'Toy Story 4' a daring, worthy return to the franchise

When a grown-up Andy gifted Woody, Buzz and the rest of his toys to little girl Bonnie at the end of 2010’s “Toy Story 3,” it seemed like a perfect ending to an acclaimed and beloved film series. Fans (me) still get misty eyed just thinking about that movie’s emotional and deeply satisfying final 15 minutes.

So why would Disney and Pixar make “Toy Story 4” and risk souring that perfect ending? While you can always answer that question with a single word (money), it turns out the folks at Pixar had at least a few more great ideas for the “Toy Story” universe.

One of those great ideas is Forky, a “toy” made out of a few classroom scraps at a pre-kindergarten orientation. His creator, Bonnie, loves her new plaything, bringing Forky home to join her other toys. Unfortunately, Forky (voiced hilariously by “Veep” star Tony Hale) firmly believes he belongs at the bottom of a trash can.

This new wrinkle to the world of “Toy Story” complicates what the audience understands about the nature of being a toy in this movie world, as well as the social contract forged between children and their secretly sentient playthings. Forky also delivers some big laughs before Woody’s main story arc really begins.

The bulk of “Toy Story 4” focuses on Woody (Tom Hanks) and his lingering allegiance to the past. Bonnie is not Andy, and Bonnie doesn’t hold the same place in her heart for the old cowboy as Andy once did.

Then, on a family road trip that brings Bonnie’s toys to a small-town carnival, Woody runs into Bo Peep (Annie Potts, wonderful in her return to the franchise), one of Andy’s original toys given away in between the events of the second and third films.

Bo Peep is technically a “lost toy,” which has always been one of Woody’s greatest fears. However, Bo Peep appears energized by her freedom, choosing to connect with kids on the fly in public spaces and helping other toys find more permanent homes.

“Toy Story 4,” directed by Josh Cooley and written by a team of several writers, has other, more action-oriented plot elements too, including a new antagonist in the form of Gabby Gabby (voiced by Christina Hendricks), a doll without a voice box desperate to leave her dusty spot in an old antique store near the carnival. Forky inadvertently becomes part of her latest scheme.

The movie also commits time to other new characters, including Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele as attached stuffed animals Ducky and Bunny, and Canadian stuntman toy Duke Kaboom, voiced by Keanu Reeves. These characters energize the movie with several standout comedic moments, notably Ducky and Bunny’s unique rescue ideas and, well, pretty much every syllable of Reeves’ performance of Kaboom is comedy gold. The year 2019 definitely belongs to Keanu.

These new characters take up most of the screen time outside of the Woody-Bo Peep A-story, leaving franchise favorites like Jesse, Rex, Hamm, Slinky and the Potato Heads in a small subplot in Bonnie’s family RV. Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) at least tags along for the main adventure and gets some fun moments trying to discover his “inner voice.”

The decision to leave the other toys behind might rub some fans the wrong way, but it ultimately helps to make “Toy Story 4” feel fresh and expand the scope of the story outside of the original trilogy’s focus on Andy’s crew. Many of those characters have been the focus of recent “Toy Story” shorts anyway, notably Jesse’s lead arc in the pretty-terrific television short, “Toy Story of Terror” from 2013.

Remarkably, the focus on Woody and Bo Peep here builds to its own emotionally satisfying conclusion without rehashing the thematic elements of any of the original films. “Toy Story 4” has a more complicated finale that provides closure to their broader story while also opening it up to even more potential story opportunities.

“Toy Story 4” is taut, funny, character-focused and gorgeously animated, but perhaps its greatest accomplishment is just how easily it manages to justify its own existence and become a deeply rewarding continuation of a truly great movie series. Put another way, Pixar is four-for-four with “Toy Story” movies.

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Tyler Wilson can be reached at [email protected]