Toy Story 4: First Teaser Adds A Brand-New Character To The Toy Chest
There's a snake in Woody's boot, and the very first look at Toy Story 4 on our screens!
On Monday, November 12, Disney dropped the first teaser trailer for Toy Story 4. The footage, coming in at a respectable-for-a-first-look minute and 26 seconds, brings the whole gang back together — and quite literally.
Holding hands in a circle and smiling mega-watt grins, the toy crew spins around in slow motion to the soothing sounds of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now." There's the lovable and kind sheriff Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), the confident yet slightly kooky Space Ranger superhero Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), the spunky yodeling cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack), the Potato Heads (Estelle Harris and an unspecified voice actor to replace the late Don Rickles), Rex (Wallace Shawn), Hamm (John Ratzenberger), an Alien (Jeff Pidgeon), and Slinky Dog (Blake Clarke) — all our favorite shiny plastic pals.
But there's a brand-new toy joining the toy chest in Toy Story 4. His name is Forky (voiced by Arrested Development's Tony Hale), a character whose name perfectly describes his appearance. An "actual spork-turned-craft project," Forky is a reluctant little guy who insists that he isn't a toy, and who belongs to Bonnie, the young girl whom Andy (John Morris) gave his toy collection to when he left for college at the end of Toy Story 3. Forky has attempted escape multiple times, but he always gets pulled by his pipe-cleaner arms into each and every adventure his fellow toys get mixed up in.
What isn't shown in the teaser is the new journey the group of toys will embark on. According to the film's official, recently released synopsis, Toy Story 4 will see the toys taking a "roadtrip adventure" that teaches Woody just how wide the world is — especially for a toy.
Check out the full teaser trailer above, and the first Toy Story 4 poster below.
Given what has previously been announced about the forthcoming animated film, it's actually pretty surprising to hear that Toy Story 4's narrative centers around the old toys teaming up with new ones and taking to the streets for an exciting expedition.
Back in March 2015, Pixar head Jim Morris stated that Toy Story 4 would be a "love story" and a "romantic comedy" that wouldn't "put much focus on the interaction between the characters and children" and wouldn't be a continuation of Toy Story 3. He added, "The third movie ended in a beautiful way and completed a trilogy. I think this movie is not part of this trilogy. It is a separate story, which in turn I do not know if [it] will be continued. Never begin a project with that in mind."
A few months later, former Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter relayed to Collider's Haleigh Foutch that Toy Story 4 would actually focus on Woody and Buzz going on a mission to find Bo Peep (Annie Potts), who wasn't in the third movie. He reiterated that Toy Story 4 would be something unique and would feel "different" to the other films.
After Lasseter exited as the director of Toy Story 4 in July 2017 and then took a leave of absence from his Disney-Pixar post, and after original screenwriters Rashida Jones and Will McCormack dropped out of the project due to "creative [and] philosophical differences," Josh Cooley stepped up to the plate to take Lasseter's place behind the helm and Disney-Pixar tapped Stephany Folsom to do a major overhaul on the film's script. Bo Peep voice actress Potts explained in June 2018 that Disney-Pixar "threw out three-quarters" of the film and rewrote it. "They threw most of it in the bin and started over," said Potts.
It's evident that the studios eventually, after several years of work, settled on a story they love. And all the changes made have been well worth it, according to Cooley. The new director said in a statement accompanying the teaser trailer reveal (via Entertainment Weekly), "Like most people, I assumed that Toy Story 3 was the end of the story. And it was the end of Woody's story with Andy. But just like in life, every ending is a new beginning. Woody now being in a new room, with new toys, and a new kid, was something we have never seen before. The questions of what that would be like became the beginning of an entertaining story worth exploring."
Toy Story 4 is due out on June 21, 2019.