You’re going to hear a lot of good things about Toy Story 4, just maybe not as many from me. And this is coming from a person who loves the first three Toy Story movies. Maybe I got my hopes up too high by re-watching the others in preparation to see this installation. Maybe I went in with too many expectations. But I don’t think that’s it. I think Toy Story 4 just missed the mark of good storytelling in its efforts to wrap up a, well, story that already had a near flawless finish. In every single other Toy Story movie before it.
But hey, that’s just me.
Rotten Tomatoes rated Toy Story 4 at 100% Fresh earlier in the week. Since then it’s since dropped to a commendable 97%. The critics are loving and praising this latest Pixar film. This critic, however, feels like maybe we should be looking beyond the neon lights of the Ferris wheel and carousel to see the whole picture.
Obviously, Pixar does get quite a lot right. But maybe Rashida Jones did right in walking away from this project when she did. (Oh Rashida, you beautiful, naïve, sophisticated newborn baby.)
A Toy’s Sense of Belonging
Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the rest of the gang are still enjoying playtime with Bonnie, their new kid after that tear-jerker farewell from Andy in Toy Story 3. Well, for the most part. Our good ole sheriff may be having a harder time adjusting to this new situation than the last movie led us to believe. His whole life he was devoted to helping Andy and being there for him. That was where Woody belonged.
But what happens when the purpose that held your life together is gone? Where do you belong then? I felt like this was one of the areas where the story really hit home for me. Not that I’ve had an existential crisis like Woody, or even like Forky, our newest friend that Bonnie makes out of a spork, some googly eyes, and other bits of trash. He really doesn’t get where he belongs.
What better time to find your place in this world, though, than on a road trip? Bonnie’s parents take her and her toys on an RV trip across the country and we go along for the ride, hoping that Woody finds his place of belonging again.
Oh, Bo…
Right from the get-go, we even get some closure on that gaping question Toy Story 3 left us with: so what happened to Bo Peep? But, did we need that closure? Probably not, but I’m sure many people love seeing this porcelain doll not so fragile as she was before.
Honestly, though, I missed the old Bo. Her new character epitomized for me what Toy Story 4 was lacking. It was missing that magic and brilliance we got in the earlier films. We lost the clever Bo, the “I found my moving buddy” Bo. The Bo who was Woody’s support and helping companion when he wasn’t thinking straight.
But in this film, she’s trying too hard to be the strong, independent woman that is having its heyday in film. Sorry, Bo, your character isn’t breaking molds by turning your polka-dotted skirt into pants. It’s the same as a hundred other main female characters in today’s pop culture. I’m a feminist in a lot of ways, but I’m tired of every movie trying to make a point that women are more than just fragile dolls to be kept on the shelf. Maybe some girls (and guys, too) are delicate and break easily, but what’s so wrong with that? Why do we feel like having a chip on our shoulders makes us a stronger person? Why do we feel like we have something we need to try to prove?
I don’t want to go too far down that philosophical rabbit hole, though. What I’m trying to say is that Toy Story 4 plays into what are becoming the tropes of today instead of giving us a beautifully unique and entertaining story that’s just fun to watch over and over again. By trying to make a statement, this movie forgets the heart that made us love Toy Story in the first place.
Forky, Key, and Peele Save the Day
All Bo Peeps aside, though, I couldn’t stop laughing at a couple of moments in the movie. I particularly loved the parts with Tony Hale‘s Forky and other newcomers, Keegen-Michael Key‘s Ducky and Jordan Peele‘s Bunny. They were the redeeming characters in a sea of mediocre fluff.
It helps that I love these three actors in pretty much everything else they do. But even beyond that, their characters had the movie’s most clever moments that reminded me of the quick quips that we can’t forget from the originals.
Let’s Just Leave It at 3…or even 2
I still cry watching Toy Story 3. Seriously, it has one of the best endings for how perfectly it wrapped everything up. Only to open it all up again with Toy Story 4. Nice. And Toy Story 2 is a solid animated film on all fronts, making it arguably the best in the franchise. Although, none have the series’ best villain, Sid. Obviously. (“She’s lying! Whatever she says it’s not true!”)
What made the other movies so good? Well, we loved the characters. Even when Woody was his neurotic self, we loved those redeeming moments like under the crate in Sid’s room when he admits that he needs help. We love Buzz when he’s convinced that he’s on an alien planet with no forms of intelligent life anywhere and when he realizes how ridiculous his space cadet self is.
We even loved the smaller characters, like Mr. Potato Head trying to usurp Woody’s authority, Rex and his paranoia that is so crazy relatable, and even more minor characters like the green, squeaky-toy aliens. Sure, these characters make appearances in Toy Story 4, but with the exception of Woody, the others hardly get any screen time or their moments to shine.
But we also just love a good story, something each of the other films brought to the table. One that simultaneously breaks and mends our hearts because of how well it works with the characters to create a driving arc that we want to watch.
Give us that back, and then maybe we can talk about making a redemptive Toy Story 5. Otherwise, let’s leave this story up on Weezy’s dusty shelf, 1-3 excluded.