Toy Story 4 was released on June 21st, 2019. It is directed by Josh Cooley and written by Andrew Stanton and Stephany Folsom. It continues the story of Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen) and the rest of Andy's toys who now belong to Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw).Woody, no longer the leader of the toys or the favorite of his owner, struggles to accept his place in this new home.
Though I did not grow up with them (Disney movies, with a few notable exceptions, were not allowed in my house growing up) I have long been a fan of the
Toy Story movies. The first one remains one of my all time favorites and though I don't think either of the sequels ever reached the same level of perfection, they are both worthy follow-ups which develop the characters and expand the world. The third film, I thought, brought the story to a satisfying conclusion so I was trepidatious about a fourth installment. Does this series have anything left to say? The answer is complicated.
WARNING:SPOILERS FROM HERE ON
Throughout the series, Woody has been the central character, going through a unique arc in each film. It did not seem to me that his character had anywhere left to go going into
Toy Story 4. The series has always contained something of a metaphor for parenthood. In
Toy Story 3 Woody has to let Andy go once he comes of age and in this film Woody, like an aging grandparent, continually tries to help Bonnie even though she is no longer interested in playing with him. When he reunites with Bo Peep (voiced Annie Potts), who was given away by Andy's family prior to the events of
Toy Story 3, on a camping trip with Bonnie's family, his ideas about what it means to be a toy are challenged.
Despite the prominence of Forky (Tony Hale), a new character introduced in this film, in the advertising, it's Bo who is the real co-star of this installment. Bo has made a life for herself helping other "lost" toys to their owners or find new ones. Through his adventures with her, Woody is finally able to let go of his need to be with a kid and goes off to start a new life with her in the film's final moments. As has become standard in contemporary Hollywood blockbusters, there is no similar self-discovery or even self-examination for Bo. In any case, this feels a little out of character to me. It's not that I can't see Woody coming around to Bo's way of thinking but more that it's hard to believe he would leave all of his friends behind so easily, especially in light of their moment of solidarity during the climax of
Toy Story 3.
As for Forky, he goes through an arc not unlike that of Buzz Lightyear in the first film. A home-made toy (Bonnie creates him using a spork on her first day of Kindergarten and forms an emotional attachment as it helps her to cope with this scary new experience) Forky believes that he is "trash" and continually tries to escape Bonnie and throw himself away. Woody is able to convince Forky that Bonnie feels the same way about him as he does about trash ("It's warm," "cozy" "and safe", he says). This is the film's best idea but it's pretty much been explored by the end of the first act.
Buzz Lightyear, who has always served as the series mascot along with Woody, has gotten shunted to the side more and more with each film. In
Toy Story 2 he becomes the de facto leader of the Toys in Woody's absence and, ultimately, reminds Woody what being a toy is all about. In
3 he continues in this role but is reduced, essentially, to a plot device (and a running gag) through a good portion of the picture. In this film he barely makes an impression at all. When Woody goes off to bring back the wayward Forky, Buzz initially stays behind with the other toys. When he finally decides to go after Woody, his efforts to help him retrieve Forky are almost completely superfluous. As for the rest of the toys, they barely get any screen time or anything of interest to do.
The ostensible villain of this film, Gabby Gabby, continues the series tradition (eschewed in
Toy Story 2) of eerie toys that our protagonists must escape. Gabby is aided by a group of ventriloquist dummies named Vincent (who resembles Slappy, the living dummy from R. L. Stine's Goosebumps) and runs an old antique store like a cartel. Gabby has a defective voice box and wants to take Woody's so that she can be bought by a kid. She ends up taking it from him after kidnapping Forky and her last minute redemption is not earned at all. Beyond this, the narrative feels a little fragmented, shifting the focus away from Forky after the first act to focus instead on Gabby and Bo.
The animation is really eye popping and it has never been as fluid or expressive. The way each toy moves around is really unique, especially Forky, a character who has no joints. On the other hand the backgrounds (if they can be described that way) are perhaps a little too photo-realistic this time around. Watching a Toy Story movie that looks like a cut scene from the latest
Call of Duty is a bit distracting. The human characters all look somewhat cartoonish, so I'm not sure why the animators decided to make the world look so real. Randy Newman's score is strong in it's motific sense but a little derivative overall, recycling material from previous entries rather liberally. The new songs are mostly forgettable. The voice-work is solid all around, both from the returning cast members and the new voice actors.
At this point the series really feels played out. The central metaphor
certainly has no where to go, when parents get old in the real world,
it's their children's turn to take care of them but, for obvious
reasons, it can't work that way with the toys in this universe. In any
case, though
Toy Story 4 never quite succeeds in justifying it's
existence it is, at least, a fairly entertaining romp with characters
we've come to love. For a Pixar sequel in 2019, that's more or less par
for the course.
Score: 7/10
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