By Shane Hernandez, Staff Writer
As young children, we all grew up singing, “You’ve Got A Friend In Me”. In 2010 we all thought “Toy Story 3” was the end of the franchise and with that, a bit of our childhood ended.
Spoiler-Free Review
The film centers around Woody trying to look after his new owner, Bonnie. It’s her first day of Kindergarten and she comes home with a new friend that she made during class out of trash, arts and crafts, called “Forky”. Because she’s terrified about going into a new school and not being able to bring a toy, Forky is the only friend Bonnie can have to make her feel comfortable in her new environment. However, this new toy doesn’t want to be a toy and believes he belongs in the trash.
Through a road trip, Woody has to make sure Forky doesn’t throw himself away. In doing so, he rediscovers his long lost love, Bo Peep. A lot going on, isn’t there? Even the new trash… I mean toy, Forky (played by Tony Hale), is a hilarious new addition to the cast. The childlike innocence and cluelessness that Hale brings to the character really makes you feel like he was unsure of his place in the world. I don’t think the character could’ve been brought to life by anyone else. Alongside Hale, Annie Potts returns as Bo Peep, and her performance is more delightful than in any other Toy Story film.
In the end I have to say, “Toy Story 4” is a nice treat for the summer. It brings you back to that nostalgia of being a kid again. It also finds new ways to break ground in animation and in our hearts just like the first film. New characters such as Duke Caboom, Giggle McSimples, Ducky and Bunny are brought to life for a new generation of fans and children to enjoy.
The ending, however, was both sentimental and heartbreaking yet at the same time, a little disappointing. It feels like Pixar wasn’t able to surpass the ending that they had with “Toy Story 3”. It also raises the question, why does it feel like we didn’t need this movie? “Toy Story 4” is a long epilogue to the third film. It’s not necessary but it’s definitely worth a watch. Just don’t expect is to be the greatest of the four films.
Behind the Scenes
Back in 2015, at the D23 Expo, the next chapter was announced. Former Chief Creative Officer of Pixar Animation Studios, John Lasseter said, “We don’t want to do anything with [the Toy Story series] unless it lives up to or surpasses what’s gone before. Toy Story 3 ended Woody and Buzz’s story with Andy so perfectly that for a long time, we never even talked about doing another Toy Story movie. But when Andrew, Pete, Lee, and I came up with this new idea, I just could not stop thinking about it. It was so exciting to me, I knew we had to make this movie—and I wanted to direct it myself.”
There were many behind the scenes problems occuring at Pixar, during the development of this film. The movie was initially slated to come out two years ago with a release date of June 16, 2017. If you didn’t notice during the credits at the end of the film is not directed by Lasseter at all. Lasseter was one of the main driving forces behind Pixar as he was not only the co-founder, but the executive producer on every film from “Toy Story,” all the way to “Incredibles 2”. In December of 2018, Lasseter stepped down after reportedly displaying unwanted or inappropriate displays of affection, known as “lengthy bear hugs”. With so much going on, “Toy Story 4” was delayed another year. “Incredibles 2” was his final project and he has since moved on to working at Skydance Media.
Initially, Rashida Jones and Will McCormack were set to write the script for “Toy Story 4”. The two were known for making romantic comedies, which makes sense for them to do “Toy Story 4” if it centered around Woody and his long lost love Bo Peep. However, they ended up leaving the project, feeling that they weren’t allowed the creative voice that they wanted, and in light of Lasseters allegations, they left the project. With these setbacks, three-fourths of the film’s script was scrapped.
Potts revealed that the script was tossed and said, “They’re funny those Pixar people. They just take their time. It’s very painstaking work. If they don’t like whole sections then they just chuck it and start over again. They have that great creative liberty to do that.”
While I do think the movie we got was great considering what happened with Lasseter and the screenwriters. I can’t help but wonder what “Toy Story 4” was originally going to look like and if it would’ve surpassed the third installment.
Spoiler Review
The opening of “Toy Story 4” is very different than any other film. First, it starts off with no short film. This came as a disappointment as I’ve always eagerly awaited and found joy in the original shorts, such as “Tin Toy” and “Knick Knack”. I love the newer shorts like “Bao” but those initial shorts in particular hold a special place in my heart. The first three “Toy Story” movies start with Andy’s toys playing in his room, whether that be Andy playing with them or the toys playing with the Buzz Lightyear video game. Each one is used as a staple to demonstrate how far the animation has advanced with a very action packed beginning. Except this movie quicky breaks that rule. It doesn’t start off with an over the top setting as it was in “Toy Story 2” or “Toy Story 3”. “Toy Story 4” opens with a flashback scene nine years earlier with Woody and his friends quickly trying to save R.C. (the race car from the first film). After they manage to save him, Bo Peep is being donated. The departure and goodbyes that the Bo Peep and Woody say is sweet and adds a layer of sadness that we didn’t get to see in “Toy Story 3”. She tells Woody that he could easily get lost and join her. He almost goes with her until he hears Andy, terrified, thinking he lost Woody. So he decides to stay. It’s in his nature and he’s far too loyal to abandon his kid. Woody’s mission was always to make his kid happy and be there for them. He accomplished this with Andy, but when given to Bonnie, he thinks he can relive that magic, as he thinks that’s all he has left. The difference between the owners is that he’s not Bonnie’s favorite like he was with Andy, but he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her happiness.
In Toy Story 4, Woody sees how terrified Bonnie is without someone to comfort her and with Woody’s help, she makes Forky. Woody realizes that if he can’t be there for her, then Forky can. Woody becomes obsessed with wanting this new favorite toy to realize how special he has it and to stop trying to throw himself away. While Forky is doing this, during a short montage, we’re treated to new original music performed by Randy Newman. I enjoyed almost every song performed by Newman in these films. One of the strengths of this film is the soundtrack, mixing a little bit of the old with “You’ve Got A Friend In Me” and “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away”.
As the film continued, I realized that the journey wasn’t only about Woody showing Forky how wonderful it is to be a toy. The main journey is Woody rediscovering Bo. It was disappointing to see how Forky became more of a plot device after the first 30 minutes of the film. A Pixar film isn’t amazing unless the protagonist has a great antagonist. Gabby Gabby was very similar to Lotso or Stinky Pete, as it was a toy that felt betrayed—but her character had more depth. It was fitting that she wasn’t completely evil and found happiness in the end.
I’m okay with Woody being happy with Bo, but I wish we could’ve seen more of the original characters such as Rex, Hamm and Slinky Dog. I know that the journey centers around Woody and the newer characters in order to emphasize that this is his life from here on out, yet the toys didn’t need to be with Woody on the journey. The toys could’ve been more present in this journey and maybe even have gone with Buzz on his search for Woody in some way. Although, that may sound too similar to “Toy Story 2” except if this is the final film, it’s sad knowing we aren’t going to be with those characters anymore and that they weren’t giving a proper justice of screentime.
This ending is bold because it shows the harsh reality that we all can’t keep living in the past. At a certain point we all need to say goodbye to our childhood friends and grow up. This message is a sad heartfelt truth, except there’s one thing. This is a similar message from “Toy Story 3”. I understand that these are all reoccuring themes in this franchise, but when hearing that Pixar would only do a fourth film if it blew people away, it doesn’t quite live up to the hype. Andy had to say goodbye to his friends in Toy Story 3 to pursue happiness, by growing up and move on with his life. While I am glad Woody got his happy ending, I found seeing Woody having to say goodbye to his family that he stuck by for so long a real tear jerker, but did we really need it? The film solidifies Woody as the main subject, when in reality, it should be his former owner Andy.
Andy is and always has been more of a plot device in the Toy Story films. He’s what drives the toys to go back to him. Except we see the story of a child growing up all through Andy. With that journey complete and thinking all of Andy’s toys achieved their happiness by sticking together. It seems to take away from the ending of the third film by adding Woody departing from that family. We don’t know for sure if Bonnie missed Woody that much, but it takes away from the sentiment of Andy passing Woody down to Bonnie.
Either way, I’m glad to have seen it. After this movie, a fifth film isn’t necessary as it’ll take away from the sincerity of “Toy Story 3” and “Toy Story 4”. “Toy Story 4” is not the movie we needed, but these characters have always held a special place in my heart. No matter what, I’m just happy to have revisited this world and will continue to hold them in my heart for infinity and beyond.
