Toy Story 4 (2019) Review

“To infinity, and beyond”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

I always was into the idea of trilogies being enough time to explore unbelievable worlds, whereas Hollywood likes to milk the cow and give us more than what we’re intend to be onboard for. While it was a mixed bag for Pixar’s Cars, it has been a consistent critical success for the studio’s crown jewel that is Toy Story.


PLOT

2019’s Toy Story 4 takes place only one year after Andy Davis donated all his remaining toys (Sheriff Woody, Jessie the Cowgirl, Buzz Lightyear, Rex [Wallace Shawn], Slinky Dog [Blake Clark], Bullseye [Frank Welker], Hamm [John Ratzenberger], the Potatoheads [Don Rickles & Estelle Harris] and the Little Green Men) to a younger kid named Bonnie (Madeline McGraw). Since then, they’ve gotten along quite well with the rest of the girl’s collection that includes: Dolly (Bonnie Hunt), Buttercup (Jeff Garlin), Pricklepants (Timothy Dalton), Trixie (Kristen Schaal), Peas in a Pod and Totoro. Woody has actually had a hard time adapting to Bonnie due to her favoring Jessie, while the child is nervous in transitioning to kindergarten. He sneaks into her backpack for moral support and stealthily encourages her to express herself through arts and crafts. This inspires her to make her own new friend, a spork she would simply name Forky. Forky however would have an existential crisis believing he was always meant to be trash. When Bonnie’s family goes on a road trip and she takes most of the toys, Forky would jump out the rv window and it forces Woody to follow, to make sure he gets him back to Bonnie. As the two walk to the nearby park, he does convince him his place is with her like it used to be with Andy. When passing an antique store owned by an elderly lady named Margaret (June Squibb), Woody notices a lamp that once belonged to his long lost girlfriend Bo Peep who was sold to someone else long before Andy went to college. Instead, they meet Gabby Gabby and her gang of ventriloquist dummy dolls who want to replace her broken voice box with his. Woody escapes, but Forky is taken prisoner. At a nearby playground, he reunites with Bo and her three headed sheep (Billy, Goat & Gruff) who have lived freely as lost toys alongside a miniature toy cop Giggle McDimples and daredevil toy Duke Caboom. When Buzz goes out to find Woody, he gets stuck in a traveling carnival and encounters a duo of prize toys, Bunny & Ducky. Because he accidentally he took their prize spot at one of the gaming areas, they expect his help in setting them up with a kid. Jessie stalls Bonnie’s family by flatting one of the RV tires. Woody does try getting Forky back with the help of Bo’s friends and Buzz’s group, but it backfires due to being nearly killed by the store owner’s cat. Irritated, Woody inadvertently insults Bo’s free nature before surrendering his voice box to Gabby. As he does, she explains her desire to impress Margaret’s granddaughter named Harmony (Lila Sage Bromley), who ends up rejecting her afterwards. Buzz is able to lure Bonnie back to the antique store when she left her backpack on accident. After Forky is secured, Woody convinces Gabby to join Bonnie’s collection. Instead, she ends up helping a lost child reunite with her family and joins her in the process. All the toys take control of the RV (unbeknownst to the humans) to meet Woody at the carousel, but he ends up choosing to stay with Bo and the other lost toys. He gives his sheriff badge to Jessie, which passes her down to lead the toys. He then says goodbye to all his friends whereas they get to see Bo again before departing. The film ends in an epilogue showing Bonnie make a new toy out of a plastic knife that becomes a companion to Forky. 


THOUGHTS


I for one at the time did not anticipate Pixar to go past a trilogy for Toy Story, but I shouldn't be surprised they would take advantage of another billion dollar hit, one of the six films that accomplished the goal in 2019. Just because this shouldn't have to happen though, does not immediately mean it's not worthwhile since Mad Max: Fury Road was the fourth of its own franchise and lived on to be its very best. I wouldn't say the same with this animated followup, but I won't ignore its quality as a whole. The animation improves as expected when not only seeing the toys more lifelike, but that is just the beginning. The details on the likes of the rainwater and the cracks on the road are dazzling. Even the store owner's cat was so photorealistic compared to how Scud looked in 1995. Since the supporting characters are mostly shelved, the comedic relief was focused on the newer characters who got to be a welcome delight in the process. It was such a given for Keegan Michael Key & Jordan Peele to make me laugh with whatever script we got, but they were a whole other realm of comedy together as Bunny & Ducky, which is apparently the latest time they've worked together as of 2025. This pair had me laughing nonstop due to how snarky they choose to be when expressing themselves. They're the only toys willing to suggest the idea of attacking an old lady like the store owner should they have to, only for them not to when the owner ironically leaves the key next to them. And only they would lie about shooting lasers out of their eyes. Ally Maki was also a neat addition for making Giggle the bubbliest of friends Bo has made recently. Only she is willing to mention she had a past with a He Man doll and survive being swallowed by a cat. Then Keanu Reeves would be breathtakingly hilarious as Duke Caboom for enjoying every opportunity he could in boosting his confidence however he can help others. It's even a clever background joke where the three mini Combat Carls voiced by Carl Weathers were high five-ing each other, only for the third one to be unintentionally left out. Overall, I think this one is still a strong entry because Director Josh Cooley takes the time to tell us the importance of independence as a whole. It is a good thing to always help others, but it doesn't have to be your whole life because your life matters too. If you want to go and try something you want to do, it would not be selfish after all the time you've spent being a helping hand. This is the new dilemma Woody deals with, as he doesn't know what else to do when he's not the favorite toy anymore. He was very lucky Andy still had so much love after Buzz became part of their lives, but still wasn't prepared for Bonnie to think differently to the point where he wasn't. He still uses what he knows to help her, but he still knows he won't be appreciated if he has to keep his living existence secret. It is such instinct for him to help Forky fit in because he doesn't know what else to do. That all changed when the past came back to open his heart. For Woody, it was a decade since the last time he saw Bo Peep, whereas it was double that for us viewers and boy did the feeling of missing her be any more true. Annie Potts' return to the franchise was so fluent, it was like she never left and boy did it give me the biggest smile once she reunited with Woody. She is far more adventurous as a lost toy and she gets to show Woody that it is not the worst thing to not be committed to a single kid when there is a gift to traveling around and make multiples happy year-round. It was hard for him to realize that since he was with Andy for years until transitioning to Bonnie. It does feel awkward that he'd be forgotten like that, but the bright side is that both parties will be happy. Woody can be happy being with the one partner he's loved most and Bonnie can enjoy the phase of loving her own handmade toy. I recall making my own Forky around the same age as Bonnie, so this was the nostalgic character I've ever seen. Toby Hale was an open delight as this character because he's the most neurotic as he tries to better understand his own purpose the way Woody chooses to re-evaluate himself. The fact he has an idea of what he once was and slowly learns of the rest of the world around him is so relatable because that is how out of order life can be for the rest of us. However he is able to teach his plastic knife companion, I'm sure they accept themselves much better than before. While Forky is arguably part of Woody making a big change for himself for once, it doesn't change the closest friends who pave the way as well. Joan Cusack of course still makes Jessie a standout because she too is exuberant enough to think outside the box, which in turn makes her an ideal leader Woody saw her to be. You can laugh all you want with Buzz struggling to understand what an inner voice is, but Tim Allen still makes Lightyear a great character here because he gains all the naiveness Woody used to be and gets to remind him about it when they part ways. Their hug had me weep as it reminded me how much of an impact friendship can make for each individual. Little would we think we would also see a villain in Pixar's catalog that takes the first being considered misunderstood. Christina Hendricks made a big impact as Gabby Gabby because she's just lonely and is desperate for connection that she was willing to harm Woody to meet what she hoped to be her match. It was a punch to the gut seeing her get rejected Harmony because you relate to the feeling on how the journey of change can feel pointless when not reaching a satisfying conclusion. It then becomes an unusual blessing because together, she and Woody realize you don't need to make improvements to be pleased of yourself or by others and accepting inner flaws is okay as that makes us different. Because of this realization, Gabby finds a better kid that needed to be safe and Woody gets to decide for himself for once. Since Woody eventually would reunite with his family in the fifth movie, it comes to show going your own way to enjoy the present doesn't mean you'll shut yourself away from the past. So it comes to show some things happen for a special reason if you let it. This one holds well on its own, but there are some things I picked up on during my re-watch that don’t make much sense to me. For example, it was a great opening flashback to show Bo being donated to another family, but I am so thrown off Andy’s mom didn’t see Slinky Dog right out the window, who was helping Woody save RC from being lost in the rain. That’s worse than her not asking Andy if the toys he put in the bag were meant for the attic or not before she took them to the dump. It’s even crazy Andy chose to not question how Woody made it back outside when he knew for sure he brought him in before Bo left. And why did Slinky get anxious of being in a closet? He’s not claustrophobic like Jessie, so it feels out of character for him to not be the calm one in that case. It also felt out of character for Forky to go along with being limp when he hadn’t even accepted being a toy yet during the first act. Maybe he doesn’t want to scare Bonnie, but if he’s so desperate to be thrown away, I’m surprised he didn’t bail as soon as Woody went to sleep on the first night. It’s even crazy Woody doesn’t have an escape plan for the antique store when he first roams around hoping to see Bo. Since the sun was coming up, it is totally on him whether or not Gabby would be a factor because he had no guarantee how he would avoid the store owner alone. He and Bo are even very lucky to not get noticed by the playground kids since they used a frisbee to pass through although they’re still visible on other side. I also don’t like how Bo doesn’t tell Woody of her plan because it would’ve worked better if she showed trust by being upfront. Hell, I know can kids be kids that don’t know better, but Rejean was way too picky to expect Duke to make a big dive like the commercial, which is supposed to be exaggerative enough for him to be interested in the first place. And I don’t think Woody’s sound effects go off multiple times when his string was pulled only once for multiple seconds by the ventriloquist dummies. I then laugh so hard over the fact Bonnie’s mom doesn’t freak out over Buzz instructing her to go back to the antique store for the backpack. I know she didn’t see Buzz say it, but she still heard it and it should’ve led to something. The same can be said with her dad who doesn’t second guess where Trixie’s voice is coming from as she gives him wrong directions to stall for Woody. Other than that, this movie is still a real good time. In short, Toy Story 4 is a follow-up that maintains the franchise’s spirit while showing off things we weren’t prepared for. If you’ve enjoyed all the past Pixar content at this point, see this now.