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Toy Story 4 is Atrocious | Film Analysis
- PracticalPisces
- Jul 21, 2022
- 34 min read
Updated: Jan 29, 2023
I hate Toy Story 4. This is the worst Pixar movie that I have ever seen. It is a needless, nostalgia-pandering, cash-grab film that is so broken and morally braindead that if you consider almost every plot point logically without getting distracted by the music and visuals the movie keels over and dies every few minutes.
I love the other Toy Story films, even though they are not perfect. The films and the shorts found a place for almost every toy and the actions of the characters do not contradict their motives and beliefs. If a character reconsiders their philosophy, then these movies and shorts go out of their way to explain why that is and then deliver a wholesome message about being special because of who you are not what you could be or one about being together through rough times and good times alike. The core principle of the previous films is loyalty. Loyalty to your kid even when you are not the favorite, belief that your loved one still cares deeply about you even when it seems that you are worthless to them, and trusting your caretaker to look out for you even when they go through a tough time in their life.
Toy Story taught Woody that being in the spotlight is not important. Working together with Buzz to help their kid is the most important thing. When he went against the motto, his journey helped him correct his mistake.
Toy Story 2 had Woody consider moving on from Andy out of fear of being forgotten by him due to an injury. Woody believed that Andy would discard him if he ever became less than perfect. Woody saw an out where he would never have to worry about being injured again and would be adored by many for years to come. But he turned it all down. Regardless, even if Andy outgrew him, Woody would stick by him because toys are for playtime, and he will not leave Andy until the latter decides it is time. He told Jessie in this movie that "this is what it's all about, to make a child happy." There is no better life.
Toy Story 3 shows the rest of Andy's toys considering an alternative to being faithful to their kid. As a result, they end up in a prisoner-of-war-camp situation and Woody has to break them out and reunite them with Andy. The dictator's, Lotso, philosophy is that belonging to a kid will just end with a toy being thrown away all because he was replaced after being lost by his kid. However, he demonstrates that belonging to the right kid means years of proper care because, had he been owned by any of the kids in the butterfly room, he would have no argument. Andy's toys believing in him at the end of the film leads them to Bonnie, a 4-year-old girl with plenty of friendly toys of her own. Andy departs to start the next chapter of his life and his toys get closure and an opportunity to have all kinds of new adventures with their new owner. Until the next film crushed everything this film, and the canon shorts, worked to build.
If I must include a list of problems that the prior films had, here are a few things I caught upon rewatching them recently:
This is only really an issue if you think about it on the surface, but many take issue with Buzz freezing when Andy comes back to his room. Since Buzz believes that he is a space ranger who crash-landed on a foreign planet, it makes sense that he would employ a "when in Rome" mindset when he sees all of the toys run to a certain part of the "planet" and freeze. Also, he would be frozen at the toy store Ms. Davis purchased him from since his brethren have no need to move prior to removal from their boxes.
When the toys see Woody with Buzz's disembodied arm, they immediately assume that the former "murdered" the latter even though Woody is currently in Sid's room, and they know that Sid loves destroying toys. It would make more sense that they assume Buzz faced destruction at the hands of Sid and that Woody desperately wants to escape a similar fate.
At the end of the scene mentioned above, Mr. Potato Head says to Woody "I hope Sid pulls your voice box out" which contradicts the confrontation scene. Not only can Woody speak without his voice box, but he can also talk through it and the sound quality difference clearly spells this out. Also, Potato himself lacks a voice box, so Woody lacking one would not affect his ability to speak at all.
Buzz "flying" is impossible since he is a heavy toy made from hard plastic and metal. He and Woody would have sunk like a brick in a pool after that initial nosedive that followed their ejection from the rocket. (In Toy Story 3, after Woody's hang glider snapped, everything afterwards played out realistically.)
It is near-impossible for the prospector to have turned on the TV without Jessie noticing since she faced it (she was not asleep because her eyes were wide open, and she produced no snoring sounds) and Bullseye also would have noticed since he was the closest to the TV in that scene. Also, there would be audible noise from Pete's box shuffling around, like how there was plenty just before Bullseye's introduction.
At the climax of Toy Story 2, Woody uses his pull string to swing himself and Jessie off of the plane and onto Bullseye. The problem is this maneuver triggers no line from the voice box despite the string's return mechanism engaging. (Conversely, shortly after Jessie is introduced, she pulls Woody's string and no voice line triggers until after the cord fully retracts.)
Where was the Jolly Chimp (the Monkey) when Buzz escaped the caterpillar room? Late-night coffee break?
Toy Story 3 shows that putting Buzz in demo mode makes him believe that he is a space ranger again, which is logical because "demonstration mode" advertises what the toy is. In order to get the sensible Buzz back, Andy's toys had to reset him, even if accidentally. When exactly was Buzz set to "play" mode? Since he behaved just like Utility-Belt Buzz from TS2 in TS1, it would make sense for him to still be in demo mode since the Al's Toy Barn Buzzes have no reason not to be, being unsold and frozen. Does demo mode have an effect on perception or not? Perhaps Andy flipped the switch during the "strange things" montage, but why did that not affect Buzz's views? Woody rapidly flipping the switch back and forth did nothing despite the fact that when Lotso read the manual, all they had to do to reprogram Buzz was flip the switch once. Putting a paper clip or a pin in the reset hole, a la certain laptops, just converts Buzz into a Spanish version of his TS1 self, which is its own can of worms, after a few seconds. Also, would resetting Buzz with any method not reverse him back to his ignorant self from the first film? It is called a "reset" for a reason. Devices typically lose all that was not backed up externally during a reset and what action figure has an external storage drive? Also, all of Buzz's buttons and gadgets work when not in play mode, as shown by UTB, so what is even the point? (Toys like Squawkers Macaw have limited functionality outside of play mode). I get that the reset scene is an allusion to a brainwashing and torture session, but it does not make much sense when the canon is considered.
When Big Baby heard one of the Little Green Men squeak, Woody, them, and Bullseye teleport away from their previous location just before BB can catch them. The problem is, the bucket they get under faced the swings at a ninety-degree angle, making it impossible for them to move forward without being spotted. Had they moved to the far right, BB would still have been none the wiser as he did not look east nor west after not finding the toys.
The combined weight of Woody and Buzz weighs down the golf club in the landfill magnet conveyer belt scene, but the additional weight of Lotso on the club is not enough to keep the club on the conveyer belt. Perhaps they reached a stronger portion of the magnet?
Now, here are my basic issues with Toy Story 4:
Andy being stupid enough to play in the rain/outside on a day it would rain (Andy usually plays in his room.) When Andy runs back outside to search for Woody, Ms. Davis yells "Andy! Get back inside!" How come she did not tell him to come indoors prior to the rainstorm? Why was Andy braindead enough to keep playing with his toys with the sky darked by storm clouds? All they had to do was watch the sky. The very second Sid heard the thunder in TS1, he canceled his plans and went to sleep. What the heck? This is just the beginning of the movie!
The driveway (TS1 & 2 combined). The house from TS1 was white and had a left-hand-side driveway while the new house from the end of that film, prominently featured in the sequels, has red bricks and a right-hand-side driveway. TS4 combines the exterior of the Davis's first house with the interior of their second house. Additionally, TS4's beginning shows the proper layout of the Davis household, but the driveway switches sides once the toys reach Molly's room, which is located over the lawn. Also, the toys look outside Andy's window to see where RC is, but if Andy played on the left side of the house, they would know to immediately run to Molly's room and look from her window. (Also, the fact that the pass-the-torch scene from TS3 plays during the official opening of TS4 means that a plot hole has been created.) This movie is dead on arrival.
3. That is not Bo (she was 100% porcelain before) and she would not be donated that way. It would make more sense for Bo Peep's lamp to have sat in the corner of Molly's room collecting dust (especially if the writers wanted to draw a parallel between Woody's later conundrum and her situation here) instead of plugged in and featured prominently on Molly's nightstand if Molly did not want her anymore and if the defense for that is, "well, Molly did not really care at that moment," then it makes less sense because she could just change her mind the next day and start wailing because her treasured lamp is gone. You typically do not have items that you have no use for sitting in use prior to getting rid of them. Also, this is the same lamp that brought Molly security whenever she was scared, according to Woody, so not having it in the future, should anything traumatic happen, would be a shot in the foot (the movie is dead). Andy kept all of his toys until he was seventeen and was even reluctant to relinquish Woody. The movie wants me to believe that an item that got Molly through a tough time in her life stopped being important to her when she became a toddler. I do not. The Davis's, and TS4 Bonnie apparently, have never heard of the phrase "you do not know what you have until it is gone."
Also, the sheep almost died because of Bo. Sending Billy, Goat, and Gruff (eyeroll) to raise the blinds would most definitely get them smashed to pieces because Molly's floor is made of hard wood planks. Never mind that rug under the nightstand. If the entire bare floor consists of hard wood, a carpet will do little to cushion a fall (at most it would act like a nearly airless inflatable pillow resting on a concrete floor).
4. Slinky's spring inconsistency. In Toy Story, the climax shows that stretching Slinky to his maximum length causes him great pain and stress as well as forces his torso to race backwards for his spring-center to re-achieve its compressed state, because his body is a spring. In Toy Story 2, when the toys reached the ground after using Slinky to get there, we clearly see that stretching him from the roof of the house to the ground stretches him to his maximum length and each toy, using the potential energy of the spring generated by their descent, sends Slink's rump flying back up to the roof so that the next toy can repel after them. "Operation Pull Toy" shows Slinky being pulled to his maximum length and somehow his front does not fly backwards to meet up with his behind on the windowsill. (Also, how would Bo have the strength to pull Slinky back once Woody grabbed hold of RC? The latter was fighting water currents generated by a rainstorm that were denying him the friction he needed to roll forwards and RC is a considerably heavy toy. Besides the fact that Slinky would have flown forwards once Bo assembled the chain of monkeys, because his rump left the windowsill, RC being in the current would have dislodged Bo from her perch.) Bull hockey! RC is dead and so is the film.
5. Woody's arc after TS2 tarnished. "...I can't stop Andy from growing up, but I wouldn't miss it for the world!" This movie, TS4, wants me to believe that Woody would consider leaving his kid for a lamp ornament that he only knows because of Andy. Bo Peep was the one who reminded Woody how important he was to Andy in the first two films. Bo would never attempt to persuade Woody to abandon his kid, especially not after Toy Story 2. Also, in Toy Story 3, when all of Andy's remaining toys tried to convince Woody to leave Andy, it was not enough, so I do not believe for a second that he would even consider leaving Andy for Peep. Additionally, whenever Woody was away from Andy, he never brought up Bo Peep. It was all about Andy missing him ("I'm lost, Andy is gone!") or Andy forgetting about him ("One more rip and Andy's done with me."). Woody did not care about leaving Peep behind in Toy Story 2, and she was not even a factor in his decision to return to Andy ("Remember, deputy, the real treasures are your friends and family"). (Also, Bo Peep considers herself one with the lamp in this scene. Since Andy played with her plenty, she, and the sheep, could have followed Woody back into Andy's room, since Andy had no say in whether she could leave, and saw how things went from there. The donation center would still have the lamp. It would still work without its ornaments. Later on in the film, Peep will abandon her lamp, leaving it in the antiques store, and embark on a journey around the US with the carnival. This movie loves to contradict itself.)
6. Wheezy's arc from TS2 ruins the closet scene. He was up on the shelves for months after his squeaker broke. That is why so much dust accumulated there. Not being picked for playtime for three days will not give you a dust bunny (unless you live in an old house).
7. Forky's sentience means that paper plate dolls can come to life. Also, you could possibly make a real Frosty Snowman if you placed googly eyes on shaved ice/sorbet/Italian Ice. (If you put googly eyes on a potato, attached sticks for arms, and glued doll shoes to the base, you could have a literal potato doll come to life. Think TS3 Cucumber Head, but the sentience is tied to the potato instead of the parts.) This also means that some handmade toys, made from recycled materials, would be suicidal because they believe that they have accomplished their purpose. In Forky's case, this makes no sense since the spork he was made from was totally clean, not used, so for his arc to make sense, he should have spent the movie looking for a bowl of soup or salad to dive in.
8. Most of the original toys have nothing to do. They do not even bounce off each other like before. Jessie does one useful thing (through impossible means - placing the nail beneath the tire and letting the RV push it in once it took off would have made sense, but even then, the amount of air in the tire would have controlled how fast it deflated and even if the nail was already in the tire, there is no way Jessie would have the strength to remove it) and then goes back to sitting in the RV.
9. The toys somehow gain full control of the RV near the end of the film despite the parents thinking that the GPS broke and the dad having complete control of the brake pedal. A responsible adult would have engaged the brake and pulled over to the shoulder, not drive into the carnival while spamming the brake.
10. Woody is revered by Bo for his loyalty but ends up abandoning his friends at the end of the film, which is especially stupid given the previous film was all about the toys staying together even if that means going to a new kid and no longer being there for the original. The message "there are a lot of kids out there, not just the one you wish to be with" was already well-communicated in that film.
11. Most of the soundtrack is reused tracks from the past three films cut and spliced together. At the end, Andy's Birthday theme and The Claw Rescue theme from TS1 and TS3 respectfully are heard one after the other. In all fairness, TS3 does use a part of the Airport Rescue theme, "Ride Like the Wind," from TS2 when the toys return to Andy's, but the majority of its tracks are original.
12. Bo Peep's philosophy is basically Lotso's. Not wanting to be tied down to a particular kid and being played with by whoever comes by seems like a good life (because the potential of no heartbreak from attachment), but some kids play rougher than others (which is spoken verbatim by Bo herself after she and Woody leave the playground). If you are made from porcelain, being picked up by the wrong kid may result in your death. It makes more sense to commit to one kid who will play with you gently, respectfully, and lovingly (the Caterpillar Room scene from TS3 and Sid from TS1 masterfully demonstrated what could happen if a toy ends up in the wrong hands). There is more security with a responsible kid than with random kids. Perhaps the toys could go to twins who like similar things and take care of their possessions (it is hard for one kid to play with a dozen plus toys equally). Be creative, the floor is yours. Also, when Woody reminds Bo what Molly meant to her as a toddler, Bo smiles as she remembers, implying that deep down she wants to be loved and seen as special by one kid, the sheep definitely still do, yet the film concludes with Woody and Bo content living without a kid to call their own while helping other toys get one. Woody and Bo are not content. Bull hockey. Nonsense. The script is six feet under, and I am only half over it.
13) The entire film was pointless. When Bonnie asked Mr. Anderson if she could bring a toy to school, his response was "toys don't go to school." Keeping that logically consistent, Bonnie could not bring Forky with her to kindergarten. Woody did everything for no reason. Forky basically just took his place in the room. This is proven right by the end of the film. (Bonnie just might become trapped in a loop where she continuously makes utensil-based toys until Miss Wendy calls her neglectful parents in to report that she is consistently off task, and they sign her up for therapy.)
Now to focus on Woody because this is not "Toy Story" this is about his woes and foes and his journey to find Bo. Woody's arc makes no sense, and it regresses his character. First, he is pissed off that he is no longer a favorite toy and has to spend days (just days, not years like in TS3) not getting played with while other toys achieve playtime (his behavior in "Small Fry" contradicts this because in that short, Woody knew that the toys could not all be played with every day and he happily welcomed Rex and "Buzz" back from Poultry Palace without a hint of jealousy). |Note: If you watch the Hawaii Vacation short prior to or after seeing this film, you will probably notice that it undoes the entire movie. The toys are sentient creatures who require the absence of humans to do what they like. That was the entire point of the short. That was the entire point of the film series. Everyone was overjoyed that Bonnie would be on vacation. Ken and Barbie wanted to go with her, but not to be played with, but to have a romantic date in the tropics. Rex only became a "Partysaurus" because Mrs. Anderson took Bonnie to her grandma's. Otherwise, the bath toys would have to wait for Bonnie to take another soak to have a party. They do not need Bonnie to have fun. That was the purpose of the Partysaurus Rex short. The role of a toy is not to be played with 24/7, but to be there for their kid when he/she needs them.| (Note: It makes no sense for any of Andy's toys to be anxious about playtime since they were in Andy's toy chest for years and none of them had PTSD about it. Jessie was even excited in the opening of TS3 and she was in a confined space just like the closet! |Jessie will spend hours by herself in Bonnie's backpack by the end of the film and be totally fine at school, proving that the events of Toy Story of Terror did indeed happen, so once again the movie has contradicted itself.| What is even more annoying is that the only toys Bonnie is shown playing with during the travel montage (on the first day of the trip, mind you) are Woody and Forky, so the rest of Andy's toys should want to pull a TS3 based on their earlier behavior (after the official beginning of the film, they will not be played with for two days: The first day of the road trip which ends at the rest stop portion of the travel montage and the day of Forky's capture and rescue). Also, the movie explains after Woody was not picked for playtime that it was the third time that week he was not played with, implying that most others or everyone else were. What do they have to be anxious about then?) However, he is not alone in the closet. He has Old Timer and the toys that Bonnie outgrew (yet she keeps even though they do not achieve playtime, have been here longer than Woody, have come to terms with their current situation, and despite the fact that Bonnie's mother works at Sunnyside Daycare which eagerly accepts toy donations), with him. (Why do these toys not stage an impromptu therapy session to explore how each of them feel? That concept was done well in "Small Fry," and it would be very appropriate here). The closet toys also happily reminisce on the games Bonnie used to play with them. "Those were the days." Woody's "plight" is insensitive to these toys.
So, he essentially exploits Bonnie's fear of attending kindergarten to help her behind the scenes. There is a scene early after Forky's creation where Bonnie mistakenly grabs Woody instead of the former and Woody gets a "when somebody loved me" montage moment where he smiles at his kid before closing his eyes. This scene alone shows that he longs for Bonnie's appreciation, yet, when the latter plays with him during the travel montage in the middle of the film, he is so focused on Forky that he does not take this into consideration.
Bonnie. Is. Not. Done with him. Woody is the reason why Forky was created in the first place. If he wanted more playtime, he should have just revealed himself in the classroom and let Bonnie use him as a support doll. Who cares if this gets Bon-Bon in trouble? I believe that having a panic attack in class is far worse than a scolding from parents who are too oblivious to notice that their kid undergoes distress at the mention of the word "kindergarten." (By the way, if your child is too scared to talk to other kids, which contradicts TS3 and TS Shorts Bonnie, it would be a good idea to let her take an emotional support toy to school and explain to the teacher that she needs it to feel safe. We have adults in the real world who need stuffed animals to feel safe.) Also, Miss Wendy did not confiscate Forky after Bonnie made him, so I heavily doubt she would have taken Woody away had she spotted Bons playing with him. Once again, the movie has died.
Anyways, after Forky leaps out of the RV window (an action that could have been prevented had Woody kept the trash can in the vehicle and just pulled Forky out whenever Mrs. Anderson emptied it - dead film), Woody makes the stupid decision to not enlist the help of Bullseye and Buzz in searching for him (and Slinky could have pulled them all back into the RV) and quickly getting him back. If he did, he never would have had to accomplish that long trek back and never would have made the Freudian slip that gave the villain ammo to craft her poorly-argued plea. The film...is...dead. Speaking of which, the movie dies again once Woody and Forky make it to the town, hours later because TS4 Woody has the intelligence of a mulch chunk, because Woody has the chance to rush back to the RV and reunite the latter with Bonnie now that he has successfully convinced him that he is her toy and not a disposable abomination (your mileage may vary), but he instead decides to investigate the Second Chance Antiques store because he just so happens to notice Bo Peep's lamp lights shining through the window (who would keep a lamp plugged in after hours? Has the owner never heard of an electric bill?). So, he decides to briefly abandon the mission that defined his arc up until this point to take a detour that might just make that mission harder to accomplish in the near future.
Woody is an idiot. This is the same toy who will convince Peep to help him rescue Forky from the antiques store, and once that plan fails, he pleads with her to try again because "Bonnie needs Forky" (facepalm). Had this one decision not been made, the villain would not be in this movie. Woody could have still met up with Peep on the playground, but there would be abracadabralutely no reason to enter the antiques store after that (neither Peep nor Giggles wanted to go back in there). Bonnie left her backpack in there? Ok, so the toys just sit a spell until Bonnie and Mrs. Anderson come back.
Mind the detour, Buzz Lightyear sucks in this film. His entire arc is comic relief, and it is insulting that the director of this film thought that he could gaslight the audience into believing that Buzz had too few toy braincells to conceptualize what a conscience is (even though in the first film, when he believed that he was a space ranger, Buzz used and alluded to human terminology the entire time). When Woody brought up "the little voice inside of him" this movie's Buzz thought that Woody meant an actual internal voice will yell at the latter if he does not watch Forky alone. So basically, Buzz believed that Woody either suffered from auditory hallucinations or schizophrenic delusions and wondered why he did not as well and whether this "voice" would give him instructions. Big problem though, Buzz made the decision by himself to check on Woody prior to this conversation. He checked on Woody in the closet earlier in the film without help as well. Additionally, he used his brain to come to the conclusion that a spoon is safer than a fork (because apparently Jessie never learned that sharp objects should not be near a child's face when they are sleeping in her time with Emily nor Andy), he was able to determine that Bunny and Ducky's plans were wrong without pressing any buttons, he decided to depress his wings to escape the grasp of one of the Benson dummies, and he concluded that since Bonnie's backpack was in the antiques store (for reasons unknown), they may have another chance to get Forky, again, without pressing any voice line buttons! When the toys were in the closet, Mr. Potato Head pressed one of Buzz's buttons and the latter shrugged it off because he knew what his buttons were and what they did because they are part of his body and he learned about their significance in the first film. The movie killed itself and the director did not even notice! Also, Woody clearly indicated that the "little voice" was autonomous and would be triggered by him "quitting" (accepting help) so it would be logical for Buzz to have talked to himself until intuition kicked in instead of hitting his buttons until he received a desired response. Once activated, Buzz's voice box also happens to tell him situation-appropriate lines which is lottery-winning levels of unlikely (more on that later). It is because of his voice box that Buzz decides to use a spinning ride (Tornado) to launch himself high in the air and towards the highway. The problem comes in when you realize that letting go of a spinning object would not send you in a straight line. Speaking as a man who placed toys on his ceiling fan as a child, if anything launches into the air due to a spinning object, said thing will fly in a diagonal, or exponential, line far away from the rotating object and at a high speed. Ignoring the fact that Buzz's collision with the round up would have obliterated him in a way better than Zurg could ever dream of, I instead must point out that Buzz's trajectory would have been to the right (his left) of that ride instead of anything close to a ninety degree angle (also, Buzz launched from the tornado at about a forty-five degree angle which would have made him rapidly gain altitude until he began to lose momentum).
^ Note: If you pay attention to the blue SUV on the far right of highway shots, you will notice that the round up quite literally teleports into the building complex to stop Buzz from getting to the road. How is this a good film?
Also, the reason why Buzz latched onto that ride in the first place was to launch himself to the highway to search for Woody and Forky. That makes abracadabralutely no sense for many reasons. First, hitting anything at that speed once he got to the highway, in a movie that makes sense, would have killed him instantly. Second, he would be unable to conduct his search and rescue because it is broad daylight outside at this point. Finally, if Buzz got captured or lost, the remaining toys would have to send toy after toy to search for him until Bonnie is left toyless. To stupidity and beyond!
Back on Track: A girl named "Harmony" takes Woody out of the store once she notices him. Finally, he gets appreciation (eyeroll). The problem is, Woody felt bad originally because he failed to achieve playtime, but he decides that getting Forky back to Bonnie is more important than being played with by Harmony. Put simply, Forky is a tie to Bonnie. If Woody feels like Bonnie has no more use for him, why would he care about Forky now? It is not like these two have a long, intimate relationship (the toy he does have this relationship with was barred from providing assistance, so it would make astronomically little sense for Woody to care that much). He already knew that Gabfly and Benson 1.0 had no plans to hurt the spork since they believed his presence in the shop alone would be enough to get him to come back. Also, the ending of the movie reveals that Bonnie made a female, knife-based version of Forky. This means that she could always make another Forky if she missed him that much. Daisy from Toy Story 3 anyone? Apparently, "the little voice inside him" would chastise him if he failed his special private mission, but where was that voice when he decided to visit the antiques shop instead of taking the golden opportunity he had to return Forky to Bonnie?
Believe it or not, the movie dies again after the failed attempt to rescue Forky. After Bo Peep tells him that "there are plenty of kids out there. It can't always be about the one you're still clinging to," Woody says, "it's called 'loyalty,' something a lost toy wouldn't understand." However, he cannot make this argument because the "operation pull toy" flashback showed him willing to leave his family of toys, and his kid, to go wherever Peep would end up. His entire arc here is inconsistent with the movie itself. He has no argument. The movie is dead.
Later on in the film, Woody tells Gabfly that many children exist not just the one you want to belong to as an allusion to what Bo Peep said, but Woody did not learn this lesson. He did not "learn that from the best." If he went with Harmony earlier, he would have learned this lesson. If he went to a random kid at the carnival, he would have learned this lesson. The movie ends without him learning this lesson. That which cannot be applied has not been learned. If someone asks what you learned in French class and you cannot tell them a single word in the language, you did not learn, period. Skull and crossbones.
Note: Buzz told him in Toy Story 2 that watching children from behind glass and not being loved is sad life (what Gabby does in this film). This is what made him reconsider his position right before he saw the child on the TV play with the Woody puppet. He already learned not to sit idly by just observing kids. If anything, Woody should have told Gabby what Buzz told him. Bo is basically Stinky Pete and Lotso again, only on the "good" team this team. She does not care about having a relationship with a kid, just being played with by any kid that comes along (basically using them to feel good rather than giving back in any meaningful way).
Gabfly's entire motive in the movie kills the ending of the film (are you keeping count)? She shows that the very purpose of a toy is to bring joy to a kid. The new message cannot be some toy-related version of "those who can do and those who cannot teach." All, and I repeat, all toys are meant to be played with by children. They are meant to have owners. Why are some toys too stupid to find their own kids? They do not need assistance; they need whatever equates to braincells for toys. Just. Lie. Flat on the ground! Squeak!
"Lost toys" do not need to be kid-less so that they can assist these toys. Knocking toys off of the prize shelves is cheating. Those toys are put there to be won! Toys do not have to worry about the job of "being there for their kids" until they are acquired by a kid. Until then, they can busy themselves with whatever they can and whatever they want. Toy Story and Toy Story 2 gave examples of toy adaptations to life before a kid in creative ways (LGM and the Toy Barn toys). Those toys did not complain about not having a kid. They had each other and that was all that mattered. Make the most of being alive! A cute concept would be a kid constantly visiting the same booth to try to get the same toy. This shows dedication and a guarantee that whatever toy will be loved. Does being tossed out of a crane machine to be with a kid sound like a better situation than that kid willingly attempting to pull you out of the machine? The former situation is akin to an adoption agency just dropping a kid at a random doorstep instead of having a couple travel to said agency and choosing the kid themselves. A free win is not a happy ending. You must earn it! Woody earned his with Bonnie in TS3. He did not try to get noticed by Bonnie, he just landed in a tree that she walked by on the way to her mom's car. The power belongs to the kids, not the toys. Their futures are supposed to be in the hands of children. This theme was present in every other TS film. Andy had a say in whether Woody would leave him. Bonnie was never given the choice; she just must now accept that "her cowboy" is gone forever.
Additionally, Yo Gabba Gabba's arc is incredibly stupid. It makes no sense that she would believe that a repaired voice box would make her complete. | Note: No Toy Story film, short or feature-length, has ever shown a kid pulling Jessie's string. No one knows what her voice box can say or if it even works, yet she has been owned and loved by three different kids! Emily, Andy, and Bonnie (as shown in this film) all loved Jessie dearly and we did not hear a peep from her during playtime. Jessie's existence in this film is a counterargument to Gabby's beliefs. | Generally, aesthetic is what draws children to toys. Kids do not give toys meticulous inspections like adults seeking to buy a decent vehicle. There are many cheap dolls found in thrift stores that are sought after by children and most of these dolls lack pull strings. Many baby dolls are voiceless as that is the point of pretend! The grand majority of toys do not have voice boxes including the everyday teddy bear and most plushies, yet people still like them. American Girl dolls resemble young girls from a variety of different ethnic backgrounds. The appeal comes from representation. These dolls can have their hair restyled and their clothes changed, which means there is much more that you can do with a doll than pull a stupid string! The movie even provides an example: You can play teatime with Gabba Gabba and all the while she would be silent, because pulling the string might have her say a line that is completely inappropriate for the occasion (in Toy Story 3, Bonnie pulled Woody's string and his voice box said, "somebody's poisoned the water hole!" which had absolutely no relevance to the current situation and triggered a confused response from her).
Gabby's view of herself is like a mute person thinking that they are worthless because they cannot communicate in the same way most others can. There is much more value in someone besides their ability to speak. In this movie, Gabba is only adopted because she has Woody's voice box! That is a terrible message. Again, dolls can be redressed, their hair can be restyled, and they can be used for general emotional support. A kid could have treated her like a younger sibling and have her "eat" what they bake in their kiddy oven and/or push her around in another pram.
Gabba's way of getting Woody to finally give her his voice box makes no sense. She tells him that he has had plenty of playtime and that the most noble thing a toy can do is make memories for a kid (AKA the message that the movie goes against at the end), but this does not work for several reasons. First, she does not need a voice box to get played with. Most of Andy's toys lack voice boxes (The Little Green Men, the Potato Heads, Slinky, and Hamm just to name a few) and all of Bonnie's current toys (Prickle Pants, Dolly, Buttercup, and the Peas N a Pod) also lack them. Second, taking Woody's voice box may reduce his ability to accomplish this noble goal for his current kid. This, alone, shoots her argument in the foot. If a voice box makes a toy more attractive to a kid, then she would be harming another kid's playtime in pursuit of her goal, making her a hypocrite (and yes, she believed that Woody received no playtime, but kids can decide that they want to play with a toy they neglected up until that point, so my point still stands). Finally, she knows that Forky exists. He was handcrafted by Bonnie and is literally a spork decorated with a chenille pipe cleaner, googly eyes, clay, and popsicle sticks. He. Has. No. Voice box. Yet, Forky takes priority over the other toys (and Gabby keeping him as leverage to get Woody's voice box prevents him from fulfilling his purpose as a toy). If anyone had the mock braincells to point this out, the film would have died again. Oh wait, it still does. Never mind. William Afton would be jealous of how undead this script is.
Time to summarize: Woody's arc makes as much sense as gloves on feet. Bonnie played with him in the movie. Also, are we not at the point where having days off from playtime is seen as a good thing? (Hawaii Vacation Short!!!) Not having to worry about potentially having a stitch rip or a limb break off sounds good to me. At the beginning of the film, Bonnie gently placed Woody onto a kiddy chair where he was comfortably propped up. He was not tossed onto the floor with his limbs bent inwards like when Buzz arrived in the first film. The set up for the arc makes no sense. Woody is rather unlikable in this film. Instead of using his front row seat to appreciate his friends having the time of their lives, he becomes an irritably-depressed mess who cannot keep his priorities straight. Again, Toy Story Toons "Small Fry" contradicts this film. That Woody kept his Aesops close to his toy heart. Woody's arc goes from "I want to be played with" to "all I have left to do in this world is keep Bonnie and Forky together" to "I need to find Bo Peep" back to "I must keep Bonnie and Forky together," and finally, "I must leave with Bo Peep." Why does he suddenly want to go with Bo? Her life philosophy disagrees with his. Where is his "loyalty?" Using logical consistency, Bo would want to go with Woody to Bonnie since she "loves him" for his loyalty. Why would she still find him likeable after he went back on that loyalty? Since Bo now believes that life with a kid will lead to heartbreak, why would she value Woody's loyalty to his kid? Additionally, the movie hints that Woody never got over Andy, which is hilarious given the fact that the former betrays the latter by going against his final decision at the end of the previous film at the end of this film! Also, the last decision Woody makes in the movie is citrus and mint-flavored toothpaste level stupid because Bo Peep and her sheep can die from one fall and Ducky and Bunny could easily be killed by a wandering ally cat, a stray dog, or some type of heavy machinery that happens to drive by. If any of these events were to happen, Woody would be alone in the world. Duke? Please, he could be easily lost as he is smaller than the other toys. Giggles? She could also easily get lost because of her size. A storm drain would spell her end. An owl or hawk that mistook her for a mouse would kill her with its talons. At least many of Woody's old friends consisted of fairly sturdy plastic, and those who did not, could handle themselves. The conclusion to his arc does not work.
Bo was highly unlikable and acted nothing like she did in the first two films. That Operation Pull Toy scene did not happen since it retconned set pieces, that it briefly had consistent, and rewrote the character beliefs and motives established in the films prior to it! She belittled Woody for risking everyone's life to get another toy to safety, and back to his kid, only to turn around shortly afterwards and say that you must appreciate Woody for his loyalty. Bo's behavior after the toys escaped the antiques store contradicts her behavior displayed when Woody meets her again. She was cordial with Combat Carl and company. She was also friendly to many of the lost toys in the antiques store, even the bisected zebra. So, for some reason, when her sheep decided to be stupid and useless in the battle for Forky, and Woody's voice box, she prioritized getting the braindead barn animals instead of rescuing the living spork! She chastised Woody for trying to rescue another toy because she saw it as just Woody's last resort to be useful for his kid. Once again, Forky is alive! (Also, Woody admitting that "Bonnie needs Forky" and that reuniting them is all he has left to do proves that Forky is not a character, but a plot device.) Go back and help the struggling toy! Finally, Bo Peep and her sheep died in the antiques store. If there are no serious repercussions for a porcelain doll or porcelain barn animals crashing into the ground, then why should I worry about them at all? She died. Her girls died. The film died. Also, once again, Peep's philosophy is so stupid because traveling the country could result in her ending up in the wrong hands and shattering to pieces. One wrong move could kill her. Both of her arms were severed and must be held together by tape or another type of adhesive wrap. Yes, running around and going from kid to kid is an absolutely fantastic idea (especially after what happened in the Lamp Life short!). What an idiot.
Note: Woody and Bo's relationship is toxic, and the film does not point this out. If someone tries separate you from your family and friends, or your kid, and attempts to make themselves the center of your universe, they are a narcissistic abuser. Bo attempts this in the opening flashback and succeeds in the end. And Buzz enables this! (After TS2 and TS3 it is laughable that the writing team wants me to believe that Buzz would tell Woody to leave. He gave the speech at Al's apartment that convinced Woody to go back to Andy. Woody told him that they would be together for "infinity and beyond." Everyone agreed that leaving Andy was the wrong decision and they only have the life they do now because Andy gave them to a new owner. They are together and safe because of Andy. Now because of Bonnie.) Bo is unempathetic, dismissive, and condescending. She blamed Woody anytime something did not go to plan while also being vague about the plan and not considering alternatives. She also changed the objective and was ready to bail the second things got too dangerous despite posing as an action-ready character and agreeing to rescue Forky. Giggles even defended Bo's actions. This is terrible. No one should defend the abuser! That only enables further abuse! It is not a sad ending for Woody if he does not end up with Bo! He would be better off. If you really want Woody to be with his abuser, just have them go with Bonnie together. Bo would be safer with her!
Bunny and Ducky are not characters. They are basically Hamm and Potato Head sewn together, but terrible. Their arc began with them wanting a child of their own and it ends with them in the same position that they started in. What was the point? From start to finish, they bully Buzz for "taking their top prize spot," help Woody attempt to rescue Forky to be brought to Bonnie, then they decide that going to Bonnie would be too much work and go with Bo, and they finish the film back on the prize wall, but with a new purpose. I heavily doubt, given how these "characters" acted, that they would be ok watching other toys get kids. Get real! Also, them being lost toys does not work because one feral animal could rip them apart, like what happened to Doug in the movie, or heavy machinery could rip them open, like the carousel did in the movie. They are much safer in the hands of a child.
Forky and Duke "Kaboom" basically have Buzz Lightyear's Toy Story arc divided between them. Forky declared that he knew his purpose and that he did not want to be a toy, then once Woody delivered a passionate speech about how cool it is to be a toy, Forky became eager to get back to his kid. Also, Forky kept flip-flopping between thinking that Gabby is a monster and that she is likeable enough to warrant sympathy. When they failed to rescue Forky, he yelled "Woody!" which makes no sense since he later wants to see if Harmony will accept Gabby. You cannot even argue that Forky was afraid of Benson 1.0 since the latter is subservient to Gabby and all Ben did was tie Forky's arms back around his body after Woody accidentally ripped them off.
Duke has Jessie's backstory somewhat, but the sad event made him a depressed mess like Buzz because he could not achieve the jump advertised in the commercial (akin to Buzz being incapable of true flight). Of course, the climax of the film has Duke successfully make his big jump, and it helps the other toys get to their desired destination.
One "toy" is a plot device who has his arc finish early in the film, and the other is a shoddy retread, pun not intended, of Jessie and Buzz's dilemmas from their respective introductory films.
Perhaps next time we can answer the question of whether pet toys live in this universe. Do some have PTSD from rough play? Do the others have an attachment to their animals like how child toys do with their kids?
Buzz was just...no. His adventure just introduces the Loony Goons which are nothing but toy store fodder posing as a well-thought-out comic relief duo. Buzz was never stupid, just ignorant of reality. Buzz even showed annoyance with his past self in the second movie upon awakening Utility Belt Buzz. The director does not like the character, whatever. This video does an excellent job of detailing how intelligent this space toy is.
Jessie, and the other toys Bonnie owns, do nothing in this film at all. For the most part they are just the welcoming committee for characters who manage to successfully make it back to the RV. Jessie did not pop the car tire because she definitely lacks the strength to push in or remove a nail into/from a car tire. In fact, tires can roll onto nails and keep driving for a while until the nail becomes a problem. If that particular tire could be annihilated with a single nail, then the recreational vehicle should have had problems well before it reached the RV park. Additionally, Jessie should not have been the one who came up with the RV GPS plan near the end. Jessie was never shown to be this reckless and irresponsible before. Such a shame.
Finally, the Talking Tina (Chatty Cathy - Mattel) wannabe known as "Gabby Gabby" is a terrible villain and a terrible character. Her arc boils down to a stalker with a crush plot, only with an extra psychotic twist to it because she is willing to rip out the organs of a fellow toy if it means that her beloved child will find her more appealing. Gabby never takes into consideration that perhaps her type of doll does not appeal to Harmony. Perhaps Harmony is a tomboy and prefers male dolls and action figures, but this never crosses her mind, and no one is intelligent enough to point this out. The message "sometimes no matter what you do, the one you want to be with will not find you desirable" is a good and powerful message to deliver, but the message is not allowed to sink in for her because Woody gives her another chance to have an owner (just have her sit there alone and depressed until some kid decides she is worth possessing). She does not deserve anyone! She would have received her much-deserved comeuppance if the protagonist(s) allowed her to stew in sadness for the rest of the night. Instead, she gets to keep the voice box that she ordered her hench dummies pull out of the cowboy doll that she emotionally manipulated to agree to it all. Gabba Gabba is an irredeemable, monster of a doll that deserves eternal sadness or destruction. (And the fact that this movie portrayed Woody getting his voice box removed in a way akin to someone gasping for air as their lungs are extracted from their torso makes me water-boiling levels of angry. That scene caused me physical pain from the sound alone. Also, even if Gabby recorded over Woody's lines (the disc was clearly damaged since the record skipped and changed tone), her new voice box would still have some of Woody's lines or a weird hybrid of the two a la "The Mangle" from Five Nights at Freddy's 2. Also, removing Woody's voice box from his body poses no serious threat to his life so why should I care? Where are the stakes? Are the characters in danger or not?)
This is not a Toy Story movie. This is barely a movie. Things just happen to make the plot move along. This movie dies better than Forky could ever imagine. The film stabbed so many holes in itself that it rivals Swiss cheese. I could not watch even five minutes of this visual torture without finding an issue with the plot. I cannot give this film a rating because it does not deserve a rating. It is all spectacle without a sprinkle of substance. This film could be used to create a textbook for a crash course on how not to write. Toy Story 4 is how to wrong. How to wrong the world. How to wrong the characters. How to wrong the themes. I cannot understand how anyone with an inkling of an idea of what good writing is could call this film "good."
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