"Toy Story" Forever

Want to know a secret? I didn't really like "Toy Story 3," the Best Picture nominated, era-capping PIXAR masterpiece, as much as everyone else seemed to. I found it a little overly treacly and maudlin, even though it was overall a very fine movie, full of very fine performances and concepts, executed beautifully. I actually like the ending provided by "Toy Story 4" a bit better, keeping in mind that this ending wouldn't have been possible without the existence of "Toy Story 3."

Sheriff Woody (Tom Hanks) and his friends are helping little Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw) adjust to kindergarten. He latches on to helping Forky (Tony Hale), Bonnie's current favorite toy, who she made out of a discarded spork. Forky is having trouble adjusting to the idea that he is a toy instead of trash, and keeps getting himself lost or misplaced. He and Woody end up separated from the rest of the toys during Bonnie's family road trip. They meet several other toys at an antique store and a carnival, including Woody's old love interest Bo Peep (Annie Potts), now living in the wild as a lost toy.

I like the idea that I've seen floated around that "Toy Story 3" is about a parent letting go of their kid, and that "Toy Story 4" is about the parent realizing that it's okay to move on. It has plenty of action sequences and humor, but it's also a much more thoughtful and personal film than I was expecting. We spend most of the film with Woody, who is working through a lot of emotional and existential issues while having encounters with all the new characters. With the exception of Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), most of the old gang is kept in the background, ceding the spotlight to Forky, Bo, Giggle McDimples (Ally Maki), Duke Kaboom (Keanu Reeves), and the comedic duo of Bunny and Ducky (Jordan Peele and Keegan Michael Key). The villain of the piece is Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks), an antique doll with a gang of ventriloquist dummies for minions.

It's the new characters who really enliven the movie, and I'm glad that the folks at PIXAR took the risk of putting them at the forefront. I love the weird, haphazard nature of Forky, mirroring his construction. I love that Duke Kaboom is just an excuse for a string of Canadian references and in-jokes, but still generates pathos and affection. Bunny and Ducky are awfully reminiscent of aggressive comic relief characters in lesser animated films, but the film figures out how to use them well. Gabby Gabby is also a very familiar kind of character, but she gets a well-considered arc that makes her distinct from her predecessors. These new personalities and some new settings go a long way in helping "Toy Story 4" feel like a different animal than the other "Toy Story" movies, opening up new parts of the series' universe as it tackles new thematic territory too.

Like many other PIXAR features, this one balances adult concerns with plenty of kid-friendly hijinks and silliness. I like that this one gets a little stranger and a little more surreal than I've come to expect from PIXAR. There's a lot of dark humor involving Forky, some slightly off-color insinuations made by Giggles, and what I suspect is an honest-to-god "Akira" reference delivered by Key and Peele. It feels like the rules of the universe have shifted a bit, to the point where the toys are actively messing with Bonnie's parents (Jay Hernandez, Lori Alan) without any hesitation. Then again, that fits in with the arc of the franchise, where Woody learns to see things from different perspectives over time.

For longtime PIXAR fans, there are more in-jokes and references here than I think I've seen in any of their other films. Of course the animation is spectacular, and of course the production design, performances, writing, music, and everything else is sublime. Nitpickers can point to reused plot points and concepts from other recent PIXAR films, but the execution is so impeccable, I can't bring myself to care. In short, "Toy Story 4" easily lives up to the rest of the "Toy Story" films, and if PIXAR wants to make another one somewhere down the line, I'm all for it.

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