Why Toy Story 4 Betrays an Incredible Franchise (SPOILERS)

By Michael Momper

Before reading further, I urge you to see the movie if you are a Toy Story fan and then adjudicate yourself as to what you like or don't like from it... I'm curious to hear your thoughts! There are spoilers below.

I am about as big a Toy Story fan as you can find. A seminal piece of my childhood, this franchise thrice delivered heartwarming, emotional, hilarious and innocent entertainment. It is one of the highest rated trilogies of all time, and a lot of that is due to the fact that it tackles big questions, deftly maneuvers through multiple plot lines and wonderfully balances the character arcs of a large ensemble ranging from the goofy side characters to the more important friendships that stand at the franchise's core. Make no mistake about it, Woody and Buzz are the cornerstone of this franchise, in terms of merchandise sales, placement on posters, screen time as a whole, and even video game stardom. I will mince no words with the latest shocking, albeit visually dazzling, installment of the franchise, Toy Story 4. In this movie, Woody and Buzz are treated with inconceivable, unforgivable ineptitude in what is a truly maddening final ten minutes.

I want to begin with a brief summary of the 90% of the movie that is rather harmless with regards to its treatment of these beloved characters and their individual development. That is to say, for almost an hour and a half, this movie (for the most part) justifies its existence, despite my and most of the fanbase's bemoaning of a sequel to a movie with an absolutely pitch perfect ending, Toy Story 3. Most of this movie is very funny, and I found new characters like Forky to be downright charming. His existential crisis revolving around what it means to be a toy was very clever, and other new characters like Duke Kaboom, Ducky and Bunny were sometimes side-splittingly funny. The animation is the best I have ever seen, especially the first scene, which could be mistaken for A-level photography quite easily. There were some kooky and lighthearted moments but I won't delve too much into specifics as I have literally spent hours talking to people about the final ten minutes of the movie and want to be able to reasonably flesh out my thoughts on it without boring you to tears.

My qualms begin with the movie's treatment of Buzz, one of its main two cash cows. Buzz is included on every major movie-release poster, front and center. He is one of the biggest profit drivers of the series and the favorite character of nearly half of young boys, who were generally the target audience when the first movie dropped in 1995. In the fourth installment, he is reduced to mere comedic fodder, an incompetent idiot who shows little chemistry with his best friend and who eventually abandons him at the prompting of his voicebox. Can you tell I'm shaking my head even while typing this? We see in all of the other movies that Buzz's comedic worth comes in the fact that he takes human sayings very literally and is a stoic toy with a large vocabulary- indeed, he was even modeled after the temperament of Doctor Spock, and in the first movie they even make references as such. Spock is anything but an idiot. Buzz shows his loyalty and drive time and again, but namely in Toy Story 2, when he not only saves Woody, but drives home the most important message for Woody in the whole movie: "You are a toy! Your here to be played with, to make Andy happy, not sit behind a display case forever!" This is Woody's biggest temptation; his pride is on the line as he could be adored behind glass as the mint-condition star of Woody's Roundup... and yet Buzz, being the great friend he is, convinces him to return to his friends and his kid. Buzz is a principled character and his comedy doesn't need to be forced, as is done in Toy Story 4, with slapstick and general ineptitude as Buzz is relegated to the sidelines.. nay, not even the sidelines, perhaps the tunnel that enters the stadium. This is a hell of a way to treat your money-making, fan-pleasing, lovable creation; surely one of the biggest stones on which this empire was built.

Now I come to the ending, in which Woody decides to leave his friends behind and live his own adventure with Bo Peep as a traveling circus toy. Though I am tempted, I will refrain from straw-manning the justification i am hearing for this ending, refrain from demagoguery and instead tell you their argument. Proponents of this ending believe Woody needs to move on and this is his entrance into an untethered existence. With Woody leaving to be with Bo Peep, he is ready for new adventures and leaving his past behind, valiantly moving forward despite his admitted sentimentality and love for his past time with dear friends. Bo Peep will be by his side, and his new purpose will be helping other toys find a home but with the freedom to roam, and make new friends along the way.

Now that you've heard their argument in my own words, allow me to explain why the ending, to me, was a complete betrayal of the entire franchise's themes, emotional tact, and character arcs. Woody's sole mission is to be there for his kid. Plain and simple. This is what makes him happy, this is what makes him a leader, and this is what makes his kid happy. Though all of the toys are neglected at some point in time when a new toy comes around, they are always put back in the rotation once their kid has played constantly with a new toy. We see this especially in the first Toy Story, as Woody's jealousy boils over after a long time of neglect when Buzz Lightyear crashes onto the scene. Even though Buzz is a brand new, state of the art toy, and Woody is from the 1950s (a fact that is even brought up in the most recent movie!!), Andy still goes back to playing with him. In the beginning of the fourth movie, we hear that Woody has been neglected for three straight days and this bothers him. This would never, however, be a reason for him to leave, as he is not played with for literally years before Andy goes to college (see Toy Story 3). Days, or even weeks, without playtime wouldn't be much of an issue.

This latest film shoots itself in the foot by exclaiming exactly my point. At one moment, Woody says "The most noble thing a toy can do is be there for his kid." It doesn't matter that he says this is all he has left, because, by his own words, this mission is everything.  Gabby Gabby points out how meaningful it is that a kid's name is branded onto his foot, a constant reminder of his main reason to exist. The movie further damns itself by, quite rightly, pointing out that Woody's love of Andy is all-consuming and something he never forgets. Alas, at the end of the third movie, Andy tears up at the thought of giving away Woody and asks Bonnie to take good care of him. She promises she will. By deserting his best friends, Woody leaves her promise unfulfilled, and thus denies Andy's wishes and effectively betrays him. Woody would never do this, especially for the simple fact of infatuation with Bo Peep.

And it is infatuation. There is never a heart-wrenching discussion between the two in any of the movies. When Woody looks at her, his heart melts with attraction but it is never portrayed as a soul connection. In fact, in this movie she is extremely rude to Woody, constantly belittling him and putting him down. Even for fans who enjoy this ending, there would have been considerably more emotional heft if their relationship had been one of real love and servitude. Instead, the writers are forced to bring Bo back to a docile character just to drive the emotion of their embrace at the end, a very cheap way to wrap up a butchering of her character (see her portrayal in the first movie; i.e. "I've found my moving buddy!" when Buzz comes to town, etc.). This is a completely forced relationship.

Woody is the hinge upon which this franchise swings. From the opening scenes of the first movie, namely the toy staff meeting, he is portrayed as a flawed but determined hero. He is above all loyal, and focused on his main mission with acute and keen vision. This vision is what he leads the other toys with: "We are here to make our kid happy, and be there when they need us, no matter how often that is!" This is brought to a crystal-clear poignancy in Toy Story 3  with the discussions about going in the attic. Woody says (and "inept" Buzz agrees fully!) that even if Andy means for them to be put in the attic, that is where they will stay because that is his wishes. Woody doesn't seek glamour, self-indulgence or any sort of untethered existence... because he knows that in the end, a toy is made for their kid to be happy, and that is what will in turn bring him to fulfillment and bliss in the long run even if he is not played with in the interim. Instead, Toy Story 4's ending ditches this absolutely cornerstone theme for themes of finding your own adventure no matter what others have done for you (as if he hasn't had grand enough adventures with his regular ensemble... give me a break!!!!!).

There is a lot more to say, and specific scenes that bring this ending crashing down like a deck of cards but I intend to save it for a podcast or video where I can further hash these things out in my typical long-winded and rambling fashion. If you've read this far you've presumably seen the movie and I'd love to hear what more of you think about this ending.

As for a rating, I don't think I can give one. What was for many points a great movie defied its predecessors for me in a way so shocking so as to be nonsensical, devoid of a rating opportunity in the way that there is no way to calculate. The ending is wrong, meaning incorrect, as long as we are lead to believe this is a sequel and Woody and Buzz are the same characters and in the same universe they always have been, which of course is how this is portrayed. It is not valid according to the characters' past decisions, values, and arcs. More on this at another time.

Rating: Toy Story divided by zero.