Pixar Month - Toy Story 3 & 4 (2010/2019)

          Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, we're inching closer and closer to the end of Pixar Month, so let's wrap up the Toy Story series with Toy Story 3 and 4. Released in 2010 and 2019, respectively, Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4 bring an end to both Andy's story, as well as Woody's story. But, let's dive into these films, starting with Toy Story 3. 

         So, we open Toy Story 3 with Andy playing with his toys, and we actually see the scenario played out by the toys themselves. For instance, Woody and Jessie work together to save a group of Troll doll orphans from a runaway train, hijacked by One-Eyed Bart and One-Eyed Betty (Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head), with Buzz helping out, Slinky as a force field dog, Rex as a full-sized Tyrannosaurus, and Hamm as Dr. Porkchop, dropping a barrel of monkeys on them by pressing the "Death by Monkeys" button on his airship console. Years go on, and Andy is getting ready to head off for college, and the remainder of his toys are as follows: Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Bullseye, Slinky, Rex, Hamm, the three Squeeze-Toy Aliens, and Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. Wheezy, RC, Lenny, and even Bo Peep are gone, either through garage sales, getting tossed, or just going missing. Andy bags up his toys to be put into the attic, but his mom accidentally puts the bag on the curb to get tossed in the garbage. Woody goes to rescue them, and they all get into a box of toys, including Barbie, that Molly, Andy's sister, is giving to a daycare center called Sunnyside.

        It is at Sunnyside where Woody and the gang meets Lots-O-Huggin-Bear, or Lotso for short. Losto, along with Ken, who Barbie is instantly attracted to, shows everyone around, and sets up Andy's toys in the "Caterpillar Room." It is here that they learn how young the children of the "Caterpillar Room" are, and the toys all agree that these children are too young to play with them. Andy, however, finds his way outside, where he's picked up by a little girl named Bonnie, who takes him home with her. Woody meets Bonnie's toys, including a triceratops named Trixie, a hedgehog names Mr. Pricklepants, a unicorn named Buttercup, a doll named Dolly, and a trio of peas in a pod. When they learn that Woody came from Sunnyside, they reveal how terrible the place is for toys. A clown toy named Chuckles, who was friends with Lotso once, tells of how the two of them, along with a doll named Big Baby, were once the toys of Daisy, who left them behind in a park one day, and when the three found their way home, saw that Daisy got a replacement for Lotso, who goes insane, and they find their way to Sunnyside. Lotso puts himself in charge, making it so that new toys don't get a fair chance, and Chuckles, after ending up slightly broken, is brought home by Bonnie, who cares for toys of all kinds. 

       Back at Sunnyside, Buzz tries to get the rest of Andy's toys upgraded to the "Butterfly Room," where children are slightly older, and more age appropriate for Andy's toys. Lotso, although initially offering this opportunity to Buzz alone, sets him to Demo mode, where Buzz goes full Space Ranger inca again, and is loyal to Lotso, no longer his friends. Woody returns, and makes a plan to escape back to Andy's house, and they try to restore Buzz to normal, but end up putting him in Spanish mode. After a while, Buzz goes back to normal, and a major confrontation between the toys and Lotso goes down, which ends with Andy's toys and Lotso ending up on the truck headed to the dump.

        Woody and the rest of Andy's toys all work together to get to safety from the incinerator, but Lotso takes the opportunity to save himself, only to be picked up by a garbage truck driver, and attaching him to the grill of his truck. Andy's toys, meanwhile, are saved from the incinerator by the three Squeeze-Toy Aliens, who wandered off to a claw machine earlier. Hitching a ride on a garbage truck driven by a much older Sid, the toys return home to Andy's, and get ready to head to the attic, while Woody goes to college with Andy. Woody, however, has an idea of a better place for Andy's toys, and writes a note to Andy with Bonnie's address. And heads to the house, and gives Bonnie his old toys, and begrudgingly gives her Woody as well. After one last time playing with his old toys, Andy drives off to college, and Woody and the gang are now part of Bonnie's collection of toys. The movie ends with Woody and the gang learning from Barbie and Ken that Sunnyside is a much better place for toys now that Lotso is gone.

          And now, we come to Toy Story 4, which opens with Woody and Bo Peep, years before the events of Toy Story 3, rescuing RC from the gutter on a stormy night. The rescue is successful, but Bo goes missing in the effort. Cut to years later, and Woody and the rest of the gang are now fully adjusted to life with Bonnie and the rest of her toys. Bonnie is about to start school, and Woody tags along. It is at school that Bonnie makes a new toy called Forky. Forky is literally a spork with some pipe cleaner arms, popsicle stick feet, google-eyes, and a weird mouth, and is constantly running for the trashcan. So, Woody tries his best to teach Forky that he's not garbage, he's a toy, and he's meant to be there for Bonnie. 

        During a road trip, Woody and Forky go missing, and end up in an antique shop, where they meet a doll named Gabby Gabby. Gabby is defective in that her voice box isn't perfect, and she wants a new voice box to be with a child she's wanted to be the toy of for years: Harmony. Woody gets away, but Forky is caught. Woody is saved by Bo, who became a lost toy along with her sheep, and is now hanging around at a carnival, along with toys like Duke Kaboom, who is an Evel Knievel-like stunt biker toy. Buzz, meanwhile, works to get Woody and Forky back. 

        Returning to the antique shop, Woody does his best to save Forky from Gabby and her minions, a group of ventriloquist dummies. Empathizing with her desire to be loved by a child, Woody gives Gabby his own voice box, making it so that she has a fully functional one. However, Gabby is rejected by Harmony, and is left heartbroken. Woody offers her a place with Bonnie's toys, and they all head back to the carnival, where Gabby finds a little girl who got separated from her parents, and is scared. Gabby makes herself be seen by the child, and becomes her new toy. The girl is reunited with her parents, and Gabby has a new home. Buzz and the rest of Bonnie's toys try to save both Forky and Woody, but Woody elects to stay behind, becoming a lost toy alongside Bo. His journey over, he sees no reason to return with Bonnie. Buzz and co. respect his decision, and all ends happily.

         Okay, so Toy Story 3 and 4 both have a sense of finality to them. Toy Story 3 sees the end of Woody and the gang's journey with Andy, and Toy Story 4 shows the end of Woody's personal journey. All the favorites from before, including Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Annie Potts, Wallace Shawn, and John Ratzenberger, all do a terrific job here. Newcomers like Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton, Jeff Garlin, and Timothy Dalton in Toy Story 3, and Tony Hale, Keegan Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Christina Hendricks, and Keanu Reeves in Toy Story 4 all fit their roles very well. The animation in both films is terrific, and Pixar did very well bringing the Toy Story franchise to a close. So, I am therefore giving both Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4 a rating of 5/5.

       Now, there is one other Toy Story related item I'd like to briefly touch upon, and that would be the world of "Toy Box" in the Disney/Square Enix video game Kingdom Hearts III, which was also released in 2019. So, in this world, game protagonists Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy, end up as toys, and they befriend Woody, Buzz, Hamm, Rex, the Green Army Men, and the Squeeze-toy Aliens, all of whom are left after Andy, his mom, Molly, and his other toys disappeared, just before shadowy monsters called Heartless, as well as a shadowy figure known as Young Xehanort, arrived and started wreaking havoc. So, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, along with Woody and the gang, head to a local toy store, Galaxy Toys, to stop Xehanort and the Heartless. It's really cool, and one of my favorite worlds in Kingdom Hearts III. I'd also like to mention that back at Disney Investor's Day in December, Pete Docter of Pixar announced that a movie called Lightyear, telling the story of the space explorer that inspired the Buzz Lightyear toys, would be produced, and is set to star Chris Evans as Buzz. So, I'm definitely looking forward to that. Well, that wraps it up for now. Join me next time as we continue Pixar Month with Coco.