Toy Story 4

Toy Story 4 – When Bonnie brings home Forky, an unusual creation that has become her new favourite toy, Woody becomes obsessed with keeping him safe, despite Forky’s desperation to fulfil his destiny as trash. When the toys are taken away on a road trip with the family, Forky finally manages to make his escape but Woody quickly goes after him. On their way back to the toys, Forky is captured by a bad doll so Woody teams up with an old friend to get him back to Bonnie.

Toy Story 4 (2019) – Director: Josh Cooley

Rating: U

Running Length: 100 mins

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts

Genre: Animated, Comedy

REVIEW: TOY STORY 4

After Toy Story 3, a movie that had the perfect ending to the story of Woody and his friends, news that Toy Story 4 would hit cinemas was met with much trepidation. Do we really need another movie after Woody and the gang have been passed on to another child to continue their idyllic life of play? Surely adding anything else will only taint what has so perfectly been rounded off. Well, Toy Story 4 starts much like the others. The toys are played with (although Woody’s popularity with Bonnie is waning and his disappointment at being left in the cupboard grows) and Bonnie starts a new chapter of her life when she goes to Kindergarten. Despite him no longer being a favourite toy, Woody is determined to keep his ‘kid’ as happy as possible at all times so does all he can to keep Bonnie’s weird creation, Forky, from throwing himself in the trash, leading him to end up separated from everyone else.

So the first third of the movie treads familiar ground in order to ease you into the story but then the plot veers when Woody meets an old friend who has made a happy and fulfilling life for themselves away from children, something Woody can barely comprehend. Forky is captured by the movie’s villain, Gabby Gabby, who believes that if only she had a voicebox, her perfect kid, Harmony would fall in love with her. It’s somewhat convenient for her that Woody has a fully functioning voicebox, it’s just a real shame that he refuses to give it to her! A baddie with understandable motivations is always interesting so Gabby Gabby’s desperation to be loved is truly relatable and her unsettling ventriloquist dummies that act as her bodyguards do a grand job of upping the creepy factor!

It is a shame that Woody is separated from the other toys for so long and, while we see plenty of them, the movie relies on the audience knowing how strong their bond is from the previous three films rather than cementing it here. But as the groundwork has been well laid before, this is only a minor quibble. So, did we need Toy Story 4? My answer is a resounding ‘yes!’ so get ready for the final chapter and make sure you have plenty of tissues handy!

CONTENT: IS TOY STORY 4 SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

One of the established toys is packed into a box in order to be given away. Another character rushes after them to bring them home but they decide that it is their time to go. The other character initially tries to dissuade them but ultimately agrees. Both are sad to say goodbye to each other but this isn’t too upsetting.

Bonnie is taken to a Kindergarten’s orientation day. She is extremely reluctant to go and is on the verge of tears when she is taken inside.

While in a seemingly empty and darkened room, a pram is slowly pushed around a corner, its wheels squeak and old fashioned music plays from a gramophone. A ventriloquist’s dummy with a fixed facial expression suddenly turns its head to look at Woody and Forky. A doll sits in the pram and speaks to the pair in a friendly manner, however it soon becomes clear that she wants something from them that they are unwilling to give and two more dummies appear to surround them with fixed but menacing faces. The two run but are followed by the dummies, who are relentless and follow, pushing through narrow gaps and gnashing their teeth. This scene lasts a few minutes and is perhaps the scariest part of the movie.

The dummies are seen at regular intervals throughout the movie, they walk with an awkward gait and their heads loll to one side and are therefore visually quite frightening.

In their desperation to keep Bonnie and her family from leaving, one of the toys uses a nail to deflate one of the tyres, the other toys are very happy about this and no negative consequences are shown so we mention this in case children find it imitable.

A character is swallowed by a cat but soon after she is shown to be alright.

Woody is slowly approached by the doll and her ventriloquist dummies in the dark. He backs away from them and is clearly afraid.

A character is devastated about being rejected by someone they love.

A little girl is lost at a carnival and is incredibly distressed. She sobs and hides away in the shadows, unsure of what to do.

A somewhat unexpected thing happens towards the end of the movie which is very sad. We cannot give any further detail on this in order to avoid spoilers, however it has a similar emotional weight to the events at the end of Toy Story 3.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS TOY STORY 4 FOR KIDS?

The final chapter in the beloved set of children’s movies, Toy Story 4 puts itself high up in the rankings with other Pixar movies when Woody, Buzz and co find themselves in a new adventure. We feel this movie is appropriate for all ages, however we recommend parental supervision for some of the more scary moments.

Violence: 1/5 (two characters have a somewhat violent outlook on life and fantasize about attacking an old woman. This is comedic and their plan is immediately shot down by other characters. Later, these characters chase a man, shooting lasers from their eyes and quickly growing in size until they are gigantic. This could be a little scary for young children but it is quickly brought back to a funny moment)
Emotional Distress: 3/5
Fear Factor: 3/5 (the ventriloquist dummies are very creepy and could be very scary for kids)
Sexual Content: 0/5
Bad Language: 0/5
Dialogue: 0/5
Other Notes: Deals with themes of rejection, friendship, making others happy, determination and teamwork.

Words by Laura Record