By Steve Crum

Question: Has it really been 25 years since the first Toy Story movie was released?

Answer: Yup. (Incidentally, that cowboy language “yup” is nowhere near the King’s English spoken by the film’s main character, Woody, the cowboy doll. Tom Hanks has voiced him since the beginning.)

Since Toy Story 4, directed by Josh Cooley, was released last June, fans and critics have once again gushed over every aspect of the CGI animated gem. It was no surprise that it soon won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. It is doubly an accomplishment since after the first Toy Story in 1995, plans were shelved to produce Toy Story 2 to theaters. Execs thought it better/safer to release it in direct-to-DVD form. But they gambled, and won. The second Toy Story was a sensation that led to Toy Story 3 and now #4. 

And what sensation exists in Toy Story 4! 

The screenplay, by Andrew Stanton and Stephany Folsom, takes up where 2010’s Toy Story 3 left off. Bo Peep (voiced by Annie Potts) and her close friend Woody are rescuing the human Andy’s remote-controlled car. Segue into a major catastrophe as Bo herself is donated to a new owner. Woody is crushed because he has been in love with Bo forever—or at least in maximum doll years. Jump to years later when Andy is a young man, and all his toys are given to a little girl, Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw). 

Enough of early plot details! Just realize that in the midst of Woody and his toy buddies (Rex, Hamm, Slinky Dog, and Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head among them) adapting to a new environment, a major plot change occurs. It involves a reunion of Woody with Bo Peep, a carnival, and some very creepy toys therein. 

But the most memorable of all the new characters is a simply created toy, a plastic fork, called “Forky” (Tony Hale). Forky has proven to be so popular that Pixar has already created a Forky CGI short. 

TS4 was supposedly the grand finale of the franchise. But, hey, money speaks. Even Tim Allen (the voice of Buzz Lightyear) has recently said that Toy Story 5 is a possibility. The public demand is undoubtedly there. Pixar Animation Studios/Walt Disney Pictures will have to decide. 

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GRADE, On A to F Scale: A