Toy Story 4 (2019)

Directed by Josh Cooley; produced by Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera

Woody the cowboy toy (voice of Tom Hanks) and his pals, including Buzz Lightyear (voice of Tim Allen), accompany their owner, Bonnie (voice of Madeleine McGraw) and her parents on a short road-trip before the little girl begins kindergarten. They take along their new friend, Forky (voice of Tony Hale), whose unusual personality leads everyone to adventures with old friends and new dangers.

The Toy Story series is, I think, one of the most consistently enjoyable sequence of movies extant. Each of the previous sequels nearly equalled the first in imagination and provided decent tales worthy of their animation. This claim, I think, can continue with the latest installment, Toy Story 4, though it is the least of the quartet.

As with the other sequels, the story really begins when one or more characters are lost; in this case, at a tourist-town, where an antiques shop figures prominently. The script benefits from Forky, a plaything made from a disposable plastic kitchen utensil, who spends his time trying to fulfill his destiny of being thrown into the trash, and from the ‘villain’: Gabby Gabby (voice of Christina Hendricks) a soft-speaking little girl’s doll who thinks replacing her defective voice-box with Woody’s will win her a child’s affection.

Also effective is Duke Caboom (voice of Keanu Reeves), a Canadian stunt-rider toy. The script has plenty of amusement and a few laugh-aloud moments. (I chuckled at the sly inclusion of Duke pronouncing route the proper way (“root”) and another character pronouncing it, seconds later, the American way (“rowt”).) There is some genuine creepiness, as well, in Gabby’s henchmen, four silent ventriloquist’s dummies, one, or all, of whom is (are?) named Benson. And the ending is a bit of a tear-jerker.

The writing, however, despite the quality, has problems. Buzz confuses Woody's description of one's 'inner voice' with his factory-recorded lines; this is undeniably a funny joke, but by this point in the films, Buzz should be much smarter than that. Bo Peep (voice of Annie Potts) is depicted, after years as a ‘lost toy’, as having turned into a semi-commando, speeding about in a skunk-shaped toy car and performing feats of physical prowess that G.I. Joe would envy. This is more a concession to current political correctness than it is true to the character.

But the real trouble is that the story gives the toys a reason for their existence dramatically different to that declared in other Toy Story movies. Some toys are no longer interested in living to be played with, or to bring happiness to children, and some seem quite indifferent to children all together. While this may be a logical development in sentient toys, it alters the charm of the Toy Story universe, and makes it almost mundane.

There are a large number of pointless voice-cameos that one recognises only in the closing credits (eg. Betty White, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Timothy Dalton, Carl Weathers, Carol Burnett). However, a good Toy Story movie is still better than most other animated (and many live-action) films. The animation is very detailed and rich, there is talent in the script (even if its direction is faulty), and the viewer will be entertained. And the last fact, in this genre, and most others, is what counts.