Not yet.
Toy Story 4 opens June 21, 2019.NO NO NO!!!!
I am perhaps Toy Story 2's biggest fan on the entire planet, and I say... BAD IDEA!!! The story ended well- a sequel will just diminish that! (Okay, admittedly, I also think the same thing about Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but still plan to see Indy IV.) Just... NO! Bad idea!!!
We should probably wait and see. There was probably similar talk when the production of Toy Story 2 was first announced way back when. Then again, this could be the one where the Law of Averages finally catches up to Pixar.
Teaser posters. Not very impressive-looking ones, either.
According to imdb, the concept is that the toys are dumped in a day-care center after Andy departs for college, and in a B-plot, Hamm, Rex and Mr. Potato Head begin a quest to find their long lost twin brothers. I wonder if Slinky Dog will remain in the cast, and if so, who will voice him, now that Jim Varney is no longer with us.
Nice trailer. Doesn't indicate the story, but then, teasers often don't, and this one was fun to watch.
If the trailer is any indication, then Slink will be back, voiced by someone else.
Trailer!
I sense a possible nit here, assuming the content of the trailer accurately reflects the film's: I never bought into the notion from the second film that Woody was some kind of "family heirloom", or whatever Andy's mom called him. But if they insist that that's what he is, why would Andy and his Mom just throw him into the toy box and then give or sell him away with the other toys, rather than keep him for Andy's children to play with one day? It's like they came up with this implausible premise in the last film, and in this one, they go back to not having it.
Also (and this is a possible spoiler), when Buzz gets reset to his "newly bought" default setting, Ham laments that the "astronut" has returned. But I thought the only one who thought the newly activated Buzz as an "astronut" was Woody. All the other toys accepted Buzz, his belief that he was a space explorer, his assertion that he could fly, etc.
*Possible Spoilers*
I believe I read... somewhere, mind you- maybe wikipedia? - the fact that I can't remember where gives me pause... :-) - that in fact the plan is to put them into storage or give them away, something to that effect, but Andy changes his mind and decides to keep them - but that they end up on the curb by accident and are found by trash collectors who take them to the day care. Now, this is pretty nebulous, but it could serve as an anti-nit if they end up discarded by accident instead of intention.
Andy's mom says specifically, I believe "An old family toy"- not necessarily an heirloom, but a 'used to be his father's, now it's his' kind of a thing, I think. It did feel a little like a changed premise from the first movie, but I bought it- nothing specifically contradicted it in the first film. Either way, it does seem like something that, while not valued as an heirloom, would be saved for the next generation. So... if the 'tossed by accident' premise is untrue, I'd agree that's definitely a nit. We shall have to wait and see...
As for the second point, though- I would suggest that this is not an oversight or changed premise, as the toys got used to the down-to-earth Buzz in between Toy Story and Toy Story II, and the behavior of the alternate Buzz-with-a-belt, which they were DEFINITELY disenchanted with :-) , is what's responsible for their disparagement of the 'delusional factory model Buzz'. Which, considering that he, for example, dropped them down an elevator shaft because he thought he had anti-gravity servos, is not an altogether unreasonable change of heart.
I've gotta say, while I remain skeptical, this trailer- and what they're doing with Buzz, especially, has given me cause to hope that this could be a worthy successor...
Just got home from seeing it. It was great. I liked it more than the second film (indeed, it could've been placed after the first film, and done a better job of conveying the "life must go on, even for toys theme"--the new characters like Jessie and Bullseye notwithstanding), and I'm pleased (though not surprised) that it currently has a 100% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Andy's attachment to his toys was a bit hard to believe, even if it was meant to represent his feelings about his childhood, but I'll allow it since it's a kids' film, and his impromptu play session with Bonnie at the end may indicate that he's just a sensitive guy, one who really likes kids, perhaps as much as the Pixar creators do. His good-bye to Woody may be easier to view when seen as Pixar's good-bye to the characters.
Timothy Dalton as Mr. Prickly Pants, asking Woody if he was classically trained, and all of Bonnie's other toys acting like actors, was hysterical.
The climax was the most adult-scary one I've ever seen in a Pixar film, and one gets the sense that the creators were almost toying (no pun intended) with the fact that this might be the last Toy Story in order to raise the audience's fear level. The resolution to it was not only a hilarious one, but one that gave more to do to a set of characters previously not used in a profound way in the plot.
I wondered if the creators would retire Slinky Dog or have him voiced by an inferior replacement now that Jim Varney is no longer with us. I'm happy to see that Blake Clark made a seamless replacement.
I also wondered why the creators got rid of Bo Peep, Etch, Lenny and Mr. Wheezy. According to Wikipedia, Lenny and Wheezy were voiced by the late Joe Ranft. I figure they wanted to keep the group at the center of the escape plot manageable, but I thought it odd that they didn't at include Bo, given that she was Woody's love interest. I also like the emerging relationship between Buzz and Jessie, and the results of the gang's attempt to fix Buzz was great.
Couple of nits, though:
Woody loses his hat on the Sunnyside front lawn, right before Bonnie picks him up and takes him home. When he is reunited with his friends back at Sunnyside, Bullseye gives it back to him. When did Bullseye get the hat? Woody was the only one up to that point who got out of the day care center grounds, as it was emphasized that doing so was almost impossible.
And speaking of getting out, why the whole complicated plot with the garbage chute, the sandbox, etc., especially when you consider how dangerous the garbage chute idea turned out to be? Once they put the Monkey out of commission and fixed Buzz, why didn't they just go out the bathroom window as Woody initially did? I know they said that everything is locked at night, but did that include that tiny window? I don't recall seeing a lock on it. Even if I'm wrong, why not use a procured key, as they ended up doing with other locks during their escape? Or even better, why not escape during recess, instead of at night? The Monkey can't be at the security station then, and the bathroom window would be open.
During their escape into the playground, the gang gets separated when Big Baby hears them, requiring Woody, Bullseye (and I think one of the Claw worshippers) to hide under some type of railing or molding on the ground. Big Baby goes there, but then it's revealed that Woody and pals moved to under a overturned bucket. The problem is, the railing is in between Big Baby and that bucket, which means that when they moved out from under the railing, and went for the bucket, they would've been moving away from Big Baby, out in the open, where she'd have seen them.
I nearly cried at the end of this film- and that's an acheivement in itself. Beautiful film. Wonderful way to finish the story...
Wonderful way to finish the story...
Not yet. Toy Story 4 opens June 21, 2019.