When Toy Story 3 released in 2010 after an eleven-year gap from Toy Story 2, audiences were skeptical to say the least that Pixar would be able to recapture the magic of the first two films. Of course, we now know that Toy Story 3 was not only a huge critical and commercial success, but it’s widely considered to be one of the greatest animated films of all time and acted as the perfect finale to the Toy Story franchise. So, when Pixar announced a fourth film that would release almost ten years later, once again audiences were unsure that it would even hold a candle to its near-perfect predecessor.
For the most part, Toy Story 4 was adored by critics and audiences, but there was an undeniable sense that no matter how good this fourth film was, that it simply didn’t need to exist and actively damaged the finality Toy Story 3 provided. So, is Toy Story 4 the best film in the franchise, a soulless cash grab, or something in between?
Unable to move on from Andy outgrowing him and struggling to adapt to not being Bonnie’s (Madeline McGraw) favourite toy, Woody (Tom Hanks) is in the midst of a crisis fearing he will be forgotten and abandoned.
When Bonnie creates Forky (Tony Hale) at kindergarten, Woody takes it upon himself to become Forky’s mentor and help him deal with the existential crisis of suddenly being alive and a child’s plaything.
But when Woody and Forky become separated from Bonnie whilst on a family road trip, they become the targets of Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks), a pull-string doll like Woody, who seeks to replace her defective voice box with Woody’s functional one.
Reunited with Bo Peep (Annie Potts), now a lost toy who lives in a play park, Woody seeks her help in saving Forky from Gabby Gabby, all whilst Buzz (Tim Allen) mounts a rescue mission to find Woody with the help of fairground toys Bunny (Jordan Peele), and Ducky (Keegan-Michael Key).
For the most part, Toy Story 4 was adored by critics and audiences, but there was an undeniable sense that no matter how good this fourth film was, that it simply didn’t need to exist and actively damaged the finality Toy Story 3 provided. So, is Toy Story 4 the best film in the franchise, a soulless cash grab, or something in between?
Unable to move on from Andy outgrowing him and struggling to adapt to not being Bonnie’s (Madeline McGraw) favourite toy, Woody (Tom Hanks) is in the midst of a crisis fearing he will be forgotten and abandoned.
When Bonnie creates Forky (Tony Hale) at kindergarten, Woody takes it upon himself to become Forky’s mentor and help him deal with the existential crisis of suddenly being alive and a child’s plaything.
But when Woody and Forky become separated from Bonnie whilst on a family road trip, they become the targets of Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks), a pull-string doll like Woody, who seeks to replace her defective voice box with Woody’s functional one.
Reunited with Bo Peep (Annie Potts), now a lost toy who lives in a play park, Woody seeks her help in saving Forky from Gabby Gabby, all whilst Buzz (Tim Allen) mounts a rescue mission to find Woody with the help of fairground toys Bunny (Jordan Peele), and Ducky (Keegan-Michael Key).
Returning to a property following an ending as final as Toy Story 3 was always going to be a risk. But Toy Story 4 manages to become an epilogue of sorts without feeling too tacked on. It definitely doesn’t need to exist, but it does explore meaningful new areas of a toy’s psyche and their relationship to children.
Whilst Toy Story 3 closed off that trilogy with Andy going off to college and handing down his toys to Bonnie, the fourth film dares to ask what if a toy outgrows a child or is unable to move on from their previous owner.
The opening scene is set somewhere between Toy Story 2&3, and sees the night that Bo Peep was donated, as briefly touched on in the third film. In it we see Bo asking Woody to come with her and abandon Andy, knowing that it won’t be long before he faces a similar fate. Obviously, we know Woody doesn’t go, but it’s a moment where we see Woody in a totally different light, one where he was considering walking away from his duties to Andy.
Fast forward nine years and Woody doesn’t have a lot going for him, Bonnie doesn’t play with him, and the other toys don’t respect him the way they used to, if anything, they pity him.
So, when Forky comes along and becomes Bonnie’s favourite he puts all of his energy into making sure Forky understands and appreciates what he means to Bonnie.
Once Woody and Bo are reunited later in the story, she’s a different woman than what he once knew. She’s a lost toy, living in a playground on the edge of a funfair. The children come and go, but the toys remain, similar to the appeal of Sunnyside in the third film. She sees no value in being held down by a single child, and she feels a greater purpose in being a multiple children’s child’s source of joy for a short time than belonging to a single child until they no longer want her. Woody of course sees the appeal in this, and so it becomes a tale of him coming to terms with his grief of losing Andy, his acceptance that Bonnie will be fine without him, and his embracing of a lifestyle he always looked down on.
Forky is a really interesting problem that Toy Story 4 throws into the mix, and it does try to do something unique by addressing the existential problems surrounding creation and self-awareness. Nobody understands how Forky is alive, but he is, and it makes for some really funny moments. As trash, Forky wants nothing more than to find the nearest garbage can and throw himself away, he is terrified at the concept of being alive, and he is somewhat resentful towards Bonnie for making him in the first place. Crucially, he doesn’t understand his purpose, and whilst Woody tries to guide him, he is constantly questioning why Woody so blindly devotes himself to making a child happy when he knows that they’re just going to outgrow him and cast him aside.
This then contrasts excellently with Gabby Gabby. Whilst she is the ‘villain’ of the story, she’s simply desperate to fulfil her purpose which she has never had the opportunity to do because she’s defective. She is prepared to go to extreme lengths to become a child’s favourite toy, and in her Woody is able to see himself if he doesn’t change his ways.
It caps itself off with an ending that doesn’t have the same finality to it as the third film, but it is just as emotionally overwhelming. It’s clear that Disney don’t want Toy Story going anywhere anytime soon as it’s a great little money maker, but at least for now it seems that Pixar’s storytellers understand the high quality expected from a Toy Story film.
Whilst Toy Story 3 closed off that trilogy with Andy going off to college and handing down his toys to Bonnie, the fourth film dares to ask what if a toy outgrows a child or is unable to move on from their previous owner.
The opening scene is set somewhere between Toy Story 2&3, and sees the night that Bo Peep was donated, as briefly touched on in the third film. In it we see Bo asking Woody to come with her and abandon Andy, knowing that it won’t be long before he faces a similar fate. Obviously, we know Woody doesn’t go, but it’s a moment where we see Woody in a totally different light, one where he was considering walking away from his duties to Andy.
Fast forward nine years and Woody doesn’t have a lot going for him, Bonnie doesn’t play with him, and the other toys don’t respect him the way they used to, if anything, they pity him.
So, when Forky comes along and becomes Bonnie’s favourite he puts all of his energy into making sure Forky understands and appreciates what he means to Bonnie.
Once Woody and Bo are reunited later in the story, she’s a different woman than what he once knew. She’s a lost toy, living in a playground on the edge of a funfair. The children come and go, but the toys remain, similar to the appeal of Sunnyside in the third film. She sees no value in being held down by a single child, and she feels a greater purpose in being a multiple children’s child’s source of joy for a short time than belonging to a single child until they no longer want her. Woody of course sees the appeal in this, and so it becomes a tale of him coming to terms with his grief of losing Andy, his acceptance that Bonnie will be fine without him, and his embracing of a lifestyle he always looked down on.
Forky is a really interesting problem that Toy Story 4 throws into the mix, and it does try to do something unique by addressing the existential problems surrounding creation and self-awareness. Nobody understands how Forky is alive, but he is, and it makes for some really funny moments. As trash, Forky wants nothing more than to find the nearest garbage can and throw himself away, he is terrified at the concept of being alive, and he is somewhat resentful towards Bonnie for making him in the first place. Crucially, he doesn’t understand his purpose, and whilst Woody tries to guide him, he is constantly questioning why Woody so blindly devotes himself to making a child happy when he knows that they’re just going to outgrow him and cast him aside.
This then contrasts excellently with Gabby Gabby. Whilst she is the ‘villain’ of the story, she’s simply desperate to fulfil her purpose which she has never had the opportunity to do because she’s defective. She is prepared to go to extreme lengths to become a child’s favourite toy, and in her Woody is able to see himself if he doesn’t change his ways.
It caps itself off with an ending that doesn’t have the same finality to it as the third film, but it is just as emotionally overwhelming. It’s clear that Disney don’t want Toy Story going anywhere anytime soon as it’s a great little money maker, but at least for now it seems that Pixar’s storytellers understand the high quality expected from a Toy Story film.
Since Pixar changed over their animation software to Presto from Marionette, the visual fidelity of their films has been a bit up and down, with a lot of films having great environmental detail but underwhelming character models. Toy Story 4 is arguably still Pixar’s most visually impressive film as of writing this review four years after its release.
The opening scene really pushes the boat out to show exactly what Pixar’s animators are capable of with some of the most realistic looking rain and lightning ever seen in an animated film. The Toy Story films have always had impressive character and environment detail and Toy Story 4 is no exception with wide open vistas, visually complex and busy sequences, and extraordinarily detailed character models. There’s a moment which features a cat stretching as it wakes up, and I’m not alone in saying that you’d be forgiven for not realising it’s animated with the way it moves, the way the fur falls, and the way the light interacts with the model.
Randy Newman returns once again with an amazing score and a few great original songs that tie everything together so well and manage to get the waterworks flowing on multiple occasions.
I think some people are always going to inherently be against Toy Story 4 because it goes against Toy Story 3’s finality. But the fact of the matter is that Toy Story 4 is almost as good as that film, at the very least on par with the original. It delivers a surprisingly mature and nuanced story about love and loss that can not only conjure tears from the driest eye, but also elicit the deepest of belly laughs from its more comedic moments.
The visual fidelity is often beyond words, pushing the limits of what was thought possible with computer animation, and Newman’s score knocks it out of the park yet again.
Toy Story 4 is undoubtedly one of Pixar’s finest films, and whilst it may seem like they’ve dug up a franchise that they buried back in 2010, it’s clear as day that there’s still a lot of life left in the series that made Pixar the studio it is.
The opening scene really pushes the boat out to show exactly what Pixar’s animators are capable of with some of the most realistic looking rain and lightning ever seen in an animated film. The Toy Story films have always had impressive character and environment detail and Toy Story 4 is no exception with wide open vistas, visually complex and busy sequences, and extraordinarily detailed character models. There’s a moment which features a cat stretching as it wakes up, and I’m not alone in saying that you’d be forgiven for not realising it’s animated with the way it moves, the way the fur falls, and the way the light interacts with the model.
Randy Newman returns once again with an amazing score and a few great original songs that tie everything together so well and manage to get the waterworks flowing on multiple occasions.
I think some people are always going to inherently be against Toy Story 4 because it goes against Toy Story 3’s finality. But the fact of the matter is that Toy Story 4 is almost as good as that film, at the very least on par with the original. It delivers a surprisingly mature and nuanced story about love and loss that can not only conjure tears from the driest eye, but also elicit the deepest of belly laughs from its more comedic moments.
The visual fidelity is often beyond words, pushing the limits of what was thought possible with computer animation, and Newman’s score knocks it out of the park yet again.
Toy Story 4 is undoubtedly one of Pixar’s finest films, and whilst it may seem like they’ve dug up a franchise that they buried back in 2010, it’s clear as day that there’s still a lot of life left in the series that made Pixar the studio it is.