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Sequels are a dime a dozen these days in Hollywood. This is why I really respect Pixar Studios continual release of films based on new intellectual properties such as the fabulous Inside Out or Coco which TN2 Reviewer, Sean Clerkin gave 5 stars. While not all have been successful, The Good Dinosaur comes to mind, they offer fresh and interesting concepts to be explored. This has paid off with the studio claiming nine of the 19 Best Animated Feature awards that have been given at the Oscars. Pixar’s sequels have had a far rougher track record. With the exception of one series, not one Pixar sequel appears in the top ten Pixar film ratings on Metacritic. While this is a rather shallow way to gauge a film’s quality, it is indicative of a sentiment that I hold regarding these sequels’ forgettability. That being said, the one series that defies this trend however, is Toy Story. Toy Story 3 is the only animated sequel with a Best Animated Feature Oscar to its name. All good things must come to an end, so the question is can a series that most thought ended nine years ago resume where it left off?
The film certainly plays into audience nostalgia with a montage showing the previous owners of our band of eponymous toys, growing up and eventually passing the toys onto the new child protagonist, Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw). A creative, but shy toddler who creates a figure out of a fork which she dubs Forky, a school of naming which I am sure many of us were a part of in our formative years. When Forky (Tony Hale) comes to life, he makes a beeline for the bin, to which his nature as a disposable fork draws him. As you may imagine, this concept is explored to hilarious effect. The film had me laughing and grinning for much of the run time, with Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key’s antics as violent comic duo Bunny and Ducky being a particular highlight. While the moments of levity are spot on, this film balances them well with its rather melancholy emotional narrative.
The themes of parenthood and an attachment to the past are central to this film. Pixar have 22 golden rules for storytelling which they have published. Arguably, the most important of these is the rule that one must ask themself “why does this story need to be told?”. This is a question that can often be difficult to answer in a satisfying manner for most big budget films, as their raison d’être can often be to give the studio a financial raison d’être. In spite of this, Toy Story 4 finds an answer to this question, it is aimed squarely at people who have grown up with the series. It leaves the story in a place that will be difficult to continue from, in a finale equally tear-jerking and rejuvenating.
My primary criticism of the film is that much of the returning cast spend most of the feature sitting around waiting for things to happen. This is most noticeable in the case of Jessie (Joan Cusack), who is used largely as a way of visualising a central conflict of the film. At the end of the day, this film orbits around Woody (Tom Hanks) and Bo-Peep (Annie Potts). This focus is not necessarily bad, it merely shows the weight a long-running series has to carry.
Toy Story 4 runs the gambit of emotions and will have viewers enraptured throughout. The studio has stated that they wish to focus on “all-new” films going forward and while I enjoyed this new chapter of the Toy Story series, I am happy to bid it goodbye. I cannot wait to see the results of this new creative direction, especially after viewing this film’s ending.
