Our bold and adventurous podcast hosts will go to fairly reasonable lengths to see a good movie. To infinity? No. Beyond? Definitely not. 

Something they WILL do, though, is invite a new friend to join them for some general merriment with a few opinions thrown in for good measure. That’s what Dori and Kpolly did for this trip back to the playroom to review Toy Story 5 with special guest Heather Deaton — the winner of a “hotly contested” auction battle whose proceeds went to support Milwaukee Film.

And if you think Heather just came along for the ride, prepare yourself for a true three-person analysis of the beloved Pixar franchise, with our guest providing some valuable perspective as a parent and general appreciator of Toy Story. She even did some hard-nosed research in advance, watching the third and fourth installments of the franchise in order to make some insightful comparisons between the new film and its predecessors.

It's a great conversation about how far CGI has come since the original came out more than 30(!!!) years ago, how "inanimate" childhood companions leave an impression on us, and how we're all in the midst of a battle for imagination's very survival. OK, maybe not that last one, but it's a wonderful chat all the same.

#####

Cinebuds is sponsored by Joe Wilde Garage Doors.