Toy Story 4

Funny, I was reading a Youtube comment about that as well. Should be interesting. I suppose Forky would be similar to Sid's mechanical abominations.

I still think that this was a mistake at best, and a cash grab at worst, but I'm willing to be surprised. Though, I thought they were going to pick up on that unused Toy Story 3 idea with the Buzz Lightyear toys being recalled.

Meet Ducky and Bunny:

(Surprised to hear Jordan Peele here. I thought The Emoji Movie got him to ditch acting and be a filmmaker... Maybe this is an exception because Toy Story?)

Edited by TargetmasterJoe on Nov 13th 2018 at 9:34:28 AM

All my opinions considered, that is funny.

Keanu Reeves is in the movie as a tiny Buzz. ...That's unexpected.

Are they bringing back the tiny Happy Meal Buzz from that one short?

whuuuuuuut.

Don't we already have a Happy Meal Buzz in those shorts??

You ever wonder if another set of toys out there sees as much action as these guys?

Edited by windleopard on Mar 19th 2019 at 6:09:50 AM

Slappy found a few friends?

Animation wise I have no complaints, but what I'm seeing of the story doesn't make me feel like this movie justifies its existence as of yet. Why does it all seem so familiar to me?

Hasn’t Woody gone through this particular existential dilemma already?

That looks a lot like the plot of Toy Story 2, is all I’m saying.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Mar 19th 2019 at 8:12:24 AM

Still not very enthused by this romance plot they've got, but Kingdom Hearts 3 invoking the idea of toys "figuring it out" makes me believe that Pixar has a substantial answer and resolution to Forky's dilemma so that's mainly what I'm interested in.

- I thought Pixar wasn't the type to include actual villains?

- there does seem to be a love story, but thankfully it doesn't appear to drive the plot, which is nice.

- I wish there was some acknowledgement of digital toys, like maybe they could've included a character that exists in a child's notepad who interacts live with the rest of the gang. Doesn't seem like that's the case, but hey it's only a preview.

- .... yeah, I still believe we don't need a fourth movie.

I will say that I’m also a bit concerned that they’re covering some familiar territory here (toy goes missing, others go to find them has been done in this series already), but I’m still interested all the same. Forky and Bo’s respective arcs are still keeping me hooked.

... Pixar is proving more and more that the only story you can write with toys is "someone goes missing, we gotta go on a secret adventure to get them back!".

"hooked"

Edited by kyun on Mar 19th 2019 at 9:36:26 AM

While it does seem to be retreading old ground, honestly, I'm a lot more optimistic about this than I was previously.

Bo becoming an Action Girl was unexpected.

In TS-2 Woody faced a similar dilemmna but, IIRC, it was due to him believing there was no way of getting back to Andy. Plus he was "younger" and hadn't experienced TS-3 where he actually was abandoned and had to move on.

This seems to be focusing more on Woody's age - it's the same dilemma but reinforced by Woody's experiences. He's choosing this for himself now instead of the Prospector talking down to him about how owners won't keep their toys for very long.

Getting a deeper examination of what it means to be a toy - both from Woody and from Forky who believes he was not meant to be a toy - sounds interesting to me.

Sid, Prospector, Lotso, Syndrome...?

Shhhh. Pizar will hear you and make a spin-off series about the toys from Sid's room.

Edited by Soble on Mar 19th 2019 at 9:41:47 AM

Remember, Buzz's intro was defined by how he didn't believe he was a toy either. But in that movie he resisted the truth until he saw enough evidence that he couldn't deny it any longer. Here, Forky doesn't believe he's a toy because he knows he's something else (a spork), and doesn't seem to be delusional like Buzz once was, which calls in more questions about how a toy's mind works.

It alos raises the question of what the conditions are for a toy to come to life in their universe… If Bonnie hadn't stuck a pair of eyes on Forky, would they have stayed an inanimate spork?

Or, just a blind spork. We know Mr. Potato Head is still conscious when his eyes are removed.

God, Pixar universes are horrifying. All a kid has to do is "believe" and put something together and that thing becomes sentient.

Maybe it's like the Polar Express and it's something only small children can do.

Edited by Soble on Mar 19th 2019 at 12:22:31 PM

But most toys are made by adults, and they come alive. It doesn't require the belief of a child, either, otherwise the unopened toys in the store wouldn't be alive.

You want to know what's crazy, Bonnie should be a teenager by now.

The entire Toy Story series has been about the paranoia toys have regarding their place in the world, the world being the playtime with their owner. Toy Story 2 was primarily about Woody thinking that fame is a substitution for love, this movie appears to be a lot more existential. Adding Forky is potentially a really new and fresh idea, but I'm worried that it is pulling at the premise of the series a little too tightly. We are already starting to ask questions about what point toys become sentient, and Forky being aware of his original purpose makes you wonder if every constructed item is self-aware, even if we only see toys become animated. It may end up like "the villagers were enchanted with amnesia" subplot in Beauty and the Beast (2017), we prefer the story to the explanation.

Personally I think they should continue the story though a TV show or something instead of more movies, but the movie does seem fairly interesting.

They do mention lawn gnomes and Christmas decorations being alive, too.

Edited by Protagonist506 on Mar 19th 2019 at 3:36:43 AM

Pretty much all the Toy Storys besides the first one (and even then, it's there a bit in the first one too) are pretty much about how being a toy is wretched existence full of suffering - to the point where every toy villain in the series is someone who has been driven bitter and hostile due to it, and wishes in some way to escape the lot in life given them simply by being a toy - but which has rewards that make it worthwhile if you're strong enough to see them.

Like, it's distressingly easy to read Humans Are Cthulhu into the toys' existence (especially in situations like Lotso's), except the writers did such a good job relating the toys as semi-parent figures for their children and thus humanizing the... er... humans, that it becomes less visible unless you think about it.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Mar 19th 2019 at 4:22:34 AM

Something I appreciate about Toy Story 4 from the trailer is Woody's a lot more humble than before. I know he's been through three movies now but he tells everyone that Forky's Bonnie's most important toy right now and that they all need to protect him- contrast to the first movie which is driven by someone else being more important than Woody and the jealousy that ensues from that.

My major problem is not that I don't think the ideas are bad, but that they narrativly have no place after the third film and really should have been explored before then. TS 3 ended perfectly and I just see very few ways this will end on par if not better than the last one. I don't mind exploring the nature of passing from kid to kid and the toys self-reflecting on their own role and purpose more. Just... This should have been done before TS 3.

That said, there is a bit of sense that he's so invested in this because he's living through Forky, in a sense.