act, unlocking something.

1:53:33David Sims:And we were talking about, I mean, you said it, Ben, the second the movie ended last night, you went, I cannot believe that is the same person who made In the Blink of an Eye. It's crazy. A movie that feels so kind of like misconceived on a basic level and this movie is so goddamn tight. It just feels like every story idea it has has been worked down to its tightest possible point.

1:53:54Griffin Newman:This is not as funny, Ben, but this is a saga I forgot about from your life October 2018. Yup, I'm locked in my apartment. I went from homeless to too much home. Hell, remember this saga? You couldn't like open your front door. You were locked into your apartment? I just moved into a new apartment after couch surfing for many months and the doorknob just broke off in my hand. There was an episode we canceled because of this. I believe you could not exit. We couldn't record. Your landlord said the bottom lock wasn't his problem and you were like, is he just a top lock guy? Was that the place on Frost's Place?

1:54:33Griffin Newman:Yeah, okay. One more. June 2018. Slanderman is Slenderman's lawyer. That's real. That's good. Fuck, maybe I gotta start tweeting. I'm just saying.

1:54:45David Sims:I think you need to publish a book.

1:54:46Griffin Newman:That's what it means to be. You need to be like one of those Urban Outfitters, like wisdom of Winnie the Pooh kind of things. The Tao of Ben. We need these musings,

1:54:54David Sims:but I don't think it has to be on social media. I mean, certainly I'm like Instagram only these days, and I wish I spent even less time on Instagram than I do, but I mostly lurk and then repost things. And I certainly feel healthier for it, not being on any of the text-based apps.

1:55:09Griffin Newman:Yeah, I don't use Twitter anymore. I'll look at it sometimes for sports. I use Instagram, but, you know, I don't post much. I guess I'm on Blue Sky, but that's kind of like I post once a week on Blue Sky. I lost the poster urge. Like, I scared myself of that. Same. I don't post. I used to have the thing when I had Twitter where I was like, any thought, I'd be like, oh, that'd be funny. You know, like, you know, like, and I just, I spent enough time, Twitter did, like, Twitter started behaving in a way after this one guy bought it that really started to distress me. Mr. Cool you're talking about?

1:55:44David Sims:Yeah.

1:55:44Griffin Newman:And I just was sort of like, I guess I'll stop. And then I stopped long enough that I was like, I lost the poster disease. I'm just imagining someone like replying to a Ben tweet being like, at Grok, what does this mean?

1:55:56David Sims:Right.

1:55:57Griffin Newman:At Grok explains.

1:55:58David Sims:I mean, that's the famous thing of like early AI being asked. Oh, right. Would Ben Hosley like the movie Slumdog Millionaire? And the response was, it's impossible to say Ben alternates between liking wet things and dry things. The movie has both. We don't know which one he likes more these days. And we were like, Ben has outsmarted AI. It can't track his bits. Yeah, love it. Triple A gang is trying to figure out how to make a post through the pond to alert Bonnie that her toys are here. And then Jessie very quickly realizes, wait a second, is this an opportunity to also connect these two kids?

1:56:36David Sims:Because she notices that Blaze, who has grown out of toys and grown out of these tech toys is an animal kid.

1:56:41Griffin Newman:She's a little bit bigger, but she likes animals, and she's still got a creative sensibility.

1:56:45David Sims:She plays with the animals like they're toys, which I also thought was smart in terms of, like, any hand-wringing panic about, like, is tech the death of everything? You're like, well, like, are toys getting us away from us existing with nature? Like, that's also a technology, right? Yeah. And so the only toys she still has, like, on display are her horse shelf because she's a horse girl. Right. And that's just sort of for display. But otherwise, she has her pig, Jimmy Dean, and her horse, Daffodil, and Jimmy Dean she talks to like it's a toy she does routines with. I love Jimmy Dean. Jimmy Dean fucking rolls.

1:57:20David Sims:Jimmy Dean's the pet pig? Yes. Yeah. He's so cute. I just want him to slumber on. I like that he's also not like a cartoon pig, that he's like kind of a gross pig in a way that makes him cute. He's like Peppa Pig's dad. He has like chin hair or whatever, but I like it. It doesn't bother me.

1:57:36Griffin Newman:It's also the classic, you know, people are always like, I want a little pig, you know, piglet for a pet. And it's like, you know, it's going to turn into like a big pig. Turn into a Jimmy Dean. Even if it's like a miniature pig or whatever. They turn into big old pigs. And that's what's happened.

1:57:49David Sims:But she loves her pig. She loves Jimmy Dean. Yes. And Jessie recognizes it. Bonnie's not like other kids. She plays. She's creative. And Blaze has got this thing. Can we set the two of them up to hang out? Right. Woody and Buzz have followed after Jessie are committed to trying to save her and are sort of fighting about who's actually number two, who's the deputy. Because they get there because Bonnie... Yes. ...has been... realizes she's lost Jesse. Bonnie gets the message. Right, right, right. It goes to her iPad. Lilypad's trying to block this. This is when Woody and Buzz are sort of triangulating, like, what if we unplug her charger?

1:58:28David Sims:She loses battery. She'll get kind of drunk. Then can we interrogate her? There's the lizard. that they use to activate her touch pad. That was really funny. They've realized the voice activation thing. They're trying to figure out how to outsmart Lilypad and she just keeps leveling up. They're like, can we, we just got this message. Oh, right. From Jessie. Here's where she is. Here's the address. Here are the toys. Let's print it out so they find it. They say, but they, I think one of them says, send it to all or something. Yes, send all. Yeah, yeah. And so it prints out, but then like Lilypad activates the Roomba, which I like the idea that the Roomba also, because Bonnie has played with it has also now sort of gained a little sentience.

1:59:08David Sims:Oh, I didn't think about that. Later in the film. Right. Lilypad, of course, wants to fuck the Roomba. They don't fuck the toys. She wants to. Mine did. I would go like, boom, boom, boom. That's how they would have sex with each other. Smashy play. The Barbies, yeah. Perfectly healthy. There's nothing wrong with this. There's nothing wrong with this. I was literally thinking the exact same thing. I'm getting loopy. Should be here in 15 minutes.

1:59:29Griffin Newman:I ordered it. So One thing To credit this movie And It felt this way About 4 as well It just looks fantastic It does Like It's that Pixar thing Where they're just They're so next level now With the environments And the You know The way they make The like Lighting and the air And all that look We talked about this It's very impressive After the screening We went to Where it was like A lot of the shots Specifically In the like Buzz Hive mind Segments Are stunning

1:59:58David Sims:Yes like beautiful sunsets and like the fog in that one moment. I'm like, this is really pretty. He uses color like unbelievably well for mood and story.

2:00:10Griffin Newman:You know, it's one of those things where I know he said like, this is my last animated film. I really only want, and I'm just kind of like, you're good at this. You're good at it.

2:00:18David Sims:Like, are you sure you want to stop? I mean, his thing is like, I'm not primarily a fan of animation. I'm a fan of movies. I fell into this thing. I've never wanted to limit myself to that. But I think what he does that is so unique is he's and this is a lot of what Pixar did in general. But I think he was at the forefront of pushing them towards this is like marrying the visual language of the two things together. Like a thing we commented on afterwards that is so cool in this movie is it acts like it's sort of mostly done with handheld camera. And it's very subtle. But beyond like Stanton's always been the stickler guy who's like, can we make the virtual camera operate by the real rules of a camera?

2:00:55David Sims:Right. Like what lens would be on this? What is our lighting source? And in this, you see the camera struggling to keep the characters in frame. Like the camera sort of like moves quickly to readjust as if the performance isn't planned. And it's a very, very subtle thing. But it like it psychologically has an effect on you. We should say the tech buzzes, they've been activated. They go to this construction site. They use the crane. They're just in search of a star. They find a campsite for land. They're trying to find civilization. They're trying to find star command. And at this campsite, one of them is taken.

2:01:31David Sims:They realize, oh, this is not scary. Maybe this is good to be played with. This one buzz seems happy. And then they look onto the kids' devices and they see the Jesse message from Blaze's house. They look up the address. And when they use Google Maps or whatever, it places the address with a star. I just like, it's smart all the ways that they're just sort of like, She has a star on her chest. There's a star in the sky. There's a star on the map. We're just simple. We go wherever the fucking star is. When Bonnie goes to Blaze's house for the first time and then the group chat plays out where they send the crying baby images and then they all laugh.

2:02:12Yes. It was awful. So fucking mean, man. Fuck those girls. Yeah. They're shitty kids. Shitty kids. I hope they get doxxed. But I do think I might use that joke if someone sends me a stupid text. Crying baby? Yeah. Or like whines about something. I do think there's potential there.

2:02:33Griffin Newman:Maybe that'll be my first tweet. December 2017. My nickname for Dan Lewis is The Method Man.

2:02:41My boy.

2:02:42David Sims:Incredible.

2:02:51Griffin Newman:The Shards, a seductive drama from executive producer Ryan Murphy. Set in 1980s Los Angeles, the series follows a group of glamorous, deeply entangled high school seniors drawn into a life of wealth, beauty, parties, and excess. At its center is Brett, whose reality begins to unravel when the arrival of a new student coincides with a series of mysterious murders. FX's The Shards premieres August 5th on FX and Hulu.

2:03:24Right.

2:03:25Griffin Newman:So Jesse, the whole time is like, you know, like you're saying like, well, I got abandoned before I this Bonnie thing. I'm half want to help her, but I have him like, what's the point? I'm only going to get forgotten again. And the thing she realizes is that no, her owner didn't forget her because she named her daughter after her. And there's how do you it's like you see a picture? What's the? It's like a buried lunchbox. Yeah, right. She made a little toy capsule.

2:03:53David Sims:Well, she sees carved into the tree Jesse was here. And she goes, like, what's that? That doesn't make sense. Arrow pointing down time capsule. And it's a kid with a bunch of, like, 80s, 90s stuff. And she's like, this stuff is too new. What's going on here? And then she realizes it's her daughter. Now, here's why I buy this. You have to remember that Jesse was a character on a TV show. Sure. I guess so, right? Woody's Roundup. Right. that this kid presumably watched a lot. If you named your kid Jesse after the doll you had, why did you put the doll on the side of the road? That's what I'm saying.

2:04:32It's the character. It's the character more than the story. I think it's like later in life, she looked back with nostalgia for that doll and liked the name. Sure. I think it makes sense.

2:04:45David Sims:It's enough sense. It's like if Ben named his son Spawn, even though he had given away his Spawn toys when he was a child. But technically, Ben's son will be Spawn. He will be Spawn of Hosley. I want to assume. Yeah, that's true. But you could name him Medieval Spawn Hosley. Future Spawn Hosley. I'm sure my wife would love him. Samurai Spawn Hosley. Now that I'm thinking about it, we should just talk about your hypothetical future child, Future Spawn. Your daughter, she spawns Hosley? Future Spawn. Future Spawn. Future Spawn. Because that's technically, quite literally, what they are. This is true.

2:05:18Your future Spawn. You know, it's an exciting thing. I want to do it at some point in my life. Have family. And I'll love the kid for whatever they are. You'll love future Spawn. You'll be a great parent. Maybe don't call them Spawn. That's just my take. Spawn's the middle name. Is that better? I guess it's better. Abigail Spawn Hosley. U.S. World Cup star out. Christian. he will miss today's pivotal game

2:05:46Griffin Newman:with a calf injury we're dating today's episode I know this has been a fear because he came out of the last game this will come out

2:05:56David Sims:like six weeks after the movie comes out but we're recording it the day the movie is technically being released because I'm about to go to Spain to do a shoot

2:06:04Griffin Newman:he's off to Spain the rain in Spain

2:06:07David Sims:I've been feeling so suffocated by the amount of World Cup stuff and then I'm like, oh, right, I'm going to Spain. It is going to be a nightmare. Why are you feeling suffocated?

2:06:18Griffin Newman:How is it suffocated? By World Cup.

2:06:19David Sims:Sports guys keep fucking with me. You know the way that Ben says that everyone fucks with him all the time? It's true. This only happens to me with sports guys when they're like a vet. How are you being fucked with? People are like fucking with me on the subway and like at like pizza restaurants. Because you're wearing like a choice story outfit right now? Because I'm just like not an alpha male. I swear to God this happens. But it's the soccer guys that are bullied? Both. Both. Because if we want to talk about Knicks fans being bullies, I'm, yes, let's have that conversation. I'm ready to talk about it.

2:06:48I don't bemoan anyone their victories.

2:06:49David Sims:It just feels like there is a sort of sports bar culture that breaks containment when things like this happen. That is all I'm saying. I'm so sorry that people are harassing you. It's annoying. David, after the screening, I left my credit card at a bar. Oh, yeah? That was somewhat nearby. Sure. You go to the bar. Yeah. I have a beer. Yeah, why not? I have to show my ID to get the card back. Bartender looks at it and goes, this picture's terrible. Are you fucking kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me? So then I'm like, dude, what do you mean? Like, it's an ID picture, whatever. Right, right. He's just like, you are so much more handsome in real life.

2:07:28Maybe he was trying to hit on you.

2:07:30Griffin Newman:Yeah, maybe this was kind of like a neggy kind of flirt. I guess now, actually, that I'm reflecting on it. And then he did give you his phone number, I'm hearing. Well, no, because then I was like, let me see your ID picture. All right. This house looks like a flirt. This is flirting. And then I said it looked like shit. Aw. Wait, now I want to see your ID picture. Then he started crying? Yeah. No, he didn't cry. Okay, fair enough. But it was, there's some tension. Wow. No one ever looks good in their ID picture. I would agree with that. It's just like a rule. You have to look like shit. Not usually a handsome photo.

2:08:00All right, I'm going to take a look at Ben's ID photo.

2:08:02David Sims:Okay, Ben's going to show us. Can I see it first, please? Can we pass it around? Yeah. I think you look exactly the same. I think that is an incredibly rude comment. That is a handsome picture of a handsome man with a gray brain. I think this man was flirting with you. But it is true that people just say shit to Ben. It is a pretty good photo. It is. For a driver's license photo. It's an accurate representation of our handsome friend. Yeah. But people do be fucking with him. They do. I've witnessed this. It's wild. Remember when we were in Austin and you were like, why are these guys outside a bar in Austin just like being mean to me for no reason?

2:08:39and I'm just walking down the street. This happened to my dad a lot too.

2:08:41Griffin Newman:There are definitely people who unconsciously invite. They put the vibe. Like, kind of like, you can talk to me, it's okay. You know what I mean? Like, or like guys will just kind of, yeah, come up to you or like the sort of weird guy in the park will think you're ready for a conversation or whatever. Absolutely. It really happens to me, it feels like all the time. I guess I just have one of those faces. July 2015. 2015. We're going back. Wow. I've been to Little Italy It's small Pretty good Pretty good It's getting smaller and smaller You like the Toy Story movies Ben I actually have always kind of just been Like This was my question Is this the one that has for whatever reason Maybe because you have this kind of future parent anxiety Maybe because you remember Being a kid I think it's the future parent anxiety Like that it just sort of like hit you a little harder because I do feel like I'm trying to remember your general Toy Story fandom I kind of had no relationship to it you were 10 when the first movie came out I mean you like Sid I love Sid but you like him in retrospect where you're like hey Sid he's cool he's got his skull on his t-shirt he's creative I agree I'm person I don't think I saw Toy Story 1 in theaters I did but you were you're a little younger than me and that's where it's like I was 6 but I also was very like gendered at the time and I was like This is a boy movie.

2:10:08So I just didn't bother with it. I know. I kind of like this movie because it was like about girl stuff.

2:10:13Griffin Newman:I know. I'm again wondering if Jessie is my daughter's favorite character. If she'll be like, that movie had more Jessie. Like, I like that. So I appreciated all of the girl stuff. And that's why it really upset me when Griffin said that people on the Toy Story Reddit were calling Bonnie a C-word. Because I think Bonnie is an incredible young woman. Anyone who does that is obviously Needs to touch grass When I was re-watching Toy Story 4 And watching her make Forky Yes I was texting you guys And I was like this is insane Like she is so advanced She's pretty advanced for making this thing Sure She makes Forky Even the way that she writes her name on Forky Like her handwriting is really good She has to have like excellent fine motor skills To like craft this thing My daughter can write as well as Bonnie does.

2:11:06Griffin Newman:She can't read, but Bonnie can't read, I guess. Whatever. That doesn't come up. I was reading it, Bonnie. I was reading it. Yeah, right.

2:11:13David Sims:That's show off. Very Bonnie-coded. Also, I just want to communicate to everyone what just happened in the bathroom. Hi, hello there. Click your number.

2:11:26David Sims:It's going great. I pushed the number one button. Oh, thank God. I was going to be really, really upset if you press number two. And I was like, ew, Griffin. Griff, are you annoyed with that toy? It feels like you were a little let down by it. A little bit. It doesn't work as well as I want it to.

2:11:46Griffin Newman:You were hoping it would solve your bathroom problems. Yes. Buying it would be the final piece of the puzzle. We have had Smarty Pants in our studio bathroom for several.

2:11:57David Sims:Can't say I've noticed. Weeks. I've been seating him. He's been a little Easter egg in the bathroom. When I saw the movie, I was like, oh, that's the weird thing that Griffin has in the bathroom. The thing about our studio. You thought it was an actual potty training tool.

2:12:10Griffin Newman:There's so many Griffin toys. You kind of get toy blindness and you kind of don't even notice them. Yeah, but there aren't that many toys in the bathroom. That's true. But I, in all honesty, had not noticed. I don't think I realized that he was meant to be a roll of toilet paper.

2:12:23David Sims:Yes, which I love. It's really smart design. And the handle on top of him is sort of like the toilet paper holder in the wall. A couple of things Just to discuss You know about the movie I really loved That all of the horses Yes Got to participate Yeah

2:12:40Griffin Newman:Fun little Counter to the Buzz army Is the horse army Yeah And I love that Buzz Gets to ride a horse That's like more of a unicorn He loves it He gets a spying Yeah What did you think Of the Buzz's Turning into drones The sort of big Third act They finally fly It's a good

2:12:57David Sims:Fucking 30 years later Joke payoff The buzzes can finally fly. I think I liked it. Because Lily feels so guilty. She donated herself. She suicides. Yeah, she suicides.

2:13:06Griffin Newman:She launches herself. She unalives herself. Which I thought I was happy that she did that because she deserved it. No, I was just kind of like, it follows in the sort of thread of these movies that the toy would be like, well, I do want the child to be happy and I know the child's unhappy. She made a mistake. So it's my fault.

2:13:28David Sims:I like that it's not like someone else teaches her to be good. It speaks to like, she actually thought she was doing the right thing. She was Robert Oppenheimer.

2:13:35Griffin Newman:That tracked for me best. Right. Yeah, she's like Oppenheimer.

2:13:38David Sims:She's a lot like Oppenheimer.

2:13:39Griffin Newman:Until they build a bigger lily pad. They should have Safdie coming. Giant lily pad. You mean Bowser Jr.? My daughter's favorite character in all media ever. Like, just, I mean, she talks about Bowser Jr. like Putin or whatever. What did she say? She's just like, that's the scariest bad guy in the world. Really? That's the most incredible bad guy. Bowser Jr.? She loves him so much. But she thinks he's scary. Well, scary, but she's just like, that's the baddest one. He's pretty bad. And I think it's because his paintbrush is so powerful. She's just kind of like, he owns Bowser. Bowser doesn't even have a paintbrush.

2:14:16Griffin Newman:And in the second movie, he's small. Yeah, he's little. He's mostly comic relief. Yeah. Whereas Bowser Jr. is out here painting up a storm, I guess.

2:14:24David Sims:Some character arc on Bowser in that second movie. It's a little disjointed. He starts off little, but desperate to prove that he's a good guy. Then he's kind of their friend, sort of. He's guilty that he maybe wasn't enough of a present father, even though every night he did a bespoke puppet show for his son.

2:14:41Griffin Newman:I do feel like he was, yeah, he was putting in some effort.

2:14:43David Sims:His son is causing so much terror that he's like, I feel guilty. Then his son is like, Dad, I did this for you. And he's like, never mind. I think I've only made great decisions. And then all his skin burns off and he's a skeleton.

2:14:55Griffin Newman:And he says he's the Lord of Bones. Oh. That happens in the movie. Yeah. That happens in the movie. Interesting. Buzz drones.

2:15:07David Sims:It's basically a big extended final chase sequence where they have to save Lily because Lily's the only way they're going to be able to finally get these two kids together. Right. For Jessie, the highest stakes are she wants the two of them to meet. She thinks they could both use the friend.

2:15:19Griffin Newman:I like those stakes. The stakes is basically just the kind of like, can we get them to hang out and not be shy with each other and kind of connect?

2:15:26David Sims:Here's another thing I thought of while watching this movie.

2:15:28Griffin Newman:Those are some real parenting stakes.

2:15:29David Sims:Those are the stakes that Inside Out 2 tries to establish that I think it does not execute well. And I rewatched Inside Out 2 last night to be like, was I too hard on this at the time? And I think that movie's shitty. And I think that movie makes it too much about like fucking hockey camp and shit. I don't think it's shitty. I think it has a really, it's fine. I think the visual representation of what anxiety feels like I thought was really meaningful to me. Everything with that character works for me. I wish it was gayer. It should be way gayer. Because I think that that is kind of like, sorry, David.

2:16:02Griffin Newman:It's just really, they're pre-sexual characters. It's a children's film. No, not so. They already established that she has crushes. Yeah, what's her name? Riley. I feel like Riley, if she's like a, you know, an adolescent. and it felt like she had a crush on the girl on her hockey spot. It really does. And the girl is coded kind of tomboyish. Yes. So I was like, okay, like that's interesting. I wish they actually like had the balls to do that. I know. Well, maybe they should have. Maybe that's what they should have done. Inside Out 2.

2:16:37David Sims:I also just don't like that the movie is once again, oh no, they get kicked out of the console and they have to make their way back. I think it's really unimaginative that it just runs the exact same story. Well, that's my problem with the,

2:16:46Griffin Newman:but I don't like the world of Inside Out very well. Like the inner world. Yeah. It doesn't, it's not very rich because it is right. It is just always like, all right, here we are in the back and we have to like go down a road. In the console or they're not. Yeah. Yeah. I just never stuck. My daughter also has never cared about them. So I've only seen them like twice. Like total. Yeah. Yeah. She doesn't like that one. Maybe she will eventually. Just one more important thing that we need to address. Buzz and Jesse kiss? They do. Yeah. Yeah. You didn't like that, David? I don't. I just. You're the king of kissing on camera.

2:17:26You love kissing. They're toys. I just don't care about that. Let their little plastic faces smush. I'm not stopping them. Let them. Don't stand in the way they're loved. Do we think that Buzz is in love with Jesse because he's in love with Woody? But.

2:17:40David Sims:No. You're forgetting the moment at the end of Toy Story 2 where Jesse does the rescue. Yeah, sure. And he's impressed with her because she's high status. That's another thing I like that this movie does that I think it does very subtly is Jesse, the character in the TV show, of course, her divining thing is that she talks to animals, that she's a yodeling cowgirl and she communicates with critters. In this, they sort of imply that she has that power on real animals as well. She thinks she does and maybe she does. She got Daffodil to dig up the time capsule. I'm not mad about it. She gets Jesse Dean to work for her.

2:18:15David Sims:But they do that. But Woody does that with Buster. Yeah. In the other movies. I guess it's more that it's... Toys can talk to animals. That Jesse believes in it more because that's what her source material is. But then this whole, you get your kind of final extended chase of how do they save Lilypad? How are they going to get back to the respective homes? But like, yeah, it's just,

2:18:38Griffin Newman:it doesn't fall into the trap of we need to be bigger. No. which I feel like 4 also didn't. I think it's the right size. That kind of Pixar trap of like, oh my God, how do we outdo our sort of final set piece scale or whatever? Two Remains, I feel like the craziest thing they ever did where they like stop a plane or whatever it is they do.

2:18:59David Sims:But I love that they're not trying to top that. No. And it is just so funny for me. It's my favorite gag in the movie of like, you know, they're using Atlas's GPS to try to get themselves to lily pad. And they're sort of like, well, we're supposed to take a left here. There's a house there. It used to be a road. The map's out of date. What do we do? And they just ride through the house and you get this tracking shot that feels like it's out of weapons where they go from room to room and everyone in the family is just on a different device and no one notices there are 50 Buzz Lightyear's on horses riding through.

2:19:30David Sims:I think that's really funny. Yes, I enjoyed that. It's all funny. Yeah. I was laughing. You were laughing. Yeah, no, we had a very nice time and then the film ends with what I would argue is Taylor Swift's best song in like five years. Let's acknowledge it ends with... I don't think that's a hot take. I knew it, I knew you. It ends with Buzz and Jessie finally getting married. Yes, yes. And soon Taylor Swift will finally get married at Madison Square Garden. Thank God, I've been so stressed out. I just don't get it. I don't understand. Also, the Taylor Swift fans keep harassing me on the subway and pizza parlors.

2:20:03David Sims:So oppressed. The omniculture. But did you tell them I put hundreds of dollars in this woman's pocket because how many versions of the vinyl did you buy? Excuse me. There were two versions. I bought both. I sent the receipt to the group, and I was like, I hate that she's fucking got me. Sure. That I'm like falling prey to this Taylor Swift shit with the countdown clock, and like it's going to sell out. And then a week later, I saw an article that they're going for hundreds of dollars. Wow. Randy Newman's quite old. This is the first movie he didn't write a song for. He did do the score. Yes. There are some new themes in it I like, But a lot of it is repurposed.

2:20:42David Sims:A lot of it's reusing previous. And at the premiere, they played together. You see, Randy's moving pretty slowly. One of my favorite people of all time. My father, of course, Randy Newman. But it was a pretty fucking insane coup for them to get Taylor Swift to do this. When was the last time? Did she write a song for any movie previously? Hunger Games. Right. And I don't know if she's done anything besides that. But I remember also liking that song, too. She didn't write a song for Amsterdam, rudely No, she did not How? That's her song about how a car ran her over Insane that they were like, if we put Taylor Swift in this, the Swifties will go see it And you're like, what's the movie about?

2:21:21Investigating Taylor Swift's murder

2:21:24David Sims:Maybe they don't want to see this

2:21:26Griffin Newman:She did, of course, do a song for Fifty Shades Darker called I Don't Want to Live Forever Okay And she did a song called Carolina for a little movie in which you heard a crawdad. Oh, yeah. She crawdadded it up. I believe she also is a co-writer on Beautiful Ghosts, the song that they did for Cats.

2:21:46David Sims:You are right about that. Of course, she appeared in that film, as well as Bambalina. Bambalarina. Bambalarina. Do we have anything else to say about Toy Story 5? I like it a lot. It made me really happy. I'm glad it made you happy. Yes. But I also like... They keep not making you sad with these, which is good. It's honestly the bigger thing. I do feel like I've been brute force in therapy for a thousand different reasons. And I'm not in a place where I was like, if this movie is bad, it's going to destroy me. I was joking to Ben before the movie, like, I'm chill. It's only my psychology at stake.

2:22:17David Sims:But I don't actually feel that way. However, every time one of these movies is good, I feel a tremendous sense of relief.

2:22:24Griffin Newman:Now, have you noticed, and it's just coming out, you know, the movie just came out, so it's just beginning. Like, more negativity about this movie online than, say, the other ones. It's weird because I feel like... I've seen Letterboxd, I've seen tweets. Like, it's always hard now to tell, like, what's kind of fake outrage and what's real. I don't know.

2:22:43David Sims:I think 4 was greeted more warmly and then had more negativity, like, surge up later. Right, yeah, yeah. And then I think this one, oddly, is like people going like, A, a return to form, or B, they finally lost the juice. It's one or the other.

2:23:00Griffin Newman:I just like, and like my friend was like, all my friends hated it. And I was like, and she liked it. But I was like, hated it? Like, how can you feel that strongly? It's so well made. It's well done, right? Exactly. Even if my note was basically, it's like, because Jesse at the end is like, it's about the journey, not the destination. And I'm like, right, that's the lesson of two. I do feel like we're out of ideas on that front. So I was kind of like, there's a ceiling on this movie for me quality wise. But like, yeah, it's like, it's just well done. And like, I had a good time watching it. I can't really be too mad at it, you know, especially because these movies are just going to continue to happen.

2:23:35David Sims:These movies continue to struggle with how expansive 2 was thematically. Right. That it just bit off so much successfully that there's not as much left for them to explore. But I thought this movie had like many new ideas. and many new concepts. Yes.

2:23:52Griffin Newman:It comes to an old idea, but the tech stuff, I was like, I appreciate just running at an idea like that. I thought that was good. And so I said in my review, which is on The Atlantic. You can read it if you want. How would you rank the Stanton movies? Yeah, I was about to ask. Oh, good call. Yeah, because it's going to be our last episode of the series. That is so true. Now he hasn't made that minute. Can I pitch my idea for the next in the Toy Story franchise? We need to hear this. Now, which, Griffin, do you think there will be a Toy Story 6? This, the fact that they don't...

2:24:21David Sims:Especially given that it's probably going to make a ton of money. The fact that they don't even attempt to make some sort of here's the end of the series finale to this, I think it's all but guaranteed. I hope they continue to pace them out the way they have. It's nice that these movies aren't coming out every two years.

2:24:37Griffin Newman:Yeah, sure. Okay, it's more of a prequel. The first Toy Story. Stick and hoop? This is a well you like to go to, I will say. You like to go almost prehistoric. Yeah, but I think it would be interesting. Keep going, keep going. What is like a rock and a stick? It's a rock, okay. And like mud. And it's like, you know, primitive people. And it's like exploring the, like, what does it mean to be a toy? Like as the first toy.

2:25:04David Sims:But that sort of feels like forky territory. If it's like, I made a toy out of some stuff. And now what is that mean? But what is play? Right? Because who is the first toy to gain consciousness? Childhood is a modern concept Yes This is true It is That's why I think it's gotta be like You know 20th century stick and hoop And it's a toy that's really nauseous all the time It's like I'm just fucking chased

2:25:28Griffin Newman:But you see like ancient Roman you know dolls right Like we unearth these things sometimes I guess I do do that a lot I love that You love that It's not an accusation or No it's just The Stanton has made six films Yes Correct I'm not missing anything That sounds correct So I have it ranked thusly from 1 to 6 WALL-E, Finding Nemo Toy Story 5, Finding Dory, John Carter In the blink of an eye I'm sorry John The ambition of John Carter Is higher than the animated sequels Sure I can't get there with I think it's better than the animated sequels Which are two movies where I'm like Obviously these are no masterpieces But they're well done enough that I consider them better than John Carter.

2:26:15Griffin Newman:I think I have the same ranking. But I have it over in the blink of an eye.

2:26:19David Sims:Yeah. I go Wally, then Finding Nemo. Then I go Toy Story 5, then Finding Dory. You have the same rank. John Carter. And unfortunately, we're going to end with a blank.

2:26:32Griffin Newman:I think that's where one must end. Yes, one must end there. Marie, do you prefer Nemo to Wally? Do you have a hot take on these lists? No, I love Wally. I'm very curious to re-watch John Carter. I saw it opening weekend at the Ziegfeld. It was like the last movie I saw at the Ziegfeld before it closed down. And there were like five people in the entire theater. And like one of them was Rob Malone.

2:26:55David Sims:You know, we recorded that episode some weeks in advance. And I asked the question on the episode, is there any chance I like The Mandalorian and Grogu more than John Carter? And I can definitively say no. I think John Carter is better than the last three theatrically released Star Wars movies. Sure. Definitely the last two. I remember defending it. I kind of have a soft spot for Solo. For parts of Solo. Because you want to fuck that droid. No, it's, I like the, what's the Lady Proxima? Lady Proxima. Oh. The original Skimbleshanks. But I remember, like, defending John Carter at the time and being like, this movie's good, actually.

2:27:33David Sims:It's got stuff in it. It's fun to defend, even if it doesn't completely work. But that's been our Andrew Stanton journey. And now, of course, we're going on to Martin Scorsese.

2:27:44Griffin Newman:That's so true.

2:27:46David Sims:It's actually very true. Right on to him. Right on to him. We've recorded a good chunk of them. Yeah, we've recorded eight Martin Scorsese episodes already. Out of... You jerks. 23?

2:27:55Griffin Newman:Yeah, we've done about a third is my estimation. Yeah. I'm Italian. We're working on it. I think our pizza might be here. Hold on one second. I'm sure it was delivered long ago.

2:28:08Griffin Newman:Griffin just said hey this is Griffin calling from the and I was like I wonder how he's ending that sentence okay thank you

2:28:17David Sims:I pulled a Sims did you it delivered to your house yes but my house is very close see I could have your house isn't that

2:28:25Griffin Newman:whatever my house is very close I mean it's pretty close but you know yeah but we're hungry so let's end the episode

2:28:31David Sims:and I'll go get the pizza alright I'm gonna get out of here I just want to say is a little disappointing they didn't do a Bad Bunny pizza. Oh, sure. I did see Nighthawk. They are. I will be ordering it on Sunday. Oh, maybe I'll get that. Yeah, they have a flatbread. Pizza with sunglasses, flatbread. They got a new, what's it called? A paedina? The Italian flatbread sandwich. Oh. Yeah, I saw that on the menu. I was like, oh, interesting. I can't remember what movie I saw. Oh, it's got ham and mango.

2:28:58Griffin Newman:That's the... And plantains. It's sort of like a fun, like Hawaiian pizza. Yeah. Yeah. It's a better version of Hawaiian. Right. I love, I love a

2:29:07David Sims:Maybe I should get the Spielberg on a pizza. But, oh, Ben's taking a Buzz Lightyear. This is the bucket we got yesterday when we saw the movie. Oh, wow. Oh, it's a bucket. Yeah, it's pretty good. Oh. It's the high-tech buzz in the package and you can take the buzz out to put the popcorn in.

2:29:23Griffin Newman:Yeah, it's like these, gosh.

2:29:25David Sims:These things get so elaborate now that you're like,

2:29:27Griffin Newman:where does the popcorn go? Yeah, yeah. That's really nice.

2:29:30David Sims:It's very fancy. Yeah. But we're going to end this episode so I can get pizzas Is there a final thing you want to say, Maureen? No, I'm just wondering, like, this, you know, Toy Story 4 definitely felt like a Woody and Bo Peep side adventure. This is a Jesse side adventure. Right. Where do they go next? Because I feel like, do they go back to the buzz well? They could. Or is there, what is the next character to get their own? Well, the NTs, of course, is that the high-tech buzzes have droned their way down to a playground to find themselves a bunch of kids, and then high-tech Zurg is revealed.

2:30:03David Sims:Yes. Sure. I couldn't wait to find out what that is. The greatest villain. Voiced by? No, the greatest villain is Bowser Jr. Andrew Stanton. Andrew Stanton. That's funny. I learned that from the Finding Nemo. Was there a second post-credits thing? Yes, we missed it. Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny and Forky wrapping along with all the other toys. It's pretty fucking great. It's actually great. I would call it a bop. Cool. That's great. Yeah, but as someone who's very dialed into this, what do you think? Just were you happy? I know it's just like I feel like that's just

2:30:37Griffin Newman:it's just you're happy we just want you to be happy are you major smile

2:30:43David Sims:I'm major smile standing strong standing tall no I think the big thing is and this is another thing I hold against three is like three is the movie I imagined would be the third movie and four and five and two all did things I never could have guessed and that's what I like about this series and I think that's what Stanton's really smart at is he continues to kind of sit down and not go like A to B on the stories. Now, this is a Ben Hosley tweet from November 2014. This is how we're going to end the episode.

2:31:13Griffin Newman:So this is before Blank Check. Wow. He maybe knows us a little bit. Okay. Writing a prequel to the movie My Girl about the bees. This is what I'm saying. He's incredible. You've always done it this well. But yes, he does want the first. You love a prequel. The start. I guess I want to. You love an origin story. I want to know where it started. I don't know In a beehive

2:31:34David Sims:And where did this podcast start? What is the prequel to Blank Check? Why of course it's The Phantom Menace That's so true It all comes back to prequels

2:31:42Griffin Newman:And that was the beehive of our 10 year long allergic attack That has been this movie I'm gonna go get these pizzas He's so hungry

2:31:50David Sims:Thank you all for listening Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe Next week is

2:31:54Griffin Newman:Who's that knocking at my door? And Boxcar Bertha A special guest free Scorsese intro Marty Doubleheader. And over on Patreon, we just recently kicked off our Resident Evil commentary series. So what are we up to right now? Are we just at the first one? Just at the first one. Broken containment. We'll also be doing a bunch of fun, bonus Scorsese one-off episodes covering all different kinds of stuff from his career. Shorts, docs, cookbooks, do you name it. Yes, all sorts of things happening over there.

2:32:26David Sims:Okay. You can sign up at patreon.com slash blank check. Thank you all. and as always just a big congrats to Forky and a Mazel Tov on being made an honest man wow