[2023 edit: This post was originally written when TS4 was released in cinemas but for some reason I never posted it. However, I re-read it recently and I still feel this way about the film. And now, with rumours of Toy Story 5 rumbling, I thought I may as well post it with a few minor edits.]
There's a law of diminishing returns on sequels. I still rate Toy Story 2. I thought Toy Story 3 was OK, but never felt the need to watch it a second time. 24 years after the first Toy Story movie, Woody and co returned for a 4th cinema outing.
There are some real pro points to the film. Rabbit and Ducky are great new characters and they gave me the best laughs. Duke Kaboom, voiced by Keanu Reeves, is another brilliant new character with probably the single best line in the script. The animation is high class. Bo Peep's sheep steal the show with their antics. The Pixar geek in me loved seeing a nicely animated Tin-Toy in a cameo appearance.
But overall, something just didn't sit right.
This is Woody's film. The film quickly establishes that his new owner, Bonnie, doesn't give a crap about him. She strips him of his sheriff's badge and then throws him back into the cupboard, rejected. Worse still, when he finally escapes the cupboard, her klutzy dad literally stamps on Woody's face twice. It would appear carelessness is genetic.
Weirdly, Woody is still obsessed with caring for Bonnie. He stows away with her to kindergarten to make sure her first day goes alright. Then he fixates on protecting the toy she makes on her first day, 'Forky'.
Even if you haven't seen the film, you'll have seen Forky. He's on all the posters. He's a spork with a crudely applied mouth and googly eyes. He is also easily the most annoying Pixar character ever. Unfortunately for the film, after Forky's appearance all the other established characters, who we have come to know and love as we shared their adventures, are brutally relegated to background characters. Rex, Jessie, Mr Potato Head, Hamm, the aliens, Bullseye, Jessie and even Buzz are now just wallpaper to the Forky story.
Woody believes that Forky is Bonnie's most important toy right now and blah, blah, blah, oh who cares, Woody? More importantly, why do you care? Bonnie doesn't want to play with you! Why don't you just let her be and if she's so stupid as to lose her stupid spork toy, that's on her. Tough love, Woody! Give her some tough love! Maybe then she will take more care of her toys.
Anyway, there's some stuff about how Woody never got over Andy, then he sees Bo Peep's lamp in an antique store and goes in looking for her. At this point the film goes creepy and weird.
We have already had a flashback scene where Bo Peep is sold 9 years previously, presumably on Craigslist or something. She asks Woody to come with her and he says no because Andy needs him. Clearly he is haunted by this, so goes into the creepy, weird antique store. There he meets an old doll who blames her failure to be played with on a defective voicebox, which could be replaced by Woody's voicebox. Her henchmen - a bunch of ventriloquist's dummies - try to rip it out of him until Bo Peep turns up and rescues him.
I quite liked the recasting of Bo Peep from toddler's nightlight to independent woman living her own life by her own rules as a "lost toy" who has actually found herself. She is a feisty, clever, strong-minded role model of a lamp now. I warmed to her.
Various shenanigans ensue. Keep an eye out for the third Combat Carl figure waiting for his high fives. Woody needs to rescue Forky for Bonnie. That means going back into the creepy antique store. There's some stuff with Buzz. Woody ends up sacrificing his voicebox in return for Forky, and then the doll in question ends up rejected by the little girl she desperately wanted to have play with her anyway. (Another kid comes along before the end of the movie so the voicebox thief does get her play companion in the end. Not sure what the message is there. Kidnappers and extortionists get a happy ending too? It feels like anything is possible in America these days.)
So we get to the end of the film and Woody has given everything. His badge is gone. He's had his face crushed. He's been rejected and abused every which way possible. He has been overlooked, abandoned, lost and no one has even noticed he is missing. He has even given away his voicebox - his essential self, as it were, and still Bonnie only really cares about a crummy spork.
And then he has a choice. Stay with Bo Peep - who he has already seen leave his life once before - or stick with the ingrate brat who now owns him. Well it's a no brainer, right? He's got to finally put his own worth over his sense of duty and stick with Bo. Except for some reason the way it played felt so wrong.
I've really examined my feelings on this, and I think this is the reason it felt wrong: Actually, Woody was selfish all along. He always said that Andy was the most important thing. He let Bo leave with just her sheep for company on that dark and stormy night, because Andy was the most important thing. Because, in turn, he was important to Andy. He got played with. He was the leader of the room. He was in a position of respect and authority.
All that stuff about Forky being important to Bonnie was actually about Woody being important to Bonnie, even though she didn't know about it. His self-identity as the important toy was being lived vicariously through Forky. He was there when Forky was made. He was the one who introduced Forky to the gang. He was the one who sat up all night trying to stop Forky jumping into the trash. He was the one who cared, who knew that Forky was oh-so-important to Bonnie, even though there was so little evidence to show that none of the other toys picked up on it.
And that selfishness came to the fore as the other toys were relegated to background characters. Yes, Woody stayed with Bo Peep, but he left Bullseye! He left Buzz! He left Slink! He left all those other loyal to the hilt friends - the ones who braved death on the roads and the elevator to save him from Al the Chicken, the ones who had turned down the safe life of being adored behind glass for him, the ones who had held his hands as they seemed to face imminent immolation in the incinerator at the dump.
There was barely a goodbye.
I know we are meant to see this as Woody's triumph. He finally sheds the sense of duty that consumed him even to the point of robbing him of his voice. He steps out and puts himself first - and we are meant to think this is him actually doing this for the first time. He tastes freedom for the first time.
But when he does it, really he's just revealing his own dark side of selfishness.
And that's why I think I left the cinema feeling more than a tad depressed. A beloved character turns out to be less of the heroic toy cowboy and more like a flawed human.
I didn't need this sequel.
(If you watch it, keep it playing right until the very end for the final Pixar logo.)
There are some real pro points to the film. Rabbit and Ducky are great new characters and they gave me the best laughs. Duke Kaboom, voiced by Keanu Reeves, is another brilliant new character with probably the single best line in the script. The animation is high class. Bo Peep's sheep steal the show with their antics. The Pixar geek in me loved seeing a nicely animated Tin-Toy in a cameo appearance.
But overall, something just didn't sit right.
This is Woody's film. The film quickly establishes that his new owner, Bonnie, doesn't give a crap about him. She strips him of his sheriff's badge and then throws him back into the cupboard, rejected. Worse still, when he finally escapes the cupboard, her klutzy dad literally stamps on Woody's face twice. It would appear carelessness is genetic.
Weirdly, Woody is still obsessed with caring for Bonnie. He stows away with her to kindergarten to make sure her first day goes alright. Then he fixates on protecting the toy she makes on her first day, 'Forky'.
Even if you haven't seen the film, you'll have seen Forky. He's on all the posters. He's a spork with a crudely applied mouth and googly eyes. He is also easily the most annoying Pixar character ever. Unfortunately for the film, after Forky's appearance all the other established characters, who we have come to know and love as we shared their adventures, are brutally relegated to background characters. Rex, Jessie, Mr Potato Head, Hamm, the aliens, Bullseye, Jessie and even Buzz are now just wallpaper to the Forky story.
Woody believes that Forky is Bonnie's most important toy right now and blah, blah, blah, oh who cares, Woody? More importantly, why do you care? Bonnie doesn't want to play with you! Why don't you just let her be and if she's so stupid as to lose her stupid spork toy, that's on her. Tough love, Woody! Give her some tough love! Maybe then she will take more care of her toys.
Anyway, there's some stuff about how Woody never got over Andy, then he sees Bo Peep's lamp in an antique store and goes in looking for her. At this point the film goes creepy and weird.
We have already had a flashback scene where Bo Peep is sold 9 years previously, presumably on Craigslist or something. She asks Woody to come with her and he says no because Andy needs him. Clearly he is haunted by this, so goes into the creepy, weird antique store. There he meets an old doll who blames her failure to be played with on a defective voicebox, which could be replaced by Woody's voicebox. Her henchmen - a bunch of ventriloquist's dummies - try to rip it out of him until Bo Peep turns up and rescues him.
I quite liked the recasting of Bo Peep from toddler's nightlight to independent woman living her own life by her own rules as a "lost toy" who has actually found herself. She is a feisty, clever, strong-minded role model of a lamp now. I warmed to her.
Various shenanigans ensue. Keep an eye out for the third Combat Carl figure waiting for his high fives. Woody needs to rescue Forky for Bonnie. That means going back into the creepy antique store. There's some stuff with Buzz. Woody ends up sacrificing his voicebox in return for Forky, and then the doll in question ends up rejected by the little girl she desperately wanted to have play with her anyway. (Another kid comes along before the end of the movie so the voicebox thief does get her play companion in the end. Not sure what the message is there. Kidnappers and extortionists get a happy ending too? It feels like anything is possible in America these days.)
So we get to the end of the film and Woody has given everything. His badge is gone. He's had his face crushed. He's been rejected and abused every which way possible. He has been overlooked, abandoned, lost and no one has even noticed he is missing. He has even given away his voicebox - his essential self, as it were, and still Bonnie only really cares about a crummy spork.
And then he has a choice. Stay with Bo Peep - who he has already seen leave his life once before - or stick with the ingrate brat who now owns him. Well it's a no brainer, right? He's got to finally put his own worth over his sense of duty and stick with Bo. Except for some reason the way it played felt so wrong.
I've really examined my feelings on this, and I think this is the reason it felt wrong: Actually, Woody was selfish all along. He always said that Andy was the most important thing. He let Bo leave with just her sheep for company on that dark and stormy night, because Andy was the most important thing. Because, in turn, he was important to Andy. He got played with. He was the leader of the room. He was in a position of respect and authority.
All that stuff about Forky being important to Bonnie was actually about Woody being important to Bonnie, even though she didn't know about it. His self-identity as the important toy was being lived vicariously through Forky. He was there when Forky was made. He was the one who introduced Forky to the gang. He was the one who sat up all night trying to stop Forky jumping into the trash. He was the one who cared, who knew that Forky was oh-so-important to Bonnie, even though there was so little evidence to show that none of the other toys picked up on it.
And that selfishness came to the fore as the other toys were relegated to background characters. Yes, Woody stayed with Bo Peep, but he left Bullseye! He left Buzz! He left Slink! He left all those other loyal to the hilt friends - the ones who braved death on the roads and the elevator to save him from Al the Chicken, the ones who had turned down the safe life of being adored behind glass for him, the ones who had held his hands as they seemed to face imminent immolation in the incinerator at the dump.
There was barely a goodbye.
I know we are meant to see this as Woody's triumph. He finally sheds the sense of duty that consumed him even to the point of robbing him of his voice. He steps out and puts himself first - and we are meant to think this is him actually doing this for the first time. He tastes freedom for the first time.
But when he does it, really he's just revealing his own dark side of selfishness.
And that's why I think I left the cinema feeling more than a tad depressed. A beloved character turns out to be less of the heroic toy cowboy and more like a flawed human.
I didn't need this sequel.
(If you watch it, keep it playing right until the very end for the final Pixar logo.)
