Toy Story 4

“Being there for a child is the most noble thing a toy can do.”

Woody

Pixar rarely disappoints, although not every single film is a solid 10/10, I can only think of two specific times I was fully let down by this company and that was with Cars 2 and The Good Dinosaur. Even the “bad” ones though aren’t the worst animated films ever, they’re just not “great”, and only having two out of twenty one movies be not “great” is a pretty good streak I think. Toy Story is one of those franchises I’ve been watching my entire life, Toy Story 2 was the first movie I can remember seeing in a movie theater so I’ve watched as this franchise grew up alongside me. I was extremely skeptical when they announced this film. I thought that they had wrapped up the franchise perfectly with Toy Story 3, and was afraid that they might be pushing their luck or take away from that ending by making one more film. Did Pixar add a third film to my list of disappointments? Not at all!

Toy Story 4 is an “on the road” story following Woody and Forky as as they try to reunite with Bonnie after being lost. Forky (played by Tony Hale), a new friend made by Bonnie during her first day of Kindergarten, is one of the many new characters we meet in this film and I loved him. Along the way, Woody must teach Forky the importance of being a toy and always being there for Bonnie no matter what, just like he was for Andy for so many years. During their journey, Pixar takes us on their famous roller coaster of emotions, lots of laughs and even some genuinely creepy moments which were awesome, it heavily added to the fun and I wasn’t ever sure what to expect next after that.

Besides Jesse, Buzz, and the rest of the gang, some of the other new characters we meet are Ducky and Bunny (played by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele), Duke Caboom (Keanu Reeves), and Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks). Despite there being so many characters in an under two hour film, this movie never felt crowded and no character felt like it didn’t belong. This movie is Woody’s journey, so most of the original toys don’t get nearly as much screen time as him, but every single new character had something to add to the plot, I didn’t feel like any of them were thrown in just for comedy purposes even though several of them were hilarious! The character I was most afraid of however was the return of Bo Peep (Annie Potts reprising the role), I wasn’t sure what they were going to do with her character, but I became even more skeptical when they first showed her in the trailer. She was used very well, she helped drive the plot in certain directions and added to the story more so than the other characters I would say, but I don’t want to get too much into it because of potential spoilers.

As for negative points in this movie, I don’t really have any real complaints. I do wish we could’ve seen more of the original gang, but I think if we had the movie would’ve really felt cluttered and probably hindered the story. They weren’t given nothing at all to do, they still contribute, but since this is most likely the last time we’ll see them it’s a little disappointing they didn’t get a little more screen time.

As always with Pixar, the bar for animation has been impossibly bumped up again, some of the shots looked photo-realistic, and the lighting and colors of other scenes were so infinitely beyond impressive. You could see the scuff marks on Buzz Lightyear as he’s been out of his box and heavily played with for almost 25 years, and small pieces of fuzz sticking off of Woody and just so many details. Every time we were in a set piece like the antique store, we almost never see the same places twice, there’s so much detail and hard work placed into even the smallest of background pieces that really adds to the environment the film takes place in. I thought Incredibles 2 was going to remain my favorite animation because I love the way it looks, but I think this film takes the cake for now. Now I can’t wait to see how Onward looks next year so I can change my favorite again.

Ranking this with the other Toy Story films is hard, because I love them all pretty equally. If I had to pick an order, probably 2, 4, 1, and 3, but not saying any of them are even remotely bad. I love all four of them and it’s (in my opinion) one of if not the best animated franchises around. The “falling with style” ending of the original still gives me goosebumps to this day, and there’s several moments in this one that are just as iconic and will be remembered for a long time to come. Toy Story 4 gets a 9/10 from me, and I definitely recommend seeing it. Even if you haven’t seen the other three, I think you’ll still love this movie, it’s very heartwarming, but certain moments of course won’t have the same impact if you haven’t seen the others. What were your thoughts on Toy Story 4? Did you love it or think it should’ve been left alone? And what are some of your favorite moments from the franchise?