Technology crashes the party in "Toy Story 5," a sweet story that prioritizes the value of imagination over the instant gratification of online, an increasingly lost artifact in our overstimulated digital world.

It shows how long the "Toy Story" franchise has been kicking around, and how times have changed over the last three decades: Once the new kid on the block, ushering in a new era of computer animation which suddenly made traditional animation feel stodgy, "Toy Story" has become a wizened elder, longing for those ever-elusive simpler times.

Here, that means playing with toys and creating stories inside our minds rather than banging away at handheld devices, and being lulled into complacency and/or hypnosis by glowing screens.

There's a graceful yet disheartening and all too relatable scene early on in "Toy Story 5" where we see an overview of a neighborhood, everyone inside, locked away in their rooms by themselves, staring into the digital void of their phones and iPads. Who among us, of any age, is unable to relate to that depressing reality? And how's a mere toy supposed to compete with a handheld treasure trove of information and entertainment in our modern world?

The new vanguard is ushered in by Lily, a talking iPad-like device in the friendly guise of a frog, voiced by Greta Lee. She's the new obsession of Bonnie (voiced by Scarlett Spears), the now-8-year-old star of the story.

The shiny new device threatens the gang of old toys, chiefly Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen) and Jessie (Joan Cusack). Woody and Buzz are still doing their old tap dance, but it's Jessie — voiced with grace by Cusack — who is moved to the center of the story this time around.

Bonnie still enjoys playing with her toys but is essentially peer-pressured into joining the connected generation by her friends, or rather, the kids with whom she's trying her best to assimilate. Group chats, memes and inside jokes are the new currency of modern friendship, and playing with toys is as old as yesterday's news.

So it's up to the toys to save the day, to re-engage Bonnie and to fight for their own worth against the tyranny of technology. Just another day for the gang of toys.

Because of the place it holds in culture, "Toy Story" remains the gem of the Pixar castle, which itself remains the house that Woody and Buzz built. And it's made with warmth that has been earned over generations, even if the latest chapters — 2019's "Toy Story 4" and this one — don't hit on all the same cylinders as "Toy Story's" first three installments.

But it's got heart and humor, and Conan O'Brien is a welcome addition to the cast as Smarty Pants, an electronic toilet training toy. Its premise is smart, even if writer-director Andrew Stanton — working from a script he co-wrote with Kenna Harris — isn't waging an all-out war on devices. "Toy Story 5" eventually softens its stance on tech and the stranglehold it has over society, for Pixar knows that completely demonizing devices is a risky play in today's global marketplace.

There's a folksy charm that's still at the center of the "Toy Story" series, which is now like revisiting an old friend. It's become reflexive of itself and its own themes of hand-crafted value and worth.

Yes, other things have come along with which we now spend more time. But there's still something comforting about going back and letting nostalgia work its magic, and few things could embody that feeling more than a box of old, beloved toys.

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'TOY STORY 5'

Grade: B

MPA rating: PG (for some thematic elements and rude humor)

Running time: 1:42

How to watch: In theaters June 19

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