Well, we thought it was over and I still kind of wish it was. But Toy Story 4 manages to still be a lot of fun, and would have worked better for me if it weren't the end to the franchise. If it is the end.
Living happily with their new kid Bonnie, the toys have readjusted to their new positions well. Except, that is, for Woody, whose status as favorite toy and head of the play room is rapidly slipping from his grasp. To reclaim his favor with Bonnie -- or perhaps simply because he feels so passionately that it's right -- he goes with her to kindergarten orientation day. Her fear and isolation hits Woody hard, so he assembles some craft supplies from the garbage and presents them to her. She creates a new toy, Forky, who inevitably is her new favorite. Surprised and perhaps hurt, Woody makes it his duty to see that nothing bad happens to Forky.
Unfortunately for Woody, Forky is suicidal (in the most G way imaginable). Easily the funniest scenes in the franchise come from his attempts to return to his destiny of non-life in the trash. "You-Are-A-Toy," Woody intones as only Tom Hanks can, while Tony Hale's Forky remains convinced of his identity: "T-toh...toy...trash!" When he can't find a trash can, he condemns himself to being litter aside the road, and so the adventure begins when Woody abandons the vehicle to rescue Forky. Forky, in this way, centers the film as a meditation on much larger themes than most non-Disney animated features, namely that of the mystery of our purpose in life.
Then enter the complications, which include the nefarious Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks), whose dominion over an antique shop has begun to addle her priorities. She's determined to perfect herself so that her favorite child will adopt her, and to that end she manipulates and harasses and abducts Woody to steal his voicebox. Her dummies may be the stuff of nightmares, and while her plot takes up most of the story, by the end Woody goes through perhaps the largest character development in the series. He willingly gives her his voicebox and helps her find her own purpose. It's touching, to be sure, and far less comical and blunt as the respective ends of previous villains.
A major reason for this change of heart in Woody is the reappearance of Bo Peep (Annie Potts), whose absence from the third film is here explained. Gone is her mild and meek flirtation; Bo is now an assertive badass and leads an exciting life on the edge. She challenges Woody's perception of the world and of his purpose in it, while proving that a toy might have a life beyond the walls of a child's sandbox or crib. Similarly, others join the fun to rescue Forky: Bunny and Ducky (Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key) enter the picture as plush prizes in a carnival game, while Duke Caboom (Keanu Reeves) and Giggle McDimples (Ally Maki) had already teamed up with Bo before.
With all these new characters, though, our favorites take a back seat and are absent from most of the film. Buzz and Jessie get slightly more screen time, but Rex and Slinky and the others are almost entirely relegated to a few brief shots and exclamations. Moreover, the ending of the film is one that made me angry at first, then sad, and finally I just decided to let myself forget it. It's a weird ending that too-aggressively tries to stake its claim as being significant. But I just don't believe it any more. The third film had a perfect ending that was sincerely emotional and didn't sacrifice characters or logic to achieve its effect. This one felt cheap, contrived, and utterly hollow. Will Disney continue to milk this franchise? I wouldn't be surprised, and I won't trust my feelings during any more Toy Story adventures to come.
Unless the feelings have to do with a suicidal spork.
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