The first Toy Story (1995) revolutionized animation through digital imaging and by becoming a record-breaking hit. Its success ensured that its story of a group of toys in peril—intelligent beings capable of speech and action when people aren’t looking—would be told again. And again. Toy Story 4 picks up the thread where Toy Story 3 ended. The gang is now in the home of Bonnie (voiced by Madeleine McGraw), the preschooler who became their new child after Andy grew too old for toys.
The protagonist in the toybox, Woody (Tom Hanks), is suffering from a crisis of purpose. He’s been shunted aside by Bonnie and left in the closet; he even endures the indignity of having his sheriff’s star plucked from his chest and pinned to another doll. Undeterred and utterly unselfish, he remains determined to play a positive role in Bonnie’s life, even if it means supporting her new favorite.
Forky (Tony Hale) is a pathetic stick figure fashioned by Bonnie from a plastic fork, a pipe-cleaner for arms and broken sticks for feet. He is frightened and vulnerable, doesn’t identify as a toy and is always jumping into the nearest wastebasket. He considers himself trash because he was made from trash. But because Bonnie loves Forky, Woody becomes Forky’s keeper, overcoming herculean obstacles to keep the stick figure at her side, especially once the girl and her parents embark on a road trip.
Many familiar toys from previous episodes are onboard the family’s rented RV, but aside from Woody, only Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), dumb but dauntless, plays much of a role. As the odyssey continues, Woody encounters Bo Peep (Annie Potts), who reinvented herself as an independent woman, tough-minded and unwilling to return to her old role as a plaything. Her existence poses a challenge to Woody. Bereft of Andy, he struggles to become important for Bonnie, who barely acknowledges him. He is like a parent who has lost his child and doesn’t know how to fulfill himself. Will Bo help Woody find a new role? And more immediately, can Woody save Forky from a parcel of sinister toys who inhabit the Second Chance antique shop?
Pixar, the studio behind Toy Story (and other great animated films such as Finding Nemo and Up), is now a Disney subsidiary; in Toy Story 4, it shows. Until recently, Pixar’s screenplays were among the most sophisticated in Hollywood and consistently operated on two levels, entertaining adults with their social commentary and cultural references while entertaining the children with their colorful kinetic spectacle. There is less in Toy Story 4 for adults. It’s not as funny as Pixar’s classics, and its emotions no longer tug at heartstrings—they yank.
But aside from being a fun ride for kids, brisk in pace and chockablock with visual candy, Toy Story 4 holds true to a theme embedded in the previous films from the series. The toy characters are distinct in personality yet work together as something more enduring than a team and wider than a family. They are a squabbling yet coherent community—an idea complicated this time by Bo’s establishment of her own community outside the normal obligations of toys. Perhaps that “alternative” is the message for adults to ponder over their popcorn. On a more obvious level, Toy Story 4 imparts a lesson for Woody in the wisdom of knowing when to let go.
