Buzz and Woody have a spork-tacular new friend in first 'Toy Story 4' teaser
The first teaser for Toy Story 4 features some familiar plastic faces — and a very surprising new character. Set to Judy Collins’s cover of “Both Sides Now,” the 90-second video shows Buzz, Woody, Jesse, and the rest of the gang holding hands in perfect harmony, until — well, watch it above first, and then come back here for the explanation.
Yes, that new character is indeed a disposable spork. “Forky,” according to Disney’s press release, is a craft project created by Bonnie, the little girl who inherited Andy’s toys in Toy Story 3. (Note the googly eyes, pipe-cleaner arms, and popsicle-stick feet.) When Bonnie adds the creation to her toy collection, Forky is thrown into what voice actor Tony Hale (Veep) calls “a utensil’s existential crisis” — how can he be both a toy and a kitchen implement? In the film, a reluctant Forky is dragged into a road-trip adventure with Woody and company, where they will all discover, per Disney, “how big the world can be for a toy.”
Toy Story 4 has obviously changed a great deal since the film was first announced in 2014. Original director John Lasseter (who left Pixar early this year after accusations of sexual misconduct) described the long-awaited sequel as “a love story between Woody and Bo Peep,” inspired by his own marriage. Four years, a new director, and several screenwriters later, the film seems to have been entirely reconceived, with Bo Peep voice actress Annie Potts saying that Pixar “threw out three-quarters” of the existing script earlier this year.
Which raises the question: Where is Bo Peep in this trailer? Though the porcelain shepherdess was left out of Toy Story 3, Potts and Tom Hanks (who voices Woody) have both mentioned spending a lot of time in the recording booth together for Toy Story 4. Clearly their affectionate relationship plays a part in the story. Perhaps the purpose of the crew’s road trip is to find the missing Bo Peep? Whatever they’re up to, it’s enough to make Tim Allen cry.
Toy Story 4 will open in theaters on June 21, 2019.
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