Ladies and Gentlemen, whether you like it or not, the Pixar Playlist
I thought Toy Story 3 had a perfectly fine ending and that extending it further would likely result in an inferior product. I’m glad to have been proven wrong.
Toy Story 4 was not immediately greenlit after the success of Toy Story
3, they let it linger and eventually someone came back with an idea that could
work and it was greenlit. Toy Story is still one of their most popular
franchises and those keep the lights on.
The film stuck with the budget as the third at $200m, and was positively received, scoring an average 8.3/10 with 97% of critics reviewing it favourably. The film also grossed more than $1bn at the box office making it another success under Disney’s belt for 2019. So where do I rank it, well, let’s take a look.
Woody and the Gang are now the toys of Bonnie, who’s about to start
Kindergarten. She doesn’t really play with Woody and leaves him in a closet,
which makes Andy’s reluctance to let go of him in the last film hit even
harder. Still, Woody wants her to be happy, and accompanies her to her
induction day at kindergarten where she makes a toy of her own, Forky, a spork
with a pipe-cleaner for arms.
Initially, Forky wants to go be in the bin, where he perceives he belongs
but Woody spends his time stopping him, eventually convincing him to be the toy
Bonny wants him to be, but not before an incident with a campervan sends them
both on a road trip. Old friends and new complications emerge and Woody must
confront his place in the world, and whether it’s time for him to move on.
OK, Bonnie is even more boring than Andy was. Her character journey
starts and ends when she attends the induction. 4 movies in and there’s still
little to no effort made on the human characters. I know we’re not here for the
human characters but I don’t know what any of them see in her, she doesn’t even
play with the toys that often.
Buzz Lightyear also gets the shaft as he gets the comedic sup-plot of not
understanding what a conscience is and thinking it’s pre-programmed responses
he gets when he presses a button. It’s occasionally funny but he doesn’t get a
lot of screentime.
Most of the rest of Bonnie’s toys get 2 or 3 lines of dialogue each. Don
Rickles’ lines were all archive footage, unused lines from the original trilogy
as he sadly passed away before the script was written. Handled much better than
the Rise of Skywalker.
So let’s talk a bit about the Toys that matter, Woody, Forky, Bo Peep and
Gabby Gabby. Yeah, there are some others like Duke Caboom who is great and
voiced by Keanu Reeves and Bunny and Ducky, who can go die in a fire [they’re
not that bad in this film, it’s just the Pixar shorts featuring them after] but
they honestly have about as big a role as Bonnie’s toys, not much.
We get a bit of context to Bo Peep early on in the film, I’m pretty sure
the first confirmation that she was part of a lamp-set that belonged to Andy’s
sister. Somewhen between Toy Story 2 and 3, she was sold off after some
shenanigans happen so they can show off the pretty rain effects. Since then,
she ended up in an antique store, where she wasn’t wanted and left, becoming a
figurative lost toy.
Bo Peep represents an alternate way of life, a challenge to the notion
that Woody has held in all 3 of them films that being a toy means being there
for a particular kid. In both Toy Story 2 and 3, they met lost toy antagonists
who were abandoned by humans and it’s lead to their turn to villainy, Bo Peep
goes in a different direction, becoming a toy for anyone that wants her. It’s a
compelling argument she makes for it, and that combined with the romantic
chemistry sells the ending pretty well.
Forky is great in this film, he has a good chemistry with Woody, and only
Woody really, his naivety when it comes to anything toy makes him a great
comedic foil. I don’t think he works as a breakout character; I feel he’s gonna
overstay his welcome if he hasn’t already.
Gabby Gabby as is more nuanced antagonist than previous ones, someone who
never had a kid and always wanted one but her defectiveness prevented that. She
spends a good chunk of the film trying to get Woody’s voice-box with the help
of very creepy dummies. Unlike some other antagonists she actually gets what
she wants, but tragedy strikes when the kid she thought would be her kid still
doesn’t want her. She’s selfish but her life has been defined by loneliness and
she’s kinda desperate.
Woody is back in a scenario where he has to accept that he’s not the
favourite among the toys, a recurring issue with him. What’s interesting this
time is that he’s offered an alternative that isn’t stagnation or horrifying.
He spends most of the film trying to get Forky back to Bonny and reconnecting
with Bo. He’s still a bit hot-headed, but clearly a calmer version of himself
from previous films. His decision to ultimately stay with Bo as a lost toy
makes sense in the narrative and provides closure to Woody’s journey. So,
please no Toy Story 5, OK
Toy Story 4 wastes a lot of its roster but it uses the main ones to tell
a compelling, emotional and gorgeous-looking narrative with emotional resonance
as what feels like a closing chapter in Toy Story’s history, again.
#1 Inside Out
#2 The Incredibles
#3 Up
#4 Finding Nemo
#5 Finding Dory
#6 Coco
#7 Incredibles 2
#8 Toy Story 3
#9 Toy Story 4
#10 WALL-E
#11 Toy Story 2
#12 The Good Dinosaur
#13 Brave
#14 Toy Story
#15 Cars 3
#16 Monsters Inc
#17 Ratatouille
#18 Cars
#19 Monsters University
#20 Cars 2
#21 A Bug’s Life
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