“The Office”'s Brian Baumgartner recalls making “Today” host Dylan Dreyer's son cry

“The Office”&x27;s Brian Baumgartner recalls making “Today” host Dylan Dreyer&x27;s son cry Raechal ShewfeltThu, June 18, 2026 at 9:46 PM UTC 0 Brian Baumgartner and Dylan Dreyer on 'Today' in 2023Credit: Nathan Congleton/NBC via GettyKey Points Brian Baumgartner has revealed that he and Today contributor Dylan Dreyer and their families have vacationed together. On one ski trip, Dreyer&x27;s young son became upset after Baumgartner supposedly yelled at him. The actor said his booming voice just makes it seem like he&x27;s yelling when he&x27;s not. The families still joke about the incident.

“The Office”'s Brian Baumgartner recalls making “Today” host Dylan Dreyer's son cry

Raechal ShewfeltThu, June 18, 2026 at 9:46 PM UTC

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Brian Baumgartner and Dylan Dreyer on 'Today' in 2023Credit: Nathan Congleton/NBC via GettyKey Points -

Brian Baumgartner has revealed that he and Today contributor Dylan Dreyer and their families have vacationed together.

On one ski trip, Dreyer's young son became upset after Baumgartner supposedly yelled at him. The actor said his booming voice just makes it seem like he's yelling when he's not.

The families still joke about the incident.

As Kevin on The Office, Brian Baumgartner was so low-key that it was a joke. But don't try telling that to the son of Today meteorologist Dylan Dreyer.

The actor and Dreyer are actually longtime friends whose families have vacationed together, he explained Thursday on her show The Parent Chat.

He recalled that once on a ski trip, where they were joined by his wife, Celeste, their two daughters, and Dryer's three sons, he and Dreyer's middle son, 6-year-old Oliver, had a moment that's still discussed by the parents.

It happened when Baumgartner was urging the kids to get ready for ski school and out the door more quickly one day.

That didn't sit well with Oliver, who "loves breakfast," his mom noted.

She could tell he was unhappy when Baumgartner continued urging people to hurry.

"His cheeks are shaking and his eyes are welling up with tears," Dreyer said of her son.

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She took a guess at the culprit.

"I said, 'Did Brian yell at you?'" Dreyer said, "and the waterworks just came out."

Baumgartner countered that he hadn't yelled. He just has a loud voice.

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Still, Dreyer said, "When a 5-year-old doesn't realize you're kidding, it's terrifying."

Still, the incident remains a joke between the families.

Baumgartner teased on the podcast that "Ollie needs to buck up," to which his mom agreed.

He vowed to actually raise his voice in their next encounter: "The first thing I'm going to do when I see him is yell, 'Ollie, come here!'"

Baumgartner, who's also appeared on shows such as Melissa and Joey, The Goldbergs, and Suits LA, has talked about his relationship with the long-running NBC comedy, which aired between 2005 and 2013.

Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone on 'The Office'Credit: Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

"The Office being 10 years, nine seasons, I mean, I was essentially on the show the entirety of my thirties," he said while hosting the iHeartRadio podcast Off the Beat in July 2022.

"I mean, it was a decade. To give people perspective, that's like progressing from high school through college and then a couple of more years," he said. "It's such a long period of your life and you establish such deep relationships and obviously, such close identification with those characters. At the time we were doing 30 episodes a year, which now is like never, ever done. So we were working a lot of weeks."

When the show ended, he said, he "wanted to distance myself."

"I thought, 'I don't want to be Kevin Malone forever,'" Baumgartner said. "I spent a long time turning down roles that I felt were too similar or wanted a similar sort of feeling and character."

But The Office has stayed popular through reruns and streaming services. He's given up on trying to shake off his most famous role and even come to embrace it.

"I consider it a blessing, especially the amazing fans who talk about how The Office gave them comfort, how it helped them during a difficult time," he noted. "I mean, countless stories, way more than I can mention. That's an amazing thing."

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“The Office”'s Brian Baumgartner recalls making “Today” host Dylan Dreyer's son cry

“The Office”&x27;s Brian Baumgartner recalls making “Today” host Dylan Dreyer&x27;s son cry Raechal ShewfeltThu, June 18, ...

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Milly Alcock Reveals She Has 20 Tattoos and What It Means to Her Career as an Actor

Milly Alcock Reveals She Has 20 Tattoos and What It Means to Her Career as an Actor Lily BrownThu, June 18, 2026 at 10:42 PM UTC 0 Milly Alcock on June 18, 2026Credit: Jeff Spicer/Getty for Warner Bros. Milly Alcock has 20 tattoos and sees them as personal expressions of her identity The actress views her tattoos as snapshots of different life chapters and a grounding reminder of who she is Alcock admitted tattoos are addictive and joked about getting another one after her interview on Last Meals Milly Alcock may be preparing to introduce a new version of Kara ZorEl to audiences in Supergirl, ...

Milly Alcock Reveals She Has 20 Tattoos and What It Means to Her Career as an Actor

Lily BrownThu, June 18, 2026 at 10:42 PM UTC

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Milly Alcock on June 18, 2026Credit: Jeff Spicer/Getty for Warner Bros. -

Milly Alcock has 20 tattoos and sees them as personal expressions of her identity

The actress views her tattoos as snapshots of different life chapters and a grounding reminder of who she is

Alcock admitted tattoos are addictive and joked about getting another one after her interview on Last Meals

Milly Alcock may be preparing to introduce a new version of Kara Zor-El to audiences in Supergirl, but off-screen, one of the most personal expressions of who she is can be found written all over her skin.

During a recent appearance on Last Meals, Alcock, 26, revealed that she has 20 tattoos and they are more than just body art.

When host Josh Scherer pointed out that she has "a fair amount of tattoos," Alcock casually dropped the number.

"Twenty," she told him, with a shoulder shrug and a big teasing smile.

The revelation surprised Scherer, 34, who replied, "You have 20 tattoos. Hell yeah!"

Milly Alcock in 'Supergirl'Credit: DC Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures

While some people avoid tattoos because they worry they'll change over time, Alcock sees things differently.

"Being an actor, my body is my tool," she explained. "But also my body's in service of other people and a character and whoever I need to be."

With House of Dragon launching her to international fame and Supergirl her biggest role yet, Alcock has spent the past few years stepping into increasingly high-profile characters. Her tattoos, she explained, are one thing that remains entirely her own.

Milly Alcock in 'Supergirl'Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

"There's something very grounding about at the end of the day, taking it all off, and it's my skin, you know?" she said. "It's personalized to me."

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The actress also connected her love of tattoos to the way her life has evolved in the past few years. Since leaving Australia and spending much of her time traveling and working abroad, Alcock has come to see identity as something that's always shifting.

"I think that living in a different country and traveling so much, you become this collage of everywhere that you're from and who you are in the center of that," Alcock told Scherer. "So I think we're always in flux."

That outlook appears to be exactly why tattoos resonate with her. Rather than seeing them as permanent markers that lock a person into a specific version of themselves, Alcock views them as snapshots of different chapters, experiences and moments along the way.

Of course, there's another reason she keeps adding to the collection.

"They're also just really addictive," she admitted, with a laugh. "I want to get another one."

"What are you doing after this?" Scherer joked.

"Getting another tattoo," Alcock replied with a laugh.

Supergirl hits theaters on June 26.

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Tay Keith, Grammy-Nominated Music Producer, Found Dead in Apartment at 29

Tay Keith, GrammyNominated Music Producer, Found Dead in Apartment at 29 Charna FlamThu, June 18, 2026 at 10:42 PM UTC 0 Tay Keith on February 02, 2023 in Hollywood, California.Credit: Phillip Faraone/Getty Tay Keith was found dead in his Nashville apartment during a welfare check by police on June 18 The Grammynominated producer worked with Drake, Beyoncé, Travis Scott and Eminem on major hits Collaborators like BlocBoy JB and Hitkidd shared emotional tributes to the late producer on social media Grammynominated producer Brytavious Lakeith Chambers, also known as Tay Keith, has died.

Tay Keith, Grammy-Nominated Music Producer, Found Dead in Apartment at 29

Charna FlamThu, June 18, 2026 at 10:42 PM UTC

0

Tay Keith on February 02, 2023 in Hollywood, California.Credit: Phillip Faraone/Getty -

Tay Keith was found dead in his Nashville apartment during a welfare check by police on June 18

The Grammy-nominated producer worked with Drake, Beyoncé, Travis Scott and Eminem on major hits

Collaborators like BlocBoy JB and Hitkidd shared emotional tributes to the late producer on social media

Grammy-nominated producer Brytavious Lakeith Chambers, also known as Tay Keith, has died. He was 29.

The music producer was found dead in his Nashville apartment on Thursday, June 18, the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) announced in a statement. His body was discovered after officers were performing a welfare check.

No foul play is suspected, MNPD said. His death will remain unclassified until the autopsy results are complete.

The Metro Nashville Police Department did not share a comment when reached by PEOPLE.

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Tay Keith on March 24, 2025 in Milton, Georgia.Credit: Prince Williams/WireImage

Keith was born in Memphis, Tenn., and met his future longtime collaborator BlocBoy JB when they were teenagers. They caught Drake's attention and later worked with him on the 2018 hit "Look Alive." That same year, he worked with Travis Scott on "Sicko Mode."

Eventually, he worked with even more hip-hop and rap stars, including Eminem on "Not Alike," Beyoncé on "Before I Let Go," Lil Baby on "Never Recover," Future on "Temptation," 21 Savage on "Rover 2.0," Lil Nas X on "HOLIDAY," Jennifer Lopez on This Is Me... Now: The Albumand Sexyy Red on "Pound Town."

In response to the news of his death, BlocBoy JB posted a series of Instagram Stories reacting to the news. He posted a photo of the pair as teenagers, with the text: "Damn Cuz You Just Hurt Me Bad." He also shared a video of their call history, writing, "We talked'everyday yeen tell me you was leaving."

Hitkidd posted an Instagram in tribute to the producer, writing, "I ain't even got the words, we been doing this since 2010 @taykeith 🕊️."

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Tay Keith, GrammyNominated Music Producer, Found Dead in Apartment at 29 Charna FlamThu, June 18, 2026 at 10:42 PM UTC 0 Tay Keith o...

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NHL clears Mike Babcock to coach the Oilers after review of his Columbus tenure

NHL clears Mike Babcock to coach the Oilers after review of his Columbus tenure Thu, June 18, 2026 at 5:18 PM UTC 0 1 / 0Oilers NHLPA Babcock HockeyFILE Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Detroit Red Wings, Oct. 12, 2019, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson, File) (AP Photo/Duane Burleson) NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL said Thursday it completed a review of Mike Babcock&x27;s tenure in Columbus, cleared him to coach the Edmonton Oilers if they opt to hire him.

NHL clears Mike Babcock to coach the Oilers after review of his Columbus tenure

Thu, June 18, 2026 at 5:18 PM UTC

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1 / 0Oilers NHLPA Babcock HockeyFILE - Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Detroit Red Wings, Oct. 12, 2019, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson, File) (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL said Thursday it completed a review of Mike Babcock's tenure in Columbus, cleared him to coach the Edmonton Oilers if they opt to hire him.

The league launched an investigation at the request of the NHL Players' Association in light of the Edmonton Oilers' interest in hiring Babcock. The league in a statement said even in the least favorable light, there was no basis to restrict Babcock's employment.

It was not immediately clear if or when the Oilers would name Babcock coach. They have been looking for a replacement since firing Kris Knoblauch following a first-round playoff exit that came after back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final.

Babcock, 63, has not coached in the NHL since 2019, when he was fired by Toronto 23 games into his fifth season in charge. The Blue Jackets hired him on July 1, 2023, and Babcock resigned in September after his requests for personal photos from players in an attempt to get to know them drew criticism as an invasion of privacy.

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A statement from the NHLPA called the allegations very concerning and said, "Moving forward, we expect that Mr. Babcock will uphold the high standards required of NHL head coaches."

The NHL dropped its planned investigation at the time because Babcock stepped down. It got underway this week after the final ended

Babcock coached Detroit to the Stanley Cup in 2008 and has made two other trips to the final, along with guiding Canada to Olympic gold medals in 2010 and '14.

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Watch Jamie Lee Curtis and Mariska Hargitay argue over how to pronounce 'Los Angeles': 'Nobody sa...

The actresses met as children and reconnected decades later. Watch Jamie Lee Curtis and Mariska Hargitay argue over how to pronounce 'Los Angeles': 'Nobody says that' The actresses met as children and reconnected decades later. By Marina Watts Marina Watts Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek. EW's editorial guidelines June 15, 2026 5:48 p.m.

The actresses met as children and reconnected decades later.

Watch Jamie Lee Curtis and Mariska Hargitay argue over how to pronounce 'Los Angeles': 'Nobody says that'

The actresses met as children and reconnected decades later.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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June 15, 2026 5:48 p.m. ET

Jamie Lee Curtis in New York in December 2025; Mariska Hargitay in Beverly Hills on April 22. Credit:

Dave Kotinsky/Getty; Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

- Jamie Lynn Curtis and Mariska Hargitay are addressing the age-old question of what is the proper pronunciation of Los Angeles

- The actresses are part of Hollywood dynasties, met briefly as children, and later reconnected while Hargitay was working on a documentary about her mother, Jayne Mansfield.

- Curtis called the documentary a "gorgeous movie."

How do you pronounce "Los Angeles"? Ask Jamie Lee Curtis and Mariska Hargitay.

The actresses, who are members of Hollywood dynasties, debated how exactly to pronounce "Los Angeles" during their conversation for *Variety *and CNN's "Actors on Actors." Curtis' parents are actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. Hargitay, meanwhile, is the daughter of Jayne Mansfield.

"You explained to me that you were making a doc, you had explained to me that you had come back to Los Angeles, you had gone through the beginning of the storage unit," Curtis said, referring to Hargitay's documentary *My Mom Jayne*. Before the *Freaky Friday** *star could continue, Hargitay paused her.

"I'm trying not to laugh, because you just said Los Angeles," she said, emphasizing the "o" like in the word "ghost."

"Okay, but, what do you call it? Los Feliz," Curtis responded, placing the same emphasis she does in "Los Angeles." Hargitay countered that they're not talking about Los Feliz. "You don't say 'Los Angeles.' If I had a jury here, everyone would vote for me."

The actresses asked those in the studio with them how they would pronounce Los Angeles. While the *Scarpetta** *star pressed their colleagues on their pronunciation, Hargitay had enough.

Jamie Lee Curtis tears up remembering Nicole Kidman's touching first words to her when they met at the Oscars

Mariska Hargitay believes the first 'SVU' female showrunner is what the show 'needed more than anything'

"Nobody says that. You guys, please God, let's move on," Hargitay concluded, before apologizing to Curtis as she was about to say "deep s--t."

"You can laugh," the Oscar winner reassured the *Law and Order: Special Victims Unit** *star.

Curtis and Hargitay have more in common than their respective Hollywood lineage; in fact, their lifelong connections to showbiz brought them together decades earlier.

"Nobody knows this: You grew up in a pink house on Sunset Boulevard, which was once owned by Sonny and Cher and later purchased by Tony Curtis," Curtis told Hargitay.

"He married this very young woman. He bought this house, and [you and I] met. There is a photograph of us standing in the driveway. We never saw each other after that. You ask yourself, 'Why don’t we know each other when we have so much history with our families?'"

Mariska Hargitay and Jamie Lee Curtis at the New York 'My Mom Jayne' premiere in June 2025.

Udo Salters/Patrick McMullan via Getty

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They would later reconnect as adults through actress Amy Landecker, when Hargitay was filming *My Mom Jayne*. Hargitay called their first phone call "so emotional."

"When we have histories like ours, we are in such a unique and singular position that people just can’t understand it unless they’ve lived it. You’re one of the most deeply sensitive, empathetic, and compassionate humans that I’ve met. Your unique lens on my story was extraordinary," Hargitay said.

Mariska Hargitay and Jamie Lee Curtis at the 2026 NBCUniversal Upfront on May 11 in New York.

Heidi Gutman/NBCUniversal via Getty

Elsewhere in their conversation, Curtis praised *My Mom Jayne *as a "gorgeous movie."

"For anyone uninitiated," she said, "that’s how we met, and that’s where the connective tissue is. It’s deep, raw, human, and has nothing to do with show-off business, even though our whole lives have been in show-off business."

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Watch Jamie Lee Curtis and Mariska Hargitay argue over how to pronounce 'Los Angeles': 'Nobody sa...

The actresses met as children and reconnected decades later. Watch Jamie Lee Curtis and Mariska Hargitay argue over how to pronou...

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Giannina Gibelli and Blake Horstmann Share Romantic Photos from Venice Welcome Party Ahead of Wedding

Giannina Gibelli and Blake Horstmann Share Romantic Photos from Venice Welcome Party Ahead of Wedding Angelique BrenesThu, June 18, 2026 at 4:34 AM UTC 0 Milady Gibelli and Blake Horstmann in October 2024Credit: Leon Bennett/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Giannina Gibelli and Blake Horstmann shared a first look at their wedding welcome party in Venice, Italy The couple&x27;s 2yearold son, Heath, and several fellow Love Is Blind alums appeared in photos from the festivities The celebration comes weeks after the pair revealed they had obtained their marriage license ahead of their European wed...

Giannina Gibelli and Blake Horstmann Share Romantic Photos from Venice Welcome Party Ahead of Wedding

Angelique BrenesThu, June 18, 2026 at 4:34 AM UTC

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Milady Gibelli and Blake Horstmann in October 2024Credit: Leon Bennett/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty -

Giannina Gibelli and Blake Horstmann shared a first look at their wedding welcome party in Venice, Italy

The couple's 2-year-old son, Heath, and several fellow Love Is Blind alums appeared in photos from the festivities

The celebration comes weeks after the pair revealed they had obtained their marriage license ahead of their European wedding

Giannina Gibelli and Blake Horstmann are soaking up every moment before saying "I do."

The reality TV couple shared a glimpse inside their wedding welcome party in Venice, Italy, on Wednesday, June 17, posting a carousel of photos on Instagram alongside the caption, "Sneak peek at our welcome party ❤️."

The images captured the couple celebrating against the backdrop of Venice's iconic canals, with several photos showing them dancing, exploring the city by boat and strolling hand in hand through the streets. Their 2-year-old son, Heath, also made appearances throughout the carousel.

Other snapshots highlighted details from the festivities, including plates of pasta and lasagna, a bottle of San Pellegrino and scenic views around the city.

Gibelli wore a form-fitting lace dress paired with a Spanish-style lace veil, a statement necklace and her hair down. Horstmann coordinated in a white T-shirt layered beneath an off-white sport coat, which he paired with brown pants and a brown belt. The pair also appeared to match accessories, both sporting sunglasses, while Horstmann completed his look with a silver chain.

The celebration also appeared to draw several familiar faces from the Love Is Blind universe.

Fellow 'Love is Blind' alums Taylor Krause, Colleen Reed, Alexa Lemieux and Raven Ross were among those in Venice for the wedding festivitiesCredit: Taylor Krause/Instagram

Fellow alums Taylor Krause, Colleen Reed, Alexa Lemieux and Raven Ross were among those in Venice for the wedding festivities. Krause shared her own photo carousel from the trip on Instagram, with the caption, "You're going to want to turn up the sound on the last slide 🎤 🇮🇹 ✨ Happy wedding week G&B 🥂."

The Venice festivities mark the latest milestone in the couple's journey to the altar.

Earlier this month, Gibelli, 33, and Horstmann, 37, revealed they obtained their marriage license in Colorado, sharing the update in a joint Instagram post captioned, "one step closer 💒."

"We're now one step closer to being husband and wife," Horstmann said in the video.

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Giannina Gibelli and Blake Horstmann Obtain Marriage LicenseCredit: Giannina Gibelli/Instagram

Although they picked up the license, Gibelli later explained that the pair intentionally left it unsigned so they could still have the signing ceremony as part of their wedding celebration.

"We honestly had no idea what we were doing, if we were getting married today or not, but we were able to leave with the license unsigned and we can have the signing ceremony at the wedding like I always pictured so I'm very happy about this!" she wrote on Instagram Stories.

The couple has been open about planning their European wedding, which they are funding themselves.

"I did all the research imaginable, and I found the most beautiful, gorgeous venue," Gibelli said during a February appearance on Jason Tartick'sTrading Secrets podcast. "I found people who are willing to work with us, and I'm getting just like this banger of a wedding for probably a little less than half of what you would get in the States."

Gibelli has also spoken candidly about wanting a longer engagement following her experience on the first season of Love Is Blind, where former fiancé Damian Powers said "no" at the altar during the show's finale.

"I know, it feels like we've been engaged forever. That was by design," she told Us Weekly in April. "I just wanted it to be very different from that whole experience."

Giannina Gibelli and Blake HorstmannCredit: Jesse Grant/Getty

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Now, with their wedding celebration underway in Italy, Gibelli says she's ready for the next step.

"I think it's been fantastic and great, but I am ready to call him my husband, for sure," she told Us Weekly.

The couple got engaged in Madrid, Spain, on Oct. 30, 2024, and welcomed son Heath Orion Horstmann on March 29, 2024.

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'Toy Story 5' shows toys still have value in world of technology

&x27;Toy Story 5&x27; shows toys still have value in world of technology Adam Graham, Detroit News Film CriticThu, June 18, 2026 at 4:01 AM UTC 0 Jessie, Buzz Lightyear, and Woody in Disney and Pixar's "Toy Story 5." Photo courtesy of Pixar. © 2026 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved. 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.

'Toy Story 5' shows toys still have value in world of technology

Adam Graham, Detroit News Film CriticThu, June 18, 2026 at 4:01 AM UTC

0

Jessie, Buzz Lightyear, and Woody in Disney and Pixar's "Toy Story 5." Photo courtesy of Pixar. © 2026 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

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 over-stimulated 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, 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?

(L-R): Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen) and Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) in Disney and Pixar's "Toy Story 5."

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.

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But it's got heart and humor, and Conan O'Brien is a welcome addition to the cast as Smarty Pants, a 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.

agraham@detroitnews.com

'Toy Story 5'

GRADE: B

Rated PG: for some thematic elements and rude humor

Running time: 102 minutes

In theaters

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tech makes worthy opponent for our heroes in warmhearted 'Toy Story 5'

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'Toy Story 5' shows toys still have value in world of technology

&x27;Toy Story 5&x27; shows toys still have value in world of technology Adam Graham, Detroit News Film CriticThu, June ...

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