What “Toy Story 4” offers is the sentimental pleasure of getting a favourite old plaything from the attic
ONE OF the magical things about Pixar’s “Toy Story” films is the way they balance the comfort of the old and the shock of the new. The series’ first instalment, released in 1995, was also the first ever feature film to be rendered solely using three-dimensional computer-generated imagery , so it was as cutting-edge as cinema could be. But “Toy Story” was also an ode to sunlit childhoods, with such vintage toys as Mr Potatohead and Slinky Dog.
In the series’ fourth episode, “Toy Story 4”, the animation is more photorealistic than ever. Images of fairground lights and muddy rainwater rushing down gutters, for instance, are indistinguishable from footage shot with a camera. But, on this occasion, the film’s technical innovation is outweighed by its love of the past.
Considering how much of the film unfolds in an antique shop, it’s conceivable that one of the screenplay’s many drafts—there are ten credited screenwriters—may have admitted that toys just aren’t as central to childhood as they once were. The shop-owner even lets her granddaughter take Woody away when she finds him on the floor because, she says, “nobody ever buys the toys.”
But the film-makers don’t have the courage to confront their characters’ obsolescence—or, for that matter, their films’ obsolescence. A few years after “Toy Story 3” came out, a rival cartoon, “The Lego Movie”, sketched a much sharper and more accurate picture of how modern children play. What “Toy Story 4” opts for instead are the usual breakneck chases, death-defying leaps, snappy catchphrases, emotional reunions and nostalgic, warm images of America at its most wholesome.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t enjoyable. Even if it is weaker than the previous “Toy Story” episodes, the film is still a hugely endearing and consistently funny family adventure—and that can’t be said of many films which are the fourth in a series, animated or otherwise. What “Toy Story 4” offers, though, is the sentimental pleasure of getting a favourite old plaything from the attic, rather than the thrill of unwrapping something new.
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