'Toy Story 5' Almost Made Its Emotional Moment More Real

Toy Story 5 is now in theaters, and before release, Pixar talked up how fan-favorite cowgirl Jessie would be important to the story. That wasn’t just all talk: she’s more than the main character of the piece than Woody or Buzz, and gets the big Emotional Moment all Pixar movies must have by the end of act two. In the new film, Jessie has the most objections to the new tech toy Lilipad that’s meant to help Bonnie make friends at school. After trying to make their way back to their young owner, Jessie and Bullseye are found on the street by an elderly couple who take the toys back to Emily’s old home. Now in posession of the home’s new owners, the Mankoukians, Jessie finds a time capsule with photos of a grown-up Emily and her daughter, named after Jessie herself. Instead of being discarded like she thought for years, Jessie realizes she had a greater impact on her first owner’s life than she could’ve imagined. But Pixar wasn’t going to just leave it there. The Toy Story 5 art book, which released before the film, shows concept art of Jessie meeting a now elderly Emily. Co-writer Kenna Harris explained in the book that Jessie and Emily’s relationship was always at the heart of the fi