Woody's Last Hurrah

Nine years after ‘Toy Story 3’ and nearly a quarter of a century after the original Disney/Pixar favorite from director John Lasseter, Toy Story is back in its fourth and perhaps final installment with ‘Toy Story 4,’ bringing back Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and the rest of the toy gang for yet another fun-filled toy adventure kids from 9 to 99 can enjoy.  Even after all this time, the TS franchise aged well and proved that it’s got legs, having raked in nearly $500 million worldwide to date.

 

Who says toys don’t last forever?  Andy’s gone off to college and donated his toys to Bonnie, a new kindergartener suffering from the usual childhood anxieties during the first day of school.  And like the movie westerns that inspired him, Woody the Cowboy Sheriff is becoming an anachronism and loses favor with Bonnie, who appointed a new sheriff in Jessie as a reflection of our times.  However, Woody is a throwback whose spirit can’t be broken and soon found his new purpose in chaperoning “Forky,” a monstrosity of an art project Bonnie created on her first day in class which helped her deal with her insecurities.  When Bonnie and her family go on vacation and “Forky” is kidnapped by a lonely Shirley Temple-esque doll named “Gabby Gabby” and her ventriloquist dummy minions at an antique shop,  Woody and friends (including his lost-love “Bo Peep”) must find a way to once again save the day.

 

TS4 is another Pixar-animated hit, an immensely fun and entertaining family romp that’s simply irresistible and impossible not to love.  As Woody’s final big adventure, it is also a little melancholy as he’s been the glue that holds the ‘Toy Story’ franchise together through all these years, and it would be interesting to see how the story continues sans Woody if the powers-that-be decide to further the series in the future because it will obviously continue to make a ton of money.

Grade: A