It’s been nine years since TOY STORY 3 sent me out of the theater with tears in my eyes. The TOY STORY trilogy represents the best of PIXAR animation, both in quality of technical presentation on the screen and the authentic messages the stories convey. I was leery about TOY STORY 4 because the bar had been set so high. But the wizards at PIXAR produced a wonderful fourth chapter for Woody and Buzz and all the other toys!
Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) attempts to help little Bonnie adjust to Kindergarten where Bonnie creates a new character, Forky, as an art project. Bonnie’s family goes on a road trip with the toys and by an incredible coincidence (SPOILER ALERT) Woody finds his lost love, Bo Peep (voiced by Annie Potts) (END SPOILER ALERT). TOY STORY 4 explores themes about identity, loss, and destiny. My favorite new toy is the Canadian Duke Kaboom (voiced by Keanu Reeves). You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll leave the theater gratified by TOY STORY 4’s heartfelt sincerity. GRADE: A-
In this Summer of Crappy Sequels, it’s about time we got a decent movie. I enjoyed the first three and I’m sure this one will be no different.
Jeff, the 2019 movie Box Office is down 8% so far. Movies like TOY STORY 4 and SPIDER-MAN will improve the situation. But, as you point out, there are a lot of crappy movies in the pipeline.
I won’t laugh, cry or feel gratified because I won’t bother with it, theater, DVD or whatever. I turned the first one off a third or so in when I rented it, and have no interest in returning.
Rick, my favorite toy when I was tyke was Robby the Robot. It looked like this: http://www.vintagerobottoys.com/mint-robby-the-robot-toys-for-sale/
My second favorite toy when I was 8 or 9 was Mattel’s “Snub-nose .38” that fired actual plastic bullets! Check out the 1950s commercial I inserted at the end of the TOY STORY 4 post and imagine me as that kid!
I don’t remember either of those, nor do I have much memory of toys I had as a kid except a few toy trucks, some tinker toys and some puzzles. There were books, of course, and I played a lot by climbing trees, pretending a stick was a rifle, wandering the empty hills behind our house, looking at wildlife; birds, lizards, snakes and spiders were fascinating.
Rick, Patrick loved LEGOS and Katie enjoyed playing with toy houses and dolls. Later, both of my children loved to read books. They still do.
In the good old days before tv …
I had wooden sets to build stuff first and then my grandmother bought me for xmas a Märklin set of metal stuff from which you could build cranes etc – a year later I even bought an electric motor for my crane …
Stuff like this: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/M%C3%A4rklin_neu.jpg/390px-M%C3%A4rklin_neu.jpg
Even more OT:
My grandmother was the first in the family to get a tv set – I was already 12 years old, so never developed a liking for children’s programs.
But a friend of the family had a collection of all the German Mickey Mouse magazines – including extra editions like Cinderella, Pirates, Snow White etc which I looked in almost every afternoon. 🙂
And later of course his mysteries, Edgar Wallace’s Africa novels and then SF.
I often think that these times before tv were better – at least for children. You had to do more yourself for your entertainment but of course you can’t turn back the clock.
Wolf, many American kids today play with their smartphones rather than watch TV.
I have a real snub-nosed .38 Special and shoulder holster!
Michael Medved raved about Toy Story IV. I would go if I took my granddaughter, but not on my own! And I won’t cry!
Bob, if you see TOY STORY 4 your eyes are going to get misty! Your granddaughter will love it!