So this weekend, the fam ventured forth from the
Fortress of Ineptitude to go see Toy Story 4.
Afterwards, we ventured back to the Fortress of Ineptitude with our souls crushed from the experience.
So whazzup with Toy Story 4?
If you thought the saga of Woody and Buzz and all the toys in Andy’ room came to a satisfactory conclusion with Toy Story 3, you may wonder why must there be a Toy Story 4.
If you want to believe that the saga of Woody and Buzz and all the toys in Andy’ room ends happily in Bonnie’s room as Andy heads off to college, go ahead and believe that.
If you’re curious as to what exactly can happen next, you may venture forth but steel yourself against the darkness of existential angst.
I’m not kidding.
Oh, yeah: SPOILERS!
The movie opens with a prologue, back in the days when Andy was still a kid. We have a high stakes rescue of R.C. by Woody and Slink when things take a sudden and sad turn: Bo Peep is being given away. Woody wants to save her but Bo says no, this is part of being a toy. Sometimes you’re given away. So Woody is forced to say goodbye to Bo-Peep.
The movie has barely begun and Toy Story 4 is ripping your heart from your chest.
(By the way, there is no Pixar short at the beginning of the movie. Once the trailers are done, we deep dive right straight into the pain.)
Back to the present, Bonnie is having fun with Andy’s old toys. Except Woody. Jessie the Cowgirl takes the place of Woody in Bonnie’s imaginative playtime. Woody is left in the closet.
Meanwhile, Bonnie is off to kindergarten where she makes a new friend, transforming a spork with pipe cleaners, googly eyes and sticks into Forky. Bonnie is super devoted to her new friend.
Forky, who has come alive like toys do, is not coping so well. He keeps trying to throw himself away.
Woody makes it his mission to save Forky from himself.
Woody gets separated from the gang recovering Forky from another attempt to throw himself away.
Forky may be a nervous wreck but he does seem to have a handle on his purpose in life as a spork. Which leads to more existential questions we’re not prepared to ask or answer.
While getting Forky back to Bonnie, Woody passes an antique store that has a lamp like the one Bo-Peep stood by in Molly’s room. Entering the shop through a mail slot, Woody and Forky encounter a doll named Gabby Gabby who is sweet and kind and up to all sorts of no good. She has ventriloquist dummies for henchmen.
Gabby Gabby has some serious negative Twilight Zone vibes going on. She has a defective voice box and she wants Woody's so she won't be defective and a little girl will want her as a toy.
OK, as far as villain motivations go, this one is a bit sad.
Woody escapes from Gabby Gabby but she's still has Forky so Woody is determined to go get him back. And he gets help from Bo-Peep.
Bo-Peep's living rough as a lost toy but she's made peace with it. She's a bit of a bad ass now, takin' charge and livin' large, you know? After some convincing, Bo agrees to help Woody rescue Forky, pulling together a crew of some other toys which happens to include Buzz Lightyear who has come looking for Woody.
(I should point out that the usual Toy Story gang is on hand but only for brief scenes of the movie. Mostly, this is Woody's story.)
The mission to rescue Forky goes pear shape and Bo's team decides to call it a day. But only Woody is determined to go back and get Forky.
Protecting Forky is Woody's only purpose now.
Well, that's a bummer.
Going back to the antique store, Woody agrees to give up his voice box to Gabby Gabby for Forky's safe return.
OK, that's very noble of Woody but surely it will not come to that, right? Bo or Buzz will sweep in at the last moment and save the day, of course.
Except...
You know all those things Woody says when you pull his string?
"There's a snake in my boot!"
"Someone's poisoned the water hole!"
"Reach for the sky!"
Yep, that's all gone now.
Woody no longer has a voice box.
Well, surely, this will be fixed by the end of the movie.
The status quo is god, right?
Nope, in Toy Story 4, if the status quo is god, then god is dead.
SPOILER: the movie ends with a stitched up place where Woody’s pull string used to be.
No more "There's a snake in my boot!"
Whoa.
Also…
No, we are so not done.
Do you remember how in Toy Story 2, Woody decided to not return to Andy and go off with Jessie, Bullseye and Stinky Pete to Japan? And for a moment there, it felt real, that it felt like Woody was really going to go through with it?
But Buzz shows up to remind him what being a toy is all about and his importance to Andy.
In Toy Story 4…
Are you sitting down? If not, maybe you should.
In Toy Story 4, there’s a moment where Woody seems torn about leaving Bo-Peep and her fellow lost toys behind. But he’s got to get back to Bonnie.
But as Woody sadly walks away from Bo, Buzz shows up to tell Woody that “she’ll be OK.”
Then Buzz clarifies: “Bonnie will be OK.”
Woody decides to stay with Bo.
The status quo is god? Nope, god is dead.
Woody and Buzz are on separate paths now.
During the early credits, we’re shown a montage of Woody and Bo enjoying a life together, helping other lost toys. While Woody, Bo and their friends seem happy, there is still an inherent sadness to their itinerant state and the underlying sadness that Woody will no longer share a toy box with Buzz, Jessie, Rex, Mr. Potato Head, Slink and the rest of the gang.
Meanwhile back in Bonnie’s room, a year has passed and on her first day of 1st grade, Bonnie has made a new friend: Knifey.
She thinks she’s trash. Forky tells her she’s not; she’s a toy.
Knifey hesitantly asks, “How am I alive?”
Forky answers, “I don’t know.”
And our souls are crushed.
Unless you want to believe that the saga of Woody and Buzz and all the toys in Andy’ room ends happily in Bonnie’s room as Andy heads off to college, go ahead and believe that.
Afterwards, we ventured back to the Fortress of Ineptitude with our souls crushed from the experience.
So whazzup with Toy Story 4?
If you thought the saga of Woody and Buzz and all the toys in Andy’ room came to a satisfactory conclusion with Toy Story 3, you may wonder why must there be a Toy Story 4.
If you want to believe that the saga of Woody and Buzz and all the toys in Andy’ room ends happily in Bonnie’s room as Andy heads off to college, go ahead and believe that.
If you’re curious as to what exactly can happen next, you may venture forth but steel yourself against the darkness of existential angst.
I’m not kidding.
Oh, yeah: SPOILERS!
The movie opens with a prologue, back in the days when Andy was still a kid. We have a high stakes rescue of R.C. by Woody and Slink when things take a sudden and sad turn: Bo Peep is being given away. Woody wants to save her but Bo says no, this is part of being a toy. Sometimes you’re given away. So Woody is forced to say goodbye to Bo-Peep.
The movie has barely begun and Toy Story 4 is ripping your heart from your chest.
(By the way, there is no Pixar short at the beginning of the movie. Once the trailers are done, we deep dive right straight into the pain.)
Back to the present, Bonnie is having fun with Andy’s old toys. Except Woody. Jessie the Cowgirl takes the place of Woody in Bonnie’s imaginative playtime. Woody is left in the closet.
Meanwhile, Bonnie is off to kindergarten where she makes a new friend, transforming a spork with pipe cleaners, googly eyes and sticks into Forky. Bonnie is super devoted to her new friend.
Forky, who has come alive like toys do, is not coping so well. He keeps trying to throw himself away.
Woody makes it his mission to save Forky from himself.
Woody gets separated from the gang recovering Forky from another attempt to throw himself away.
Forky may be a nervous wreck but he does seem to have a handle on his purpose in life as a spork. Which leads to more existential questions we’re not prepared to ask or answer.
While getting Forky back to Bonnie, Woody passes an antique store that has a lamp like the one Bo-Peep stood by in Molly’s room. Entering the shop through a mail slot, Woody and Forky encounter a doll named Gabby Gabby who is sweet and kind and up to all sorts of no good. She has ventriloquist dummies for henchmen.
Gabby Gabby has some serious negative Twilight Zone vibes going on. She has a defective voice box and she wants Woody's so she won't be defective and a little girl will want her as a toy.
OK, as far as villain motivations go, this one is a bit sad.
Woody escapes from Gabby Gabby but she's still has Forky so Woody is determined to go get him back. And he gets help from Bo-Peep.
Bo-Peep's living rough as a lost toy but she's made peace with it. She's a bit of a bad ass now, takin' charge and livin' large, you know? After some convincing, Bo agrees to help Woody rescue Forky, pulling together a crew of some other toys which happens to include Buzz Lightyear who has come looking for Woody.
(I should point out that the usual Toy Story gang is on hand but only for brief scenes of the movie. Mostly, this is Woody's story.)
The mission to rescue Forky goes pear shape and Bo's team decides to call it a day. But only Woody is determined to go back and get Forky.
Protecting Forky is Woody's only purpose now.
Well, that's a bummer.
Going back to the antique store, Woody agrees to give up his voice box to Gabby Gabby for Forky's safe return.
OK, that's very noble of Woody but surely it will not come to that, right? Bo or Buzz will sweep in at the last moment and save the day, of course.
Except...
You know all those things Woody says when you pull his string?
"There's a snake in my boot!"
"Someone's poisoned the water hole!"
"Reach for the sky!"
Yep, that's all gone now.
Woody no longer has a voice box.
Well, surely, this will be fixed by the end of the movie.
The status quo is god, right?
Nope, in Toy Story 4, if the status quo is god, then god is dead.
SPOILER: the movie ends with a stitched up place where Woody’s pull string used to be.
No more "There's a snake in my boot!"
Whoa.
Also…
No, we are so not done.
Do you remember how in Toy Story 2, Woody decided to not return to Andy and go off with Jessie, Bullseye and Stinky Pete to Japan? And for a moment there, it felt real, that it felt like Woody was really going to go through with it?
But Buzz shows up to remind him what being a toy is all about and his importance to Andy.
In Toy Story 4…
Are you sitting down? If not, maybe you should.
In Toy Story 4, there’s a moment where Woody seems torn about leaving Bo-Peep and her fellow lost toys behind. But he’s got to get back to Bonnie.
But as Woody sadly walks away from Bo, Buzz shows up to tell Woody that “she’ll be OK.”
Then Buzz clarifies: “Bonnie will be OK.”
Woody decides to stay with Bo.
The status quo is god? Nope, god is dead.
Woody and Buzz are on separate paths now.
During the early credits, we’re shown a montage of Woody and Bo enjoying a life together, helping other lost toys. While Woody, Bo and their friends seem happy, there is still an inherent sadness to their itinerant state and the underlying sadness that Woody will no longer share a toy box with Buzz, Jessie, Rex, Mr. Potato Head, Slink and the rest of the gang.
Meanwhile back in Bonnie’s room, a year has passed and on her first day of 1st grade, Bonnie has made a new friend: Knifey.
She thinks she’s trash. Forky tells her she’s not; she’s a toy.
Knifey hesitantly asks, “How am I alive?”
Forky answers, “I don’t know.”
And our souls are crushed.
Unless you want to believe that the saga of Woody and Buzz and all the toys in Andy’ room ends happily in Bonnie’s room as Andy heads off to college, go ahead and believe that.
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