I should mention that I’m Subscribed to Nerdstalgic. While he plays up his opinions to game the algorithm, some of his stuff’s actually insightful. I especially liked his video about the freeway chase in The Matrix Reloaded, as it went into the nitty-gritty of how it was created and filmed. However, lately I’ve felt he’s been using popular media as punching bags. Toy Story 4’s another victim of that.
I won’t do a play-by-play of everything, but I’ll mention now that Nerdstalgic covers two main arguments. The first is how Toy Story 4’s unnecessary, created solely for profit. Ignoring how every movie is designed on some level to make money, I think this claim’s reductive. When people call a sequel “unnecessary”, they’re really claiming it doesn’t add anything. Toy Story 4’s the opposite of that. Not only does it expand on Woody’s growth, giving him a new purpose outside of children, it also adds character to Bo Peep, who was absent from Toy Story 3. Specifically, it retcons her into a capable heroine no longer exclusively tied down to being a love interest.
Let’s zone-in on that. When it was revealed that Bo Peep would be getting a redesign, many people were livid. They considered it a betrayal, even though she wasn’t all that interesting prior. Between the first two movies, I’m pretty sure Bo Peep had a handful of lines, and most were in service of Woody. Here, not only was she fleshed-out, but she also had intrigue and history. Considering the in-universe time jump from the beginning of the movie to when Woody reencounters her, it’s implied Bo Peep had given up kids because there was too much heartbreak. That, and the bandages around her arms suggested roughhousing.
Toy Story 4 also added a further layer of development to Woody specifically. If Toy Story 3 had him moving on from a single kid, then this movie had him moving on from kids altogether. Like an adult moving away, he’d grown up and retired. It sounds like a betrayal of character, but this was foreshadowed retroactively with Woody’s opening speech in Toy Story. It wasn’t out-of-place here, essentially.
And this is why I think Nerdstalgic was off-base. Toy Story 3 provided closure, but for Andy. That was his final chapter, not Woody’s. Woody, however, had more growing up to do, and he got that by learning to move on from ownership. It’s an arc that could’ve only concluded with a fourth movie.
The second complaint Nerdstalgic mentions is detracting from previous toys in favour of new, uninteresting ones. This is incredibly-unfair, especially since Jessie and Bullseye, two beloved mainstays, were once “uninteresting” newcomers themselves. Nerdstalgic complains about shafting Mr. Potato Head, even though his VA, Don Rickles, had passed away prior to this movie’s completion, hence Pixar had to use archived recordings. His complaints about Buzz are spot-on, but I doubt that there was much else to do with him that didn’t revolve around resetting him to his factory mode personality.
And this is why I think Nerdstalgic was off-base. Toy Story 3 provided closure, but for Andy. That was his final chapter, not Woody’s. Woody, however, had more growing up to do, and he got that by learning to move on from ownership. It’s an arc that could’ve only concluded with a fourth movie.
The second complaint Nerdstalgic mentions is detracting from previous toys in favour of new, uninteresting ones. This is incredibly-unfair, especially since Jessie and Bullseye, two beloved mainstays, were once “uninteresting” newcomers themselves. Nerdstalgic complains about shafting Mr. Potato Head, even though his VA, Don Rickles, had passed away prior to this movie’s completion, hence Pixar had to use archived recordings. His complaints about Buzz are spot-on, but I doubt that there was much else to do with him that didn’t revolve around resetting him to his factory mode personality.
In terms of new characters, I can’t disagree more. Duke Caboom’s a great addition, even having a hilarious pay-off in the third-act. Ducky and Bunny are basically Key & Peele in animated form, letting them do their shenanigans without it being too mature or violent. And Forky lends to a genuinely-existential question of what it means to be a toy. But the real MVP’s Gabby Gabby. She’s initially the antagonist, but she becomes much more layered over time. She even gets redeemed in the third-act, leading to one of the two moments that actually made me cry.
None of these characters are wasted. It’d be one issue if they were disposable, even though the Toy Story franchise has always centred around disposable toys. But Toy Story 4’s new inclusions are no more wasted than Ken in Toy Story 3. Which is to say, they weren’t. By calling them “disposable”, I think that Nerdstalgic’s doing them a disservice.
This ties in with my biggest defence of this movie: subverting expectations with real logic. Many diehards were disappointed with Bonnie not cherishing Woody, but it’s important to remember that Bonnie’s different than Andy. Plus, she’s a girl, and would naturally favour Jessie over Woody because of that. And she’s 5, so expecting her to cherish Woody like a teenager or young adult is unrealistic.
None of these characters are wasted. It’d be one issue if they were disposable, even though the Toy Story franchise has always centred around disposable toys. But Toy Story 4’s new inclusions are no more wasted than Ken in Toy Story 3. Which is to say, they weren’t. By calling them “disposable”, I think that Nerdstalgic’s doing them a disservice.
This ties in with my biggest defence of this movie: subverting expectations with real logic. Many diehards were disappointed with Bonnie not cherishing Woody, but it’s important to remember that Bonnie’s different than Andy. Plus, she’s a girl, and would naturally favour Jessie over Woody because of that. And she’s 5, so expecting her to cherish Woody like a teenager or young adult is unrealistic.
That realism’s foreshadowed in the movie’s opening scene. We’re given a huge rescue scene in the rain involving Woody, Bo Peep and RC, only for it to end abruptly with Andy’s sister, Molly, relinquishing ownership of Bo Peep because she’s too old for her. As someone who’s seen his nieces and nephew grow up, I relate to that. Kids grow out of toys for many reasons, and not all of them are ones we like. In that sense, expecting Bonnie to be another Andy isn’t only unfair, it’s not the correct approach. That’s something more people need to understand, Nerdstalgic included.
Nerdstalgic using Quentin Tarantino as the closing argument in his video, therefore, doesn’t sit right. Not only is Tarantino not the be-all-end-all, he’s also not the target audience. He’s allowed to like the Toy Story films, as they’re all good (so far), but he’s an adult. He’s not the target age they’re intended for, and making him the arbiter feels like gatekeeping. Who’s he to tell children, let alone fans, how to enjoy this movie? That doesn’t sound fair!
Does this mean Toy Story 4 doesn’t have flaws? Of course not! Buzz’s character regressions aside, Woody’s rediscovery of Bo Beep was too contrived and convenient. Considering he hadn’t seen her in almost a decade, for her to still be in California, let alone one of the stops Bonnie and her parents go to, feels forced. I also think the climactic joke involving Bonnie’s dad and the RV’s navigation, while funny, goes on for too long. Finally, Gabby Gabby’s obsession with Harmony was clearly going to fail, and the movie dwells on it too much.
Nerdstalgic using Quentin Tarantino as the closing argument in his video, therefore, doesn’t sit right. Not only is Tarantino not the be-all-end-all, he’s also not the target audience. He’s allowed to like the Toy Story films, as they’re all good (so far), but he’s an adult. He’s not the target age they’re intended for, and making him the arbiter feels like gatekeeping. Who’s he to tell children, let alone fans, how to enjoy this movie? That doesn’t sound fair!
Does this mean Toy Story 4 doesn’t have flaws? Of course not! Buzz’s character regressions aside, Woody’s rediscovery of Bo Beep was too contrived and convenient. Considering he hadn’t seen her in almost a decade, for her to still be in California, let alone one of the stops Bonnie and her parents go to, feels forced. I also think the climactic joke involving Bonnie’s dad and the RV’s navigation, while funny, goes on for too long. Finally, Gabby Gabby’s obsession with Harmony was clearly going to fail, and the movie dwells on it too much.
However, if those are the movie’s biggest flaws, then Toy Story 4’s a much better movie than Nerdstalgic claims. And yeah, he’s entitled to not like Pixar’s recent sequels, even if I’ve enjoyed some more than most. But that shouldn’t be conflated with the movie being a “lazy cash-grab”. If anything, I think this movie’s due for reappraising. I only hope it’s honest, as opposed to what Nerdstalgic presented.
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