Second Opinion - Toy Story 4

Note: This review contains spoilers for Toy Story 4.

Toy Story 3 had arguably the perfect sendoff to the original Toy Story trilogy, ending it on a very emotional high note. The enduring popularity of the Toy Story brand, however, would ensure this would not last long, as a fourth entry, Toy Story 4, was released nine years later in 2019. While this movie is arguably a good example of an unnecessary sequel - I remember liking it when I first saw it, even importing a 3D Blu-ray copy - I hadn’t actually watched it again until recently when revisiting the series for the next unnecessary sequel, Toy Story 5. I still liked it on a second viewing, but still felt it didn't quite reach the same emotional high as the third film.

After Andy passes his toys unto her, Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw) has been including them in her playtime, but ends up increasingly neglecting Woody (Tom Hanks) over time. Desperate to be played with, Woody stows away in Bonnie’s backpack to accompany her to kindergarten orientation, where she creates a new toy named Forky out of trash. To Woody’s and the other toys’ surprise, Forky (Tony Hale) comes to life, leading Woody to have to teach him what it means to be a toy.
 

Forky (Tony Hale) has an existential crisis.

 

In the modern animation landscape, the attitude towards photorealism has shifted in recent years, mostly thanks to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’s success, with many studios outside of Disney feeling encouraged to use more experimental art styles. A number of animated films from the past decade have quickly become some of my favorites partly because of said art styles, but photorealism can still have its place, and I would argue that the Toy Story series is one such case. The toy characters in this film feel even more like toys than in Toy Story 3 (good sound design also goes a long way here), and the realistic visual direction really helps to sell Forky being made out of trash. The antique store, in which a bulk of the movie takes place, also feels real to the point where you can imagine yourself stepping inside it and looking around. Additionally, the one cat seen in the film is particularly impressive, as its animations were accurate to those of a real cat and were the most fluid in the entire film.

The returning voice actors from previous films do an excellent job as always, and by now are very comfortable in their roles, though some new additions stand out. Of note, Christina Hendricks does a great job as toy antagonist Gabby Gabby, managing to reach the right level of sympathetic and antagonistic without leaning too hard in either direction. Comedy duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, the latter of whom had successfully transitioned to directing horror films at the time of release, stand out the most as stuffed animal duo Ducky and Bunny (respectively), stealing every scene they are in and nearly even stealing the whole movie with their witty dialogue and perfect comedic timing.
 

Ducky (Keegan-Michael Key, right bottom) and Bunny (Jordan Peele, right top)
nearly steal the movie.

With how perfectly the previous film wrapped up the original Toy Story trilogy, the filmmakers deserve credit for managing to successfully figure out how to continue the story past said ending. On a repeat viewing, the plot still feels like a step down by comparison, but it was a lot more emotional than I remembered (not as much as Toy Story 3, but then again that one’s hard to top). At its core, it explores the questions of what makes a toy a toy and what happens when a toy loses its purpose (to be played with) in interesting ways, the former through Forky and the latter through Woody and other abandoned toys in and around the antique store. Woody's being forgotten by Bonnie already hits pretty hard after watching Toy Story 3, but it hits even harder if you've also seen the interim TV specials Toy Story of Terror and Toy Story That Time Forgot, where Bonnie is shown happily including him in her playtime. While it did lead to some funny moments, one thing that did bother me a little was Buzz Lightyear’s naivety over the concept of a conscience, relying on his voice buttons as his “inner voice” before making a decision.

The ending is a sore subject for many, in part due to it being part of the then-current Disney movie trend of “splitting up the friend protagonists at the end of a sequel.” I can see how it could be divisive, but I would argue that it handles that far better than either of its contemporaries Frozen 2 and Ralph Breaks the Internet. On a repeat viewing, it also seemed clearer to me that, while Woody was fully prepared to go back to Bonnie, he was conflicted about whether to stay with a reunited Bo Peep (Annie Potts) as a lost toy and Buzz was the one who encouraged taking the latter option.

On that note, the reintroduction of Bo Peep was handled well, confirming her fate after Toy Story 2 and leading to an emotional reunion with Woody. While not addressed in the film itself, the events leading to how she ended up in the antique store are revealed in the Disney+ short Lamp Life, which I would recommend watching as an epilogue to this film.

Something extra to watch after the movie.

Toy Story 4 is an unnecessary sequel that doesn’t quite live up to the first three films, but on a repeat viewing I found it to be an example of an unnecessary sequel that’s still well-made and, for the most part, well-told. Understandably, the ending may not sit right with a number of people, but it is still worth seeing at least once to see how you feel about it.