‘We give kids this thing to make them antisocial beasts’: Tom Hanks and Tim Allen on tech peril, Toy Story 5 and the joy of rusty nails

Pixar’s new film tells young viewers that technology has stolen their childhood and that parents need to wise up fast. Its stars answer your questions on the series’ radical new message

What is the thing you’ve learn ed most from this new film? Secretmission Tim Allen [the voice of Buzz Lightyear]: It sounds really self-gratifying, but it’s taking about 20% less time to make a better product. I know now how to focus and isolate my voice. I don’t do as many takes. Sometimes they’ll even say to me: “I think we got it. You can stop.”

Tom Hanks [Sheriff Woody]: Really? I will sometimes ask: “Please tell me you have it because I’m so done with this.” I find it to be exactly the same as it was at the get-go, except maybe there’s a little more importance put on it. I don’t think anybody picks our takes doing a Toy Story movie lightly. But I found everything else is just one damn thing after another.

Story-wise, there is something to the fact that Jessie contacts us and says she needs our help. I am not good at asking for help. So I could use that as a life lesson in this world of ours: we’re not in this alone.

TA: In terms of tech, this new film is so fricking spot on. I feel like I could rob everybody at a coffee shop and they wouldn’t even know. Even the barista would just be scrolling. I love tech. I have a lot of phones and social media, and all of a sudden the algorithm manipulation to what I like got ridiculous. I’m looking at plane crashes that didn’t ever happen. It says: “The 747 lands on an island in Greece sideways. All these people died.” And I go: surely I would’ve read about this? Truck accidents in Singapore on a mountain? It’s just making stuff up! So I applaud our movie for shining a light on stuff like that.

TH: There’s a moment when little Bonnie is spending time on Lilypad, which is supposed to be a communal, joyful experience. And her feelings are hurt by what is being texted about her. That’s a profound moment. No toy hurts your feelings if you are playing with it.

TA: Will this movie move the dial? Well, what motivates behaviour? Why do bacteria and viruses mutate? What activates the change? Even at a molecular level or quantum level? As the late Florine Mark [former president of the Weight Watchers Group], who was a good friend of mine, said: 10,000 women will come to a big Weight Watchers event and about 12% walk out having listened. There’s a weird part of me that really believes that there’s gonna be a bunch of kids that see our film and go: I do want to play with my toys. Being on a tablet is not playing with a toy. It’s playing with dopamine.

Greta, you represent the age of phones and iPads in this new film. What approach to screens have you taken with your own children? felixius4 Greta Lee [Lilypad]: We set a pretty clear boundary about how much time is acceptable and when and where that is appropriate. And stepping back and refocusing and reprioritising things like time spent outside in nature. Hiking and gardening and all the good old stuff that still proves so enjoyable for the kids. Even if it’s a fight. And accepting boredom – relishing boredom, and trying to counteract shrinking attention spans. It’s complicated and it’s a work in progress for everyone.