Toy Story 4 would be the Saved by the Bell: The New Class of animated films. The Bell spinoff featured some familiar faces, but it also introduced some new characters. It ultimately didn't capture what the original series did (yes, I'm stretching here), so it always felt inferior in my eyes. The plans for a Toy Story 4 were announced, and it fills me with so much dread I have a hard time expressing it.
That's kind of a lie. Here's how I feel about it: Disney and Pixar set up this beautiful trilogy of films that, on the outside, appear to be just about toys and shiny things and bright colors. By the time Toy Story 3 came around, it was about growing up and moving on. I saw that movie multiple times in the theater, and people CRIED THEIR FACES OFF! Do you need a refresher?
Why are they making a fourth Toy Story?!?! I don't give a flying crap about Bonnie and her interactions with Woody and Buzz. I don't care, and I never will.
I fear that this is going to usher in a new wave of Toy Story films. Yes, I know there have been a handful of shorts, but those were just morsels. Yes, the original directer, John Lasseter, is on board to helm this one, but I've come to terms with how I feel about the series after Andy left his beloved toys with Bonnie.
This feels like betrayal. The third installment of the series felt like a high-wire act--a beautifully animated feature that assures us it's all right to fully let go of part of our childhoods. The children who will revisit Toy Story 3 (the ones who were 7 or 8 when the film debuted) will get to experience a new set of emotions when they are my age, and they realize the themes of it. Continuing the series will be a huge cash cow (I can see Toys R Us catalogs bursting with new characters already), but it feels kind of cheap at the moment.
"Don't worry, kids, there's another adventure right around the corner!" I'm just going to be the curmudgeon shaking my cane at it the entire time.
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