Toy Story 4: An Eventful Experience
Toy Story 4
Rating: PG
A fabulous 5 out of 5!
So this is it; the grand finale to a 25 year franchise, spanning over four films, and featuring a whole variety of toys; but most of all a sheriff, whose journey to find love while it lasts keeps us afloat with every tear shed. This film was astounding, as are its equally fantastic predecessors. I wept and wept to see my childhood friends depart from me after so long. Toy Story taught me to see toys differently, to treat them respect, to enjoy the little things in life, and, every once in a while, to pick them up, cherish the memories of adventures had, and, maybe, play with them a bit with a full heart. Because, after all, no one is too old to play.
After a grown up Andy has headed to college, giving his toys to Bonnie in the last film, we watch as good old Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen), and the rest of the merry band enjoy their lives of playtime with the imaginative girl, and continue to be great friends in each other. And as the other toys experience daily adventures to the moon and partake in hat shows, Woody finds that he is slowly being chosen less out of the the ensemble, and worries back (and ahead) to times of rejection, age, and disuse; frightening things for toy.
One of Bonnie’s first moments together with her new friend, Forky (Tony Hale).
On Bonnie’s first day of kindergarten, Woody secretly tags along to help her on the big day of orientation. During activity time, she makes a new friend to help her through the foreign and scary venture; literally makes. Forky, a spork decorated with googly eyes, pipe cleaners, and popsicle sticks for feet (played by Tony Hale), is a strange and wacky handful that Woody feels is his job care for. Constantly, Forky tries to escape to what he thinks is home…the trash can; the place his parts were rescued from.
Bonnie’s family decides to go on a big road trip, and she takes all of her toys, new and old, to see the exciting places they’ll travel. Everything is going great, everyone is seeing the sites, until a persistent Forky finally escapes in his childlike disbelief and resistance to the notion of being a toy. Woody jumps out of the family vehicle after the utensil in the hopes of rescuing and returning him to Bonnie once again, and in doing so runs into an old friend he thought he’d never see again. Bo Peep (played by the original shepherdess, Annie Potts) is now lost toy who, after giving a heartbreaking farewell to Woody years earlier, has forgotten all about life with a kid, and, with her sheep, lives by whatever adventurous standards she deems fit. Woody dealing with the shock of friends new and old, contemplates and reassesses what his life as a “favorite toy” has meant to him, and if continuing to strive for that place is only one of many joys in this world.
The whole gang welcomes new toy, Forky, to the room.
I don’t know if it's the same for everyone else, but it’s so bizarre to have seen Toy Story kind of raise multiple generations of kids, and adults alike; first in the mid-90s, then the early 2000s, the wake of the 2010s (feels weird saying that one), and finally the end of this decade going into the 2020s (Nope. This one is definitely weirder to say). Such an array of people of different ages have been affected by this ongoing story and its funny, relatable characters, with the substantial quality of each movie seeming to surpass the last, which gives a really nice, impartial feel to the audiences in a sense. If I have said it a thousand times, I'll say it again: Pixar is a pure master of storytelling and world building; when I think of all the different adventures and experiences they’ve created for so many, featuring everyone from monsters to emotions, robots, rats, cars, and insects. Absolutely phenomenal! No words (except for these).
Keanu Reeves plays larger than life stuntman, Duke Kaboom..
Now in addition to the fabulous performances of [Tom] Hanks and [Tim] Allen, other comedic talents lent their distinct voices to the many fun characters, including: Tony Hale as the amusing Forky, firecrackers Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele, who play rowdy stuffed animal duo, Ducky and Bunny, Christina Hendricks as Gabby Gabby, a suspicious doll from the late 50s, and superstar Keanu Reeves, as a showy Canadian daredevil named Duke Kaboom. A fun group indeed. But as hilarious as these characters and their problems appear at times, the writers always circle back around with the real fears and insecurities these toys experience, placing us in their shoes for a time; everyone from Woody, to Buzz, and Jessie, to even Lotso (all characters' names if your scratching your head. Pixar often provides a side of empathy to the villains as well as the heroes). They all carry their own hardships and painful memories (Side note: usually linked to abandonment of some kind). And through these number of traumas, we relate and connect with them in our own lives from those similar places within us.
Buzz gliding overhead the small town to catch view of Woody.
With a quite perfect ending transpiring in Toy Story 3, I was speculative as to what more the studio could possibly add on, while still holding fast the attention of the general audience. The marketing for this film was decent, but it didn’t really strike me in any stirring way, except for reasons of nostalgic anticipation. I don’t believe the animation was groundbreaking either, like the innovation clearly shown in Coco, but it still holds its own excellently, with nice character design, texturing, and landscapes that favor the eye. Also, the setting of this film is not a place you might think worthy or interesting; just a small forest town with an RV park (Side note: which I readToy Storytakes place in Cleveland, Ohio). Smoothly and subtly though, this scene doesn’t fully occupy the mind, aside from the small stores and traveling carnivals we’ve all seen before, and gives way to the toys’ journey.
The character development for our main cowboy star, Woody, was enlightened even more than I could’ve hoped. Over the years, we’ve seen the immense transformation his character has undergone, initially representing selfishness and jealousy (kind of a despicable persona really), he morphed into an open minded and generous protagonist, who then then went on to deal with an unknown past, struggle with leadership amidst personal pain and fears, having to let go, and (in this film) reconnect the dots to see the future through a new lens that appreciates, but puts aside the past for change. What I never really thought about until this movie was how loyal Woody really is. Through his quirks, and weaknesses, he is truly loyal to his friends, and to his kid, whoever that may be. His entire life, he’s just someone who has tried to do good by everyone, but has then been confronted with the fact that his role isn’t as big as it once was.
Woody, Bo Peep, and fellow lost toy, Giggle McDimples (Ally Maki) catch up above the traveling carnival.
Similarly, Bo Peep underwent some major changes since our last view of her (it’s safe to say) more angelic, stereotypical female appearance. In this film, she has gotten rid of the rather restricting aspects of her personality, as well as her dress, and travels about in the underlying garment, resembling something of a pantsuit, with with her trusty crook (sheperd’s staff). She has become accustomed to the life of a lost toy, and spends her days exploring, scavenging for parts, and picking up other wandering toys with her faithful sheep. To get into it for another moment, this speaks in a fascinating way to her character; she has rid herself of the constraining elements of (let’s face it) passiveness as a female toy (trying not to over analyze), and is enamored no longer with the unconditional love of a child, which inevitably comes to grow further and further away with age, in a cycle of new kids and broken hearts. She realizes that as wonderful as that time can be, choosing her own destiny is much more fulfilling, and helping others in the same circumstance gives her a joy that matches no other. Her courage is also shown, seeing that she is a porcelain figure after all, through the binds of tape that subtly mend her damaged and delicate body from an active lifestyle of jumping, slinging, and running.
I really loved both the reintroduction to Bo and her more active and inspirational role in the storyline. This is a more than fair change in the rising sea of content featuring what women really have to give and show for themselves, and it rests easy with this film, where as in the new rendition of the Disney classic, Aladdin, Jasmine’s role has also changed with the times, and deals with the toxic masculinity of Islamic culture. But it then ascends augmented heights of that resistance with a startling, bold (original, and eh) song; a rock concert rather (over the top, but still a fun movie).
Woody describes his life with Andy to a curious Forky
Getting back on track (or closer at least), further reference of the climbing female presence in Hollywood remakes and such can be read in an interesting and eloquent assessment from Inkoo Kang of Slate Magazine. A few other lesser observations I made were the absences of some characters introduced to us in Bonnie’s room in the last film, such as the the sassy Peas-in-a-Pod, the sad and illustrative clown Chuckles, and the Totoro doll from the 1988 Studio Ghibli classic. Though, I was pretty disappointed in the fact that the endearing three eyed green aliens didn’t have one line; just squeaks! I feel that's a bit obsolete given the views we just walked through, but for old times sake.
In reassessment, I love this film even more now looking at the bones of the story's structure (most of which I did in a difficult non disclosure manner = no spoilers), the ever changing characters, the new visuals, and messages of friendship, overcoming fear, and an idea based on the cliched statement that “all good things come to an end”. But this film also looks at the new beginnings many fail to mention with that saying. Life is full of these alterations, but what it ultimately comes down to is choosing whether to follow that little "inner voice" in our head that rings true. Toy Story 4 is a delightful and emotionally potent culmination that, in contrast to the end of this era, leaves you replenished after many laughs and tears, and on departure incites feelings of overwhelming happiness, contentment, and hope at the thought of this timeless and universal tale. It is a part of cinematic history that will live on through the countless people it’s inspired and entertained, and I’m eternally grateful to have a part of that in my own life with my family.
