I never planned on writing on this movie, because it has a lesbian cameo and my series on objectionable family entertainment was more a general critique on certain concerning topics. But after some research, I realized Toy Story 4 is more than meets the eye, so we will discuss this movie in detail for today.
Some Context
Toy Story 4 is a continuation of the Toy Story movies which started in 1995. This movies narrate the adventures of a group of sentient toys, the main protagonists being Woody (a cowboy ragdoll) and Buzz Lightyear (a space ranger action figure). They were owned by a kid named Andy until Toy Story 3, were they are passed on to a little girl named Bonnie.
This toys pretend to be lifeless when in contact with humans, in order to avoid scaring them. Toys love being played with by children and show a great loyalty to them, with the villains serving an obstacle to that relationship.
The plot of Toy Story 4 is a little bit convoluted: Bonnie is starting the american education system and feels extremely insecure, so she makes a toy with a spork. This Forky comes to life but feels he is trash and insists on throwing himself to the rubbish. So during an ensuing roadtrip Woody protects him for realizing his dangerous desires.
Eventually Woody and Forky are left behind and must reunite with the team. Woody comes across an antique store and notices his long-lost love, a porcelain shepherdess doll named Bo-Peep, is around town, so he goofs around looking for her. The rest of the plot consists in Woody, Buzz, and Bo Peep trying to rescue the Fork from a creepy doll named Gabby Gabby.
1: The Suicidal Spork
The first disturbing part of this movie is the fact that Forky is greatly implied to be suicidal. He calls himself trash all the time and insists on throwing himself on the bin while yelling maniacally. During a montage in which Woody tries to save Forky, a song is played with the following lyrics:
"I can't let you throw yourself away
Don't you wanna see the sun come up each morning
Don't you wanna see the sundown every day
Don't you wanna see he little girl that loves you so
He Heart would break if you would go"
I am alright with including a suicide prevention message on an animated movie. The problem here however is that the Sporks' depression is not treated seriously enough, and I feel being so on the nose about this topic is not a good idea for a movie for children. I think it should me more subtle in order to avoid suicide contagion, and more serious in order to avoid disrespect.
2: Bo Peep's Barbie Moment
Bo Peep was always a sweet, graceful and compassionate doll. This was fitting not only to the fact she is a woman, but also to the fact that she is made of an extremely fragile material.
On Toy Story 4, however, she is sort of a doll Avenger going around in pants doing acrobatics and using her hook as a weapon. Yeah, you go girl.
On top of that, she is extremely disrespectful with Woody throughout the movie. She calls him "her accessory", she rudely tells him to stay out of her way and even uses another character to call him a complete idiot.
3: Gabby Gabby gets Her Cake and Eats it Too
The villain of this movie is a creepy doll named Gabby Gabby. She was made with a defective voice box and wants to rip Woody's box away from him. Does she really need a box to be loved by children? No, but then the movie doesn't want you to think about it.
Gabby Gabby stares at the girls she wants to play with and keeps the Fork hostage in order to manipulate Woody. Woody gives in when she says she only wants to belong to a kid, yet we all know she would have taken the voice box from him anyway.
Gabby Gabby is a villain left unpunished. Woody was noble when he pardoned her, but when movies leave their villains unpunished it sends the message that being evil doesn't have consequences. She is eventually found by a girl who decides to keep her. She gets her cake and eats it too.
And let us also not forget that Gabby Gabby's actions are pretty much like organ trafficking. You are told you should let them take off your kidneys or else someone will either perish or remain in misery. And you know they will attempt to rip them off anyway.
4: Abandon Your Responsibilities
At the end of the movie Woody decides to abandon his friends and child because he wants to be with his girlboss. The movie paints this as something good because he is helping other toys to be loved by children. He is now a philanthropist, right? Yes, but some analysis shows his decision is morally reprehensible.
Firstly, he abandons the spork to his luck, despite the fact that he, Woody, is the only one Forky trusts. The other toys don't even talk to him in the whole movie. This animated abomination teaches that abandoning your suicidal friends is fine because toy rights or whatever.
Secondly, he abandons Bonnie with little preoccupation. Woody should know well that children feel very sad when their toys are lost, especially if they can't explain why.
Most importantly, Andy asked Bonnie to take care of all his toys. What will Bonnie feel when she can't explain to this kind chad how she lost his favorite toy, something which will happen because both families know each other well?
To make things worse, Bonnie is extremely insecure and shy. Her father is an absolute loser who is mostly oblivious to his daughter's needs. He fails to console her when she is going to prep day and he lets her sleep with a sharp plastic spork. He remains oblivious to everything around him.
Now, this may be really disturbing for a Pixar movie. I can't really prove anything beyond speculation; yet let me hear what I am going to say: Some fans have speculated that Bonnie's father is actually a criminal.
During the movie, a plush unicorn named Buttercup gets excited every time the dad gets in trouble, hoping that he will be sent to jail. It is never explained why he hates him so much.
Think about this: which kind of crimes is a plush unicorn more likely to find a father doing? It seems possible that Bonnie's father is a child abuser.
In any case, this movie teaches that abandoning a suicidal friend and an extremely shy five year old (a child who probably needs you more than you may think) is good if you feel you have found yourself. Such a great message will certainly make our world a better place.
Conclusion
I never thought a Toy Story movie would be so disturbing, yet here we are. Maybe some messages are the result of poor writing (believe me, there is plenty of this in the movie), but this does not justify them, specially when they pretentiously deal with topics like suicidal thoughts, organ trafficking and child abandonment.
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