Woody presents Forky to the rest of the toys in the trailer for Toy Story 4. Photo courtesy of Disney/Pixar, screenshot by Linda Maleh.
The Toy Story franchise hasn’t disappointed us yet. All three Toy Story movies have dazzled, warming the hearts of children and adults alike. Yet, as I watch the first trailer for Toy Story 4, out June 21, I have to wonder if that run of success has run out.
Toy Story 4 follows Woody and Bonnie’s new toy, Forky – a spork that she literally made into a toy by gluing googly eyes and bits of pipe-cleaners on him. You remember Bonnie, she’s the one who inherited the toys from Andy at the end of Toy Story 3. Well, the thing is, as much as she loves those toys Andy gave her, Forky becomes her favorite new toy. The problem is that Forky has no interest in being a toy, and in a bizarre suicide attempt, he flings himself out the window of a moving vehicle. Woody, being the good toy, the one most dedicated to Bonnie’s happiness, isn’t just going to let her favorite toy disappear on her, and so he flings himself out the window after Forky.
Woody as a lost toy who spends the film trying to get back to his owner is pretty much the premise of every Toy Story movie ever, but this time he has Forky as a companion, and that’s not the most interesting dynamic. Over the course of their time together, Woody teaches Forky what it means to be a toy, and why it is so important to find their way back to Bonnie.
Little Bo Peep shows Woody around a carnival in the trailer for Toy Story 4. Photo courtesy of Disney/Pixar, screenshot by Linda Maleh.
Of course, the movie isn’t just one long buddy-road trip. There’s a lot of other stuff that happens in the trailer too. For one thing, the other toys go after Woody to bring him home. They too hop out of said moving vehicle, led by Buzz Lightyear, to search for them. Speaking of Woody and Forky, they get shanghaied by some demonic toys, and wind up getting rescued by Little Bo Peep, who’s been turned into some sort of badass survivor, living on her own without a kid to belong to. She’s done quite well for herself, and she tries to convince Woody that there’s more to life than being someone’s toy. For a moment, Woody is spellbound, by both Bo (there’s some romance brewing there) and the carnival she takes him to. However, then he sees Bonnie, and goes after her, because at his heart, Woody loves being a toy. A heartfelt montage ensues.
If you feel like you now know the entire plot of the movie just reading this, that’s how I feel too. Either they revealed too much in the trailer, there’s just not a whole lot to the plot, or there’s a lot we’re missing and we just don’t know it yet. For now though, I’m skeptical. But, maybe I shouldn’t be. As I said, Toy Story hasn’t disappointed yet.
