Toy Story 4 (2019)

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Keanu Reeves, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Blake Clark, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Timothy Dalton, Bonnie Hunt, Kristen Schaal, Jeff Garlin, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, Carl Weathers, Christina Hendricks, Jay Hernandez, Mel Brooks, Carol Burnett, Betty White, Carl Reiner, Alan Oppenheimer, Patricia Arquette, Bill Hader, and Flea
Grade: B

This might be one of the most unnecessary sequels of all time.

Summary

Nine years ago, in-between Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3, we see all the toys in Andy’s room. Jesse (Cusack) sees how badly it’s raining outside and hopes for the others to get back safely, along with Bullseye. Hamm (Ratzenberger) alerts everyone Andy is coming, and everyone gets into position. Andy busts into the room with the rest of his toys like Woody (Hanks) and Buzz (Allen) and all the others. He leaves the room to go eat dinner. Right away, we see Woody is on another rescue mission. He collects Buzz, Jesse, and Slinky Dog (Clark) to go to Molly’s room, and he has the rest of them stay put. Once Molly leaves, Woody goes to find Bo Peep (Potts) and explains how RC is lost outside. There, we see him stuck in a rain ditch and can’t get out because of the mud. They decide to enact “Operation Pull-Toy”. This is where they open the window and stretch Slinky Dog all the way down to the ground, with Woody hanging onto him to grab RC. At one point, it looks like he doesn’t have enough length from Slinky left, but Bo uses the plastic monkey toys to extend Slinky’s wiring. They save RC. Sadly, when they climb back up to the window, Andy’s mom (Metcalf) comes into the room and gives Bo Peep, her sheep, and the lamp she’s a part of to some guy who wants to buy it. Right in front of Woody’s face, he sees Bo being taken away, and he can’t do anything because Andy’s mom shut the window. This prompts Woody to go by himself to save Bo. The guy who bought her forgot his keys, so he goes back inside the house.

This allows for Woody to pull the box they’re in under the car to help them escape, but Bo is okay with it because she’s Molly’s toy and not Andy’s. She’s come to accept that she’s not needed anymore and is okay with moving on. She does offer Woody a chance to come with her. He almost does, but when he hears Andy running outside looking and calling for him, he decides to stay. Bo is then taken away, officially explaining her disappearance in Toy Story 3.

Next, we get a montage that shows Andy playing with his toys as a kid, the ending of Toy Story 3 where Andy gives his toys to Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw), and then Bonnie playing with the toys herself as we move to the present day.

In the present day, all the toys, including Bonnie’s crew consisting of Dolly (Hunt), Mr. Pricklepants (Dalton), Trixie (Schaal), and Buttercup (Garlin), are all in a closet getting ready for playtime. Woody still calms his crew down, but he’s not the leader of the bedroom anymore. This role goes to Dolly, and she’s minorly annoyed with Woody stepping on her toes at times. On top of that, Woody has been feeling out of place because he hasn’t been chosen by Bonnie for play time lately. When Bonnie opens up the closet to grab her toys, she even takes off Woody’s sheriff badge and gives it to Jessie, leaving Woody there. The old toys that haven’t been picked in a while all give him shit for it and remind him about his new position at the bottom such as Melephant Brooks (Brooks), Chairol Burnett (Burnett), Bitey White (White), Carl Reineroceros (Reiner), and a clock named Old Timer (Oppenheimer). Woody observes Bonnie’s father (Hernandez) come into the room to take her to kindergarten orientation, but she’s too nervous to go. She asks to bring a toy, but he says she can’t. After they leave, Woody goes up to Dolly to express his concerns for Bonnie and how it compares to his experiences with Andy, but Dolly is tired of hearing Woody talk about this all the time. Everyone runs back into position when Bonnie re-enters the room to cry. Seeing this and how her parents will still be taking her to school, Woody sneaks into her backpack and watches her in class to see how she’s doing. Bonnie doesn’t get off to a great start in class and sobs to herself during an arts and crafts session.

Seeing his owner in despair, Woody collects some materials from the garbage and throws it on her table when she isn’t looking to inspire her imagination. She creates a toy out of a spork and refers to it as Forky (Hale).

After orientation, Bonnie’s parents greet her and say that since school doesn’t start for another week, they’re going on a road trip. She’s excited and when she puts Forky in her backpack, Woody is at ease because his plan worked. He then glances over and is freaked out to see Forky come alive. When they get home, Woody explains what happened to everyone and how Forky came to be. Unfortunately, Forky doesn’t understand the concept of being a toy. He came from trash, so he craves being in the trash. Woody however, knows that Forky (for the time being) will be the most important thing in the world right now for Bonnie, so he makes it his mission to keep an eye on Forky and to make sure he stays in line as Bonnie’s new toy. In the middle of the night, Woody continuously has trouble with keeping Forky in Bonnie’s bed as her sleeping buddy and accidentally gets grabbed himself. Since he hasn’t been held in a while, he sleeps through the night with her. In the morning, he finds Forky in the trash again, so he goes after him until Bonnie’s father walks in. It’s road trip time!

Unfortunately, Woody has put himself in charge of keeping Forky from the trash, and it’s exhausting him. After trying to explain to Buzz what a conscience is one night, they see that Forky is by the window. He insists he’s not a toy and jumps right out of it, forcing Woody to go after him. Eventually, he catches Forky and as he explains his importance to Bonnie on the way back to the RV that Bonnie’s family is driving in, they talk about Andy and Woody’s life and seem to bond a little bit. After some conversation, it finally clicks with Forky why he needs to be there for Bonnie. She loves him like he loves trash. They’re both on the same page now and head into some small town, finding the stop where the RVs are at. Before they get there, Woody notices the lamp from the window of an antique store. It’s the one Bo used to be planted on the base of with her sheep. Intrigued, he takes Forky with him inside to see if she’s there. They don’t find Bo. Instead, they run into a creepy doll named Gabby Gabby (Hendricks) and her even creepier ventriloquist dummy henchman Benson (Steve Purcell). Benson is pushing Gabby Gabby in a baby carriage. They exchange pleasantries (even though Woody and Forky are noticeably uncomfortable), and Gabby Gabby tells them she knows Bo and she’ll take them to her. To show them around, Benson picks up Woody and Forky and dumps them in the carriage with Gabby Gabby. She talks about she has a broken voicebox and wonders if Woody has a working one. Against his will, Benson pulls Woody’s pull string to show it does. She wants to see it, but Woody says he can’t because it’s sewn inside him. Right after, the store opens, so she tells him they will be taken to a private place, but Woody says they need to leave.

Gabby then shows her true colors, having several more ventriloquist dummy henchman pop up next to him. She wants that voicebox at all costs. Woody escapes once he uses his pull string to alert some little girl in the store, but Forky is captured by the dummies. The owner of the antique store is the grandmother of the girl that grabbed Woody, so she gives Woody to her for free because she wanted it.

Back at the RV, Bonnie wakes up and frantically searches for Forky with her parents. This shows the other toys how important Forky is. Plus, they’re worried about Woody. Buzz decides to take it upon himself to go save them. He travels through the nearby carnival but following a series of mishaps, he lands in front of a carnie (Hader) after a fall. The guy picks him up and makes him a prize toy for a carnival game, tying him to the wall with other carnival toys. Meanwhile, Woody is taken to the park with the girl and tries to escape. However, other camper kids show up and all start playing with the toys that are there. Eventually, one girl picks up Woody and has him play with Bo Peep herself. Once the kid leaves, Bo takes him to a private area to talk, and they’re excited to see each other. She’s a lost toy and has been for seven years. Woody is greeted by the sheep and Bo’s new friend Giggle McDimples (Ally Maki), a diminutive toy that hangs out in her own playset. Her group goes to random events to be played with. A crew of Combat Carl toys (Weathers) interrupt to tell Bo about the next spot, so she wants to take Woody with her, but he explains the situation with Bonnie, Forky, and the antique store. Bo is very aware of the antique store, telling Woody about the years she sat there collecting dust. They are also aware of the evil Gabby Gabby. She tries to tell him to cut his losses, but Woody hits her with a heart-warming comparison as to how important Bo used to be with Molly and how her lamp was the only reason she could sleep at night.

Bo realizes this toy Woody is talking about is too important to Bonnie, so she agrees to have her, and her team, help him. They jump into Bo’s racecar toy disguised as a skunk and head off. At the antique store, Gabby Gabby insists Woody will be back for Forky because of the fact he’s been branded as Bonnie’s toy, calming Forky’s nerves. She then watches as the same little girl from earlier plays tea by herself and Gabby Gabby plays from afar like she’s there with her. Seeing this whole thing as kind of sad, Forky consoles her. This is all a part of her plan though, as she asks Forky everything he knows about Woody. Right away, Forky starts with Andy.

This antique store rescue is going to be a tough one to figure out, but Woody and the gang are determined.

At the same time, Buzz now has to rescue himself from the carnival game. His only hope may be the two argumentative stuffed animals attached to each other in Ducky and Bunny (Key and Peele). Meanwhile, Jesse and the toys have to figure out a way to stall for time with the RV. Otherwise, they’ll lose their friends forever. Time is running out, and it may take all of these toys’ years of adventures to figure out a way to save the day.

My Thoughts:

You ever hear the phrase “Quit while you’re ahead?”. There comes a point in time where you’ve done enough with a franchise and need to call it quits for the sake of the story. This is especially true when you have a story arc as good the first three Toy Story films. Toy Story 4 is a perfect example of overdoing it, completely undoing the spotless, storybook finale of Toy Story 3 to a maddening degree.

It starts with Woody. Tom Hanks carries this whole movie and once again churns out a fine performance, but my problem is that everyone else fell by the wayside. In the Toy Story films, the story is centered around Woody, but the ensemble is an importance piece to the puzzle to create the environment, the problems, and the family atmosphere that has become so important for these toys. They’re a team. In Toy Story 4, this felt like a Woody spinoff rather than a Toy Story ensemble. As a fan of the Woody character, I did like seeing him in a new story but as a diehard Toy Story fan, I found it frustrating because everyone seemed less important this time around. Buzz Lightyear and Jesse are both co-leaders of this group and have their own separate missions, with Buzz doing his own rescue mission and Jesse trying to stall, but the problem is that they didn’t nearly get enough screentime or felt as important to the heart of the film as they did previously. The characterization of Buzz was almost disrespectful.

After all these years, you’d think about how well Buzz has developed as a toy, a leader, and a friend, especially after seeing everything these toys have been through. He should be as wise and as multilayered as Woody is, but he somehow regressed. He’s gotten even stupider! Buzz having no idea what a conscious is, so he spends time pressing his own buttons to hear his “inner voice” try to guide him, is passed off as a big joke, but it frustrated the hell out of me. This isn’t the first movie anymore. He’s very aware he’s a toy. Why would he think his conscious is related to the fucking toy button on his chest that spouts catchphrases aloud? This shouldn’t even be a topic of conversation Woody and Buzz are having at this point in their lives. Buzz knows what a conscious is, even if he doesn’t know the word for it is. Since the first movie, Buzz has made decisions based off of his inner thoughts and feelings. The fact that he’s able to do this in general shows us toys have a conscious and why they’re sentient beings in the first place. How the fuck would Buzz not get this after 25 years? How this concept couldn’t simply be explained to him boggles my mind.

He should be Woody’s equal by now! In the second film, Buzz was. For half of the third film, he was too (until he got “reset” mid-movie). In this film, Woody is lost again, and there’s a moment where everyone asks Buzz what they should do. He asks his “inner voice” what to do, and the button says a catchphrase related to rescuing him. Why is this even a question for him? After all these years, he should know EXACTLY what to do. He led an entire rescue mission across town in Toy Story 2 to save Woody. Why is it suddenly a question of what to do next when the exact same thing is happening this go-around? It’s literally the same scenario! Why would Buzz need guidance? He’s been through enough over the last 25 years to be ready for this moment in a heartbeat. Again, he completely regressed from Woody’s equal to the fourth most important character in the movie. Additionally, the humor of his inability to figure this basic concept out was already seen with Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy. To do this joke again, while ruining the reputation and all the buildup and development they’ve done with an iconic character like Buzz Lightyear, felt like total disrespect to the character.

At the very least, they could’ve let Buzz fight someone because it’s the one thing he’s known to be good at, but they double down in making him suck by letting him get his ass kicked by Ducky and Bunny. You couldn’t let him beat up one of the dummies during the rescue mission? I’m sorry, the handling of Buzz killed this for me. Once he joined Woody’s rescue mission for Forky, he should’ve been in full action hero mode, but they ruined him in every aspect.

On a minor note, I appreciate Jesse taking charge, but they establish in the first act that Dolly is the leader of the room. You would think Dolly would help Jesse majorly when they’re trying to stall and mess with the RV, but as soon as they make it known Dolly’s team captain, she takes a huge backseat for the rest of the film. Why even do it? What story are they trying to tell here? Wouldn’t Dolly try to rally the troops? Why would they make her the leader if she did absolutely nothing for the rest of the film? They could’ve made things interesting by having this trip be Dolly’s first test as a leader and her panicking initially. Jesse could then inspire her like Woody did for Jesse so many years back, and Dolly could earn her role as “team captain” in the eyes of the audience once she takes the reins and helps come up with some sort of problem-solving solution. This would’ve given her an actual role of importance and develop her character as well. Then again, an even better move would’ve been for Jesse to go with Buzz to save Woody. Not only would this force Dolly to show her skills as the new leader of the toys, but it would give Buzz and Jesse one more adventure together to show how far they’ve come since the beginning. During the leadup to finding Woody, Buzz can talk about his own problems and understanding Woody’s decisions with Jesse, showing how much he cares for him while showing how vulnerable he acts with her in private. Together, they can both talk about the possibility of living life without Woody and their own relationship, giving us a much deeper and more meaningful “B” story for us Toy Story fans to latch onto, as we prepare for Buzz to potentially say goodbye to Woody.

This is a story worthy of these characters rather than the one-dimensional side-quest they got instead.

What happened instead was the character arcs for both Buzz and Jesse halting completely, making them look like total afterthoughts. At the end of Toy Story 3, they imply they’re practically dating, but their chemistry is barely mentioned in Toy Story 4. What the hell happened? If anything, they should’ve amped it up even more since this sequel is a romance at heart. I would’ve much rather this happen over Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele’s Ducky and Bunny getting involved. They were very funny in their roles and everything, but their inclusion was purely for comedic relief. I would’ve much rather had an important secondary story for Buzz and Jesse if I had to choose. It’s more respectful for the franchise and the characters we know and love.

Though the inclusion of the character got off to a shaky start, Forky becomes pretty funny. Tony Hale added a lot of goofiness and innocence to the role where you can’t help but laugh at some of the stuff he says. Is his inclusion worthy of this sequel being made? Not at all, but for what it’s worth, he was decently entertaining. Keanu Reeves was fantastic as Duke Caboom (“Yes he CANADA!”), and Jeff Garlin had some hilarious quotables as well, especially when they took control of the trailer.

With Bo Peep, there’s good and bad. Though it’s cool to see her have a bigger role this time around and how we see how much of an impact she had on Woody’s life, I can’t help but be bothered by some things. Considering she was a cheerleader in the first two movies, I find it a little hard to believe she turned herself into Elektra by the time Toy Story 4 came around. Sure, she can get a little Mad Max-like since she was forced to learn how to adapt as a lost toy. She would have to learn survival tactics after nine years out in the world. However, you can’t learn athleticism. It makes sense for Woody and Buzz to pull off the feats they do because of who they are as toys. Plus, Woody can take a beating because of the way he’s built. Bo is a ceramic statue on a lamp. If she falls too high off a stair step, she could potentially shatter into pieces. She can be tactical and all that but turning her into an action hero made me take a step back and wonder how she magically managed to become a toy almost as tough and skilled as Woody. If she had this in her beforehand, why didn’t she step up in Toy Story 2 and join the rescue team?

This Bo would’ve helped them save Woody within a half hour!

Oh, I think it’s because we’re talking about Bo fucking Peep.

This jump was a little crazy. It’s definitely not the worst thing about the movie, but it bothered me. The only thing I did like about the “new” Bo was how she didn’t want to go in and save Forky like Woody did. Woody was not going to leave him behind despite the dangers of going back into the antique store, but Bo tells him to cut his losses and get out of there. It makes sense because of how jaded she’s become over the years, coupled with how she’s been treated by others and how she’s been able to survive when thrown to the curb. This hardened, more realistic version of Bo was the most interesting she’s ever been. When they’re divided on the Forky mission, it shows you what life has done to the both of them and who they are as toys. It also reminds Bo as to why she used to love Woody, and it’s a cool moment for us fans.

Gabby Gabby and her army of gigantic dummies are legitimately terrifying. They easily took the number one and two spot in terms of freakshow characters the Toy Story franchise has given us (the Jolly Chimp from Toy Story 3 and the “cannibals” from Sid’s Room in the first movie round out the rest of the list). I think we’ve all had thoughts of those creepy dummies and ceramic dolls coming to life, so this just made that night terror possible.

Thanks Disney/Pixar.

Another major moment I enjoyed was right after the failed rescue attempt of Forky. They barely get out alive, and Bo reiterates how they need to give it up. Finally, we see what’s been eating at Woody from the beginning. After all these years of leading his fellow toys and making sure everyone is doing fine, he’s stuck in a position for the first time in his life where he’s the one who’s not being played with anymore. He’s losing his purpose. There’s no one that needs his guidance or help anymore. It’s the problem with being a hero. What happens when the mission is over? Now what? Saving Forky shouldn’t be that big of a deal because he was created as an arts and crafts project, but Woody finally admits to Bo: this is all he has left to do. Seeing his sincerity in the moment, you can see this is it for Woody. You can feel the desperation and sadness in his face and feel it in his voice. There’s nowhere else to go. He’s not the guy to lean on anymore, and he doesn’t know what to do with himself otherwise. This is why he’s taking this job of being Forky’s caretaker so seriously when any normal toy would’ve given up on that idiot long ago. It’s a testament to Woody’s character, his loyalty, and his inability to give up on others because he’s too good of a toy. He always tries to find a solution for everyone, even if he takes the “L” in the end. At the same time, it shows his hopelessness and inability to cope with life passing him by.

Because of this, Toy Story 4 only further cements Woody’s legacy as one of cinema’s greatest and most complex protagonists.

A toy losing its purpose has been played with before in this series, but seeing Woody lose his purpose as a leader is a different wrinkle in the storyline that is more interesting than I thought it would be. We have a feeling Woody is feeling this way when we see how overly protective he gets with Forky in the beginning, but when he blurts it out in the heat of the moment, you realize how important this is to him and why we should care. Honestly, this storyline being a central part of the journey may have been worthy of a sequel had they not annoyed me with every other aspect of what went on here. There are some bright spots and as a standalone movie, it’s still one hell of an adventure, but it was nowhere near the pristine of the previous films. I think that’s what makes this so difficult for me. It just never gave me enough to show me why this sequel needed to happen.

Toy Story 4 wasn’t horrible. In fact, it was solid but for a Toy Story film, “solid” doesn’t cut it for me. When you go out and completely ruin the perfection of the third film’s ending and the original story arc of the first three films as a whole, you better have a damn good reason to do it. After watching it, I knew I was right. This didn’t do it for me. The expectations may have been too high, but unfortunately, that’s the game you have to play if you want to tackle a franchise as good as this one. This saga started with Andy and ended with Bonnie. Having the toys being given to a young Bonnie ended the franchise on the highest of notes. They will be played with, and they will always be together. These toys are family. Within minutes of Toy Story 4, they completely undo everything with Woody beginning a new “loser” story arc. After all these years, seeing Woody get put through the ringer again as he tries to find himself just felt forced. He’s seen and done it all as a toy. Did this movie need to happen for him to go through this too? Did he really need this drama? The ending to Toy Story 3 was as flawless as they come. Why mess with such a sacred moment in cinema history? It felt like a cash-grab, albeit a successful one.

In terms of storytelling though, I just don’t see why this was truly necessary.

SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS

SPOILERS

Why the fuck does Woody help Gabby Gabby in the third act? This is Pixar’s incessant need to try and go above and beyond to create these multilayered characters. Usually, it’s appreciated but in the case of Gabby Gabby, I couldn’t stand her. She’s fucking evil. She didn’t deserve redemption. She deserved a fate worse than Lotso from the third movie.

Actually, I take that back. Lotso was a piece of shit.

The reason I can’t get behind Gabby Gabby is because she permanently scars Woody by surgically taking out his pull string and voicebox. We’re supposed to forgive her because she’s sad she doesn’t get played with? Yeah, eat shit. It’s called karma, and you earned it. You can’t go around terrorizing toys and then expect your life to be better! Fuck, and I cannot stress this enough, her. Woody shouldn’t have felt empathy for her. He should’ve taught her a lesson through an action scene or something, or a final line when he leaves the antique shop. This would’ve made more sense. I had no sympathy for her whatsoever, especially after she permanently ruined Woody. You don’t get played with because of your voicebox? How about you walk outside! It’s bound to happen sometime! At the carnival, Woody proved this by taking her outside one fucking time! If anything, she could’ve just cut the pull string off and acted like a regular doll, and everything would’ve been fine! She has no argument. Disfiguring Woody to make her dreams come true doesn’t make me feel for her at all. I have more sympathy for Stinky Pete the Prospector, and I couldn’t stand that stinky bastard either. At least he had more of a reason to be bitter though.

Let’s talk about the bigger issue at hand here, shall we? The first two Toy Story films just had Woody and Bo constantly flirting. They made out a little to comedic effect, but it was never anything more than that. They never showed anything else. It’s not like they were dating or anything. The same goes for Buzz and Jesse, though they seemed to be a little more involved comparatively. This is what pissed me off about the ending. I find it very hard to believe that Woody would drop everything, including his friends/family that he’s been living with for 25 years, for a girl he hasn’t seen since early 2010. There’s no way. The real Woody would never let something like that get in the way. He made it very clear in Toy Story 3 that NO MATTER WHAT, their mission is to live with whatever their owner decides to do. In Toy Story 3, they haven’t been played with in YEARS, but Woody makes it known that if they go to the attic, they GO to the attic. That’s it. They have a chance to go to a daycare center, and he tells them it’s not what they’re supposed to do. He calls them selfish because the toys’ loyalty should be with their owner. It’s part of their purpose in life. Keep in mind, they weren’t played with FOR YEARS. Of course, when he saw the opportunity to get them to Bonnie and he wrote the address on the box to nudge Andy in the right direction, it was still Andy’s decision. It was all about doing what the owner wants, even if he did influence it.

Now, let’s fast forward to this movie. The old toys in the closet (played by comedy legends Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Carol Burnett, and Betty White) remind Woody that he hasn’t been picked to play the last three times they’ve had play time. When you think about it, this shouldn’t affect Woody at all. Sure, he’s not the leader of the toys anymore, but not being played with in the last three play sessions is NOTHING compared to the literal years of not being played with leading up to the events in Toy Story 3. Why is it a big deal now? If anything, he should be chilling. The story is too inconsistent with the rest of the series. It’s not just with Buzz as I mentioned before, but it’s with Woody himself. You think they would have understood why his reaction to all of this wouldn’t make sense considering the movie before it.

In addition, it doesn’t make any sense for Woody to go against the mantra he lives by just for the chance at some toy pussy he hasn’t seen since 2010. Look, no one’s asking for toy sex or anything, but you have to make me believe that he loves Bo THAT much. Never in any of the previous movies have the toys gone on an adventure, and Woody explains that he misses Bo or that he has to succeed because Bo is his everything (or some other cheesy line). It was never more than flirting. I just don’t buy Woody basically retiring from being an active toy to hang out with a bunch of random carnies instead of his partner-in-crime in Buzz, and his pseudo-family that loves him so dearly. This is why I can’t look at this film as anything more than a decent cash grab. Everything he did in this movie seemed to contradict what he did, said, and meant in Toy Story 3, rendering it useless in the entire story arc of the franchise. Yes, I know people and characters can evolve their mindsets, but I don’t think nearly enough was presented to make me believe Woody would abandon everything he stood for. If we’re being frank, he’s closer to everyone else than he is with Bo.

Well, except Mr. Potato Head.

They forced a storyline that wasn’t there. It had the chance to be there years ago, but they never capitalized on it. Now, they’re trying to make it a thing after all these years? Yeah, this was forced. You can’t tell me any different. Had they played up Buzz and Jesse’s relationship like they should have (it would have naturally progressed into something much more obvious after 9 years), it would’ve given Woody more of a reason to chase after Bo. Imagine if he saw a fully in-love Jesse and Buzz relationship every day in front of him on top of not being played with. This would get the wheels in motion. This could allow for memories of Bo creeping back into his head daily, giving him a much more believable reason for his sadness to come to light. This way when he finally sees her, it’s an even bigger moment than it already is. Plus, it would add more to the emotional flashback sequence when he has to say bye to her. Taking the story in this direction is the only way this ending would’ve remotely worked, but they shanked it right from the get-go by sabotaging everyone else to make this all about Woody.

You’re telling me that even after Woody decides to give up his entire life for Bo she can’t, at the very least, kiss him? If they wanted to legitimatize the love between the two, this couldn’t have been a better opportunity considering Woody is throwing his life away for her and her stupid friends. The most she does is just pull his hat down in a joking, flirty way. Seriously?

The ending was trash. With the way things actually played out, it felt like they wanted you to cry really bad, but it didn’t work. None of it felt right. The moment between Woody and Buzz was rushed and forced, and it didn’t have the organic, emotional feel the ending Toy Story 3 had. When I finished Toy Story 4, I just said to myself, “That didn’t sit right with me. That did not feel like the right way to go at all.”

They could’ve fixed it if Bo and her crew snuck onto the trailer with Woody, and Bonnie could add them to her collection of toys. It would make sense because Bo is traditionally a girl’s toy and based off of her new look, she probably would become one of Bonnie’s favorites. This would have been a nice moment for Bo who clearly misses having an owner despite her acting like she doesn’t. Then, you could’ve had Woody and the gang still together. The final scene could’ve been Buzz asking Woody if he’s okay with not being played with as often as he’d like, and Woody could respond with something along the lines of “I’ll always be okay if I’m with my family.” He could hold hands with Bo, and Buzz and Jesse could do the same.

“…To infinity and beyond.”

Cut and print.

That would’ve been the right ending. Admittedly, it wouldn’t have been as definitive as the ending we got, but it doesn’t matter because we’re getting a Toy Story 5 whether we like it or not.

The message being sent in Toy Story 4 is how Woody was lost but now, he’s found his new purpose as a lost toy being the savior of other lost toys. For me, it’s just hard to see Woody let go of everyone else because they seem more important to him than the story is trying to make us believe. This is why with this suggested ending, his “purpose” can be that he’s the glue that holds this family together regardless of how much his owner plays with him. This is just as good. I know Toy Story 2 ended like the makeshift ending I just came up with but obviously, it doesn’t have to be exactly like that. You see my point though. The Toy Story movies were about Woody and Buzz, their friendship, and the family-like atmosphere they’ve made happen for their friends. I don’t see Woody suddenly breaking it all up because Bo came back into his life.

You could’ve had the perfect series Pixar, but you ruined it. You got greedy and wanted more. I’ll always watch these characters in anything they do, purely out of respect. Unfortunately, Pixar knows this too. That’s why I had to watch the fourth one, even though I was furious about it when I heard it was in production. I watched it with nervous expectations, and I’ll admit that I was on the edge of my seat at some points. The problem was that once it was over, I was right. This adventure was entirely unnecessary. To this day, I just can’t agree with the way they ended the story arc of this beloved franchise. If you’re asking me, I like to imagine that this series ended with the third one. There was no need to revisit this series after such an exquisite finale.

Also, how the fuck did they spend $200 million on an animated movie? The animation doesn’t have to be that realistic. We don’t care as much as you think we do. We’re here for Woody and Buzz. Name value alone was enough for us to tune in.