History YMMV / ToyStory4

* StockParodyJokes: [[spoiler:Andy being furious with Bonnie when he finds out she lost his most prized toy.]]

** Nearly a month after the premiere, the Comic-Con announcement of ''Thor: Love and Thunder'' confirmed that another Disney-owned franchise would present a movie in which a LoveInterest absent from the third installment TookALevelInBadass and reappears in the fourth.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The film brings back Bo Peep, a much-loved character despite her small amount of screen time in the first two films who was missing from the third film. Her presence also provides much-needed clarity on her disappearance, because even though the third film implies she was sold or donated, the wording is just ambiguous enough that many fans were worried she had been broken and were relieved to see her alive and well.

** The neglected toys in Bonnie's closet only appear for the one scene where Woody is left inside it, but they get in a bunch of funny jabs at Woody while they're around. It helps that they're all voiced by comedy legends.

* FanonDiscontinuity: There are several fans who pretend that this movie is not canon and that the third film was the actual grand finale of the franchise, especially with regards to the controversial ending.

** Was Gabby Gabby really a tragic villain who never got a chance to be loved? Or was she just a selfish, greedy little brat who felt entitled to get what she wants by all means necessary? Particularly with how she [[spoiler:convinces Woody to give up his voicebox using what she learned about him from Forky]]; whether it qualifies as mutual understanding, emotional manipulation e.g. SocialEngineering, or [[TakeAThirdOption both]] varies from person to person. If anything, her portrayal as a "crime boss" of sorts in the comic where she is implied to run a protection racket granting passage to toys getting in her path seems to add credence to her (initially) bratty character.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Watch clips from this movie back to back with the first one and be amazed at how far CGI has come since the first full CGI movie. In particular, the opening scene in a thunderstorm, the photorealistic antique shop and the incredibly realistic cat feel like pure showing off by the animators. Also of note were the material shaders used which is in stark contrast to the more simplistic ones in the first two movies, not to mention the improvements made with human characters, which while still stylised to fit with the artistic direction, is light-years ahead (pun not intended) of the UncannyValley humans in the first film (and by extension the baby in ''WesternAnimation/TinToy'').

* GeniusBonus: One of the background cars has a licence plate that reads "RMRF97". "rm rf-" is a Unix command that deletes all files in a given directory without confirmation, with the "97" part being a reference to an infamous incident during the development of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'' where an accident led to deleting all of the project files and would've forced a complete restart of production if it wasn't then discovered an employee took some backup copies to work on at home.

** Going with TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter, some fans have felt that if the veteran toy cast had accompanied Woody for his adventure, they could’ve seen how much happier Woody is outside of Bonnie’s room [[spoiler:and been more openly supportive of Woody leaving them forever. Their rather quick acceptance of Woody’s departure comes as a bit out of nowhere, whereas their accepting of Woody moving on could’ve tied into the third film’s own theme of moving on, only this time, it’s them moving on from Woody and vice versa.]]
** Some viewers felt that the resolution of Gabby Gabby's arc struck the wrong chord to them, in that she need not to be perfectly functional in order for a child to love and cherish her (though it did help her getting noticed). Justified as one could play with a doll as it is, even if its secondary functions are broken or missing anyway.
** The flashback montage at the beginning of the movie shows Andy donating his toys to Bonnie in a recreation of the scene where Bonnie promises to look after Woody the same way Andy looked after him. However, we quickly find out that Bonnie has completely abandoned him in favor of her other toys, thereby forgetting about her promise. [[TruthInTelevision That does happen in real life]], but Bonnie remembering her promise could have added a bit more closure to the last movie. When she was crying in the movie's first trailer, fans thought it was because she feels like she let Andy down for losing Woody--which wasn't helped by the ManipulativeEditing [[NeverTrustATrailer making it seem that way]].
** Bo Peep's arm breaking off, and her other signs of wear-and-tear, serves as a reminder that she's not really a toy so much as a porcelain lamp decoration, and is fairly vulnerable to being broken as a result. How this would affect her ability to be played with like a "normal" toy never comes up, as she brushes the injury off very quickly and it doesn't get brought up anywhere else.
** The whole concept of Forky is pretty interesting: a bunch of trash put together by Bonnie to make a toy who then becomes sentient and is terrified to learn what he is and that Woody has to show him the ropes. [[spoiler:It's all resolved by the end of the first act. It simply takes a long conversation between Woody and Forky for Forky to be convinced that being a toy isn't all that bad, and that plot is dropped in favor of Woody and Bo's reunion, with Forky being relegated to a plot device simply to help in Gabby's character development. Adding to that, Woody never revealed to anyone that he has a hand in Forky's creation, which could've led to an interesting revelation scene where Woody's friends questioned his decisions that led to Forky's creation and Bonnie's subsequent favoritism of him. The plot only gets revisited in the credits scene where Jessie reveals that Bonnie made a female Forky, who almost immediately asks "how am I alive?". However, the viewer only gets to hear Forky's answer: [[TheUnreveal "I don't know."]]]]
** Ducky and Bunny's quest toward finding a kid seems to taper off quite a bit as the movie goes on, to the point where [[spoiler: they don't even entertain joining Bonnie's toy gang before they leave at the end]]. As such, they mostly serve to provide bits and pieces of comedic moments rather than gain any actual development.

* ContestedSequel: Even before the film was released, many fans felt ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'' was a perfect end to the franchise and a direct sequel was redundant, if not completely unnecessary. The final film was able to win over many, but has not been without its detractors that found the film to be disappointing, ''especially'' with how its overall message seems to clash with the other films.

* EndingAversion: Much of the debate of [[ContestedSequel whether this movie is a worthy follow-up to the trilogy]] comes down to its hotly contested ending. [[spoiler:Some find Woody leaving Bonnie and his friends behind to start a new life with Bo to be a fitting send-off to his character, but others feel the ending contradicts the ending of ''3'' too much.]]

* UnexpectedCharacter: The announcement that Laurie Metcalf would return as Andy’s mom threw quite a few people for a loop given the previous film ended with the toys leaving Andy, but this was eventually Subverted once it was revealed she would only appear in the prologue set between the second and third films (along with Andy and Molly).

* AccidentalAesop: Giving a cherished possession away to someone on the grounds that it's what big selfless grown ups do, or even that you think they'll love it the same way you do, is a nice gesture, but bear in mind that they probably won't.

** Woody tells Forky that he doesn't know how Toys come to life. Uh Woody, didn't we go over this in VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII?

* ContestedSequel: Even before the film was released, many fans felt ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'' was a perfect end to the franchise and a direct sequel was redundant, if not completely unnecessary. The final film was able to WinTheCrowd for many, but has not been without its detractors that found the film to be disappointing, ''especially'' with how its overall message seems to clash with the other films.

** [[https://youtu.be/i0v3If6pirI "The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy"]] is the film's end credits song, with vocals by Music/ChrisStapleton, that essentially serves as a theme for Woody and the emotional journey he's crossed throughout the [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory series]]. Newman also [[https://youtu.be/obQ6KG2NHn8 sung a version of his own for the soundtrack]].

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Sooner or later, you need to let go of the past. You can't allow it to control you, or think it makes you an expert. Additionally, staying in one place for too long can leave you with an unfulfilling life and you'll go nowhere with yours. Even though your friends won't always be with you, even if or when those ties end, you'll always have them in your heart.

* CommonKnowledge: The filmmakers have denied that Bo Peep's ActionGirl makeover was a response to the #[=MeToo=] movement, as the film was in production prior to Harvey Weinstein's outing as a sexual predator. It should be noted that John Lasseter, whose own (less severe but still notable enough to have him removed from Pixar) improprieties have also become known, approved of Bo's character arc.

** Bunny and Ducky are sewn together in such a way that they're essentially constantly holding hands. Their bickering also occasionally falls into old married couple territory, like when Ducky chides Bunny for his listening skills.

** Bo Peep's arm breaking off, and her other signs of wear-and-tear, serves as a reminder that she's not really a toy so much as a porcelain lamp decoration, and [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome is fairly vulnerable to being broken as a result]]. How this would affect her ability to be played with like a "normal" toy never comes up, as she brushes the injury off very quickly and it doesn't get brought up anywhere else.

** Bo Peep's arm breaking off, and her other signs of wear-and-tear, serves as a reminder that she's not really a toy so much as a porcelain lamp decoration, and [[RealityEnsues is fairly vulnerable to being broken as a result]]. How this would affect her ability to be played with like a "normal" toy never comes up, as she brushes the injury off very quickly and it doesn't get brought up anywhere else.

* HilariousInHindsight: Nearly a month after the premiere, the Comic-Con announcement of ''Thor: Love and Thunder'' confirmed that another Disney-owned franchise would present a movie in which a LoveInterest absent from the third installment TookALevelInBadass and reappears in the fourth.

** Ducky and Bunny's quest toward finding a kid seems to taper off quite a bit as the movie goes on, to the point where [[spoiler: they don't even entertain joining Bonnie's toy gang before they leave at the end]], and their resentment toward Buzz in their introduction doesn't really get looked into either. As such, they mostly serve to provide bits and pieces of comedic moments rather than gain any actual development.