Movie Review: Toy Story 4

Rated G

Nine years ago, PIXAR Animation Studios seemed to have wrapped up the adventures of Woody, Buzz, and their toy pals in a nice, emotionally-charged little package…or so we thought.

Toy Story 4 catches up with Woody (Tom Hanks) and the gang shortly after the events of the last film. While Woody struggles to help his new owner Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw), things get weird when a craft project Bonnie dubs Forky (Tony Hale), suddenly comes to life!

Forky (Tony Hale) and Woody (Tom Hanks)

It is during a road trip that the manic creation wanders off, leaving Woody to try and return the new “toy” back to it’s owner. During the journey, they encounter some new toys…and a familiar face or two.

In watching the Toy Story films over the years, it has felt like their plots mirror human life, but in “toy terms.” If the last film was about Woody learning to let go of his owner Andy, then this film is him dealing with his retirement years. In that sense, Woody’s part in the storyline will probably go over the heads of the younger crowd, but for those getting on in years, they will probably see something of themselves in the cowboy doll’s struggles.

Compared to it’s predecessors, this film definitely feels like it’s trying to pay homage to it’s past stories, but also trying to embrace these characters with new eyes. Much of the original crew that created the first film have moved on, making this an effort largely created by a newer generation.

For a portion of the film, the character of Forky becomes our Buzz Lightyear: a toy that can’t quite accept what it is, and thinks it is something else entirely. I had hoped there would be a bit more interaction between Woody and Forky, but while Forky’s antics are quite entertaining, he soon seems to become little more than our macguffin for the story.

For those expecting to see some of their favorite toys in action, most of them are shuffled to the sidelines. Even Buzz feels quite under-utilized here. At one point, the story “equips” him with a running gag, but it quickly peters out after the first few uses.

In this film, our attention is given over to a number of “new toys.” From an antique doll named Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks) to a pair of carnival toys named Bunny (Jordan Peele) and Ducky (Keegan-Michael Key), the film gives these characters (and several others) a chance to shine.

Bo Peep (Annie Potts)

One thing the film’s advertising has not shied away from, is publicizing the return of a character that was sorely missed from the last film: Bo Peep (played once again by Annie Potts). Her appearance here may be one of the most radical re-imaginings for a character PIXAR has done, as the once soft-spoken porcelain doll, has become quite independent in her time away from the others. One of Woody’s greatest fears is to be a lost toy, but Bo seems to prove that one may not always need a kid to survive in the world.

For most film series, the fourth film is usually the one that ends up crashing-and-burning, leaving people wishing the filmmakers had walked away a long time ago. While Toy Story 4 doesn’t quite top the toys’ last adventure in my book, it proves that PIXAR is still a major talent to be reckoned with.

I will confess that a whirlwind of emotions passed across my face through the course of the film, and while I was rarely ever bored, the flow of the film felt uneven at times. Still, when Toy Story 4 slowed down and took its time, that was where some of it’s most beautiful work “burned brightest,” and showed the company’s next generation of filmmakers may be quite capable of carrying the studios legacy to infinity, and beyond.

Final Grade: B+

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Review: Pixar in Concert (performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra)

Though 6 hours from where I lived in Iowa, the world of Chicago, IL, was largely a mystery to me growing up. Other than going there for their auto show a few times, and on a band trip in high school, I was not that privy to much of the city’s “creative pursuits.”

The first time I had ever heard or considered the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, was almost 15 years ago. During the promotion of the upcoming release of Fantasia 2000, composer James Levine mentioned several times that when he was asked to choose an orchestra to perform several of the film’s classical pieces, he immediately mentioned Chicago’s.

Almost 8 years later, I’d find myself going to see the CSO perform at Symphony Center. The purpose was as a get-together with my Dad and my sister, to see John Williams conduct the orchestra (of which he does every 2-3 years here!). Williams performed his pieces both on-and-off-screen, as well as gave us 3 encores. To me, that evening was special, because I feel it was my Dad who introduced me to Williams’ music when I was a child, and to be there with him seeing Williams conduct music from the same opening fanfare to Star Wars, just seemed perfect!

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Much like Walt Disney knew that music was a key ingredient to his company’s productions, PIXAR Animation Studios also values music in the same way. The company has been nominated numerous times for its various film scores, and several of their pieces have become just as ingrained with our culture, as many of the pieces Disney has done over the years.

In 2012, PIXAR allowed a medley of its film music to be performed by the San Francisco Symphony. Shortly afterwards, the experience was expanded to become a touring exhibition of film-and-music, that could be played in numerous concert halls and venues, around the world. Two years later, it finally rolled into The Second City, and took over Chicago’s Symphony Center, on November 28-30, 2014.

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The running time for the full concert was 2 hours, with a 15-minute intermission. The program consisted of a medley of music from each of PIXAR’s 14 animated features, with edited footage from each film displayed on a screen above the orchestra.

Our host and conductor for the evening, was Ricard Kaufman, who has worked in film, and with numerous artists over the years. Richard took to the microphone a few times to give the audience a little knowledge on what was to come, as well as explain where the name PIXAR came from (fyi, it was the name given to Lucasfilm’s computer division in the early 80’s).

Unlike a typical composer, Richard would reference both sheet music, and a computer-monitor setup near his podium. This would make sure that he was keeping time to the images we were seeing on the large screen overhead.

I will admit that the synch set-up only seemed to work several times. There were some areas where I was hoping for an exact match to a scene. Out of all of them, it felt like the best of the synch-up moments, were during the music from Cars 2.

One would assume they would line up the scores in the program from oldest-to-newest, but they ended up moving several around, most likely for emotional punch.

For example, Up‘s music was played right before the intermission. Coming back from it, we were blasted by the jazzy riffs of The Incredibles, as if the orchestra meant to wake us from the lethargy of the break.

Regarding Up, Richard did take a few moments to talk about it, and after all of the Married Life was played, the audience started applauding…before realizing there was more music from the score. It was the only premature applause of the night.

Some of the medleys were a little surprising. One example was the one from Cars, where music from the film was played, that I realized was not on the soundtrack album I had! I also didn’t expect the ‘Circus Bugs’ track from A Bug’s Life, which played over the “Flaming Death” scene that I still love from that film. I did have to keep my excitement in check, else I would have shouted out, “Burn him again!”

Overall, it felt like the scores played to a specific tempo or mood of a piece. Cars 2’s music was primarily the opening spy piece, and Monsters Inc’s focused moreso on Newman’s big-band feel during the workplace montage. Personally, I was hoping for a little more of the Boo-and-Sulley theme from the film.

It is possible that the pieces may have changed over time, given the addition of new film music, and to keep it under an allotted running time.

One bright spot in the piece came, when they opened with Randy Newman’s opening fanfare/flourish, that began Toy Story back in 1995. To many of us, that was the unofficial opening music to a PIXAR film for many years, before the standard Walt Disney Pictures logo was added in the last few years. However, this was played over a black screen, when I would have loved to have seen the 3-dimensionally rendered castle again (as seen above in this screenshot from my older DVD of Toy Story).

After what seemed to be the closing piece, with music from Monsters University, I was surprised when the orchestra broke into an orchestra-meets-big-band rendition of You’ve Got A Friend in Me, from the end of Toy Story 2 (sans Robert Goulet).

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I scored a primo $65 seat amidst the $130 crowd, 4 rows from the stage. This proved a great view if you wanted to watch the film, but it did detract when I found my attention drawn to different parts of the orchestra. I wanted to zero in on the brass section during Giacchino’s big-band bits from Incredibles, as well as some of the percussive bits from Thomas Newman’s Nemo score. There was even a “clanking” sound during the incinerator scene from Toy Story 3, that had me curious as to what they used to get that sound.

As well, sound effects from several of the films were included in the mix, such as a few sounds from Wall-E, but overall, the experience was largely about the music from the films.

I never pass up the opportunity to dress properly for a PIXAR-related event.

I will say that it was nice to see this concert event come to Chicago, as many things regarding PIXAR are usually relegated to the coasts, or overseas. I feel it could have easily been a 2 1/2 hour event, but given that it was being advertised moreso as a family event, they had to keep it at a decent level.

Of course, I still hold out a smidgen of hope that The Art Institute of Chicago or The Museum of Contemporary Art could one day get my dream exhibit to come here: PIXAR, The Exhibition. The Exhibition features concept art and more from the development of PIXAR’s films and shorts. It’s only been shown in the states twice (in New York, and in Oakland, where I saw it in 2010!), with the majority of its showings all overseas. If anything could make Chicago classy in my eyes, it’d be getting that Exhibition to show up here.

 

An Animated Dissection: The Top 5 reasons why Toy Story 2 is my favorite PIXAR film

This year seems to be the celebration of a lot of animated film anniversaries. One that I can’t forget, is the 15th anniversary of one of my favorite animated features.

It’s hard to believe, but in the wake of a superhero story with heart, a rat wanting to buck trends and follow his dream, not to mention a lonely little robot who is a hopeless romantic at heart, one film from PIXAR that was released in 1999, trumps them all in my book. Even its emotionally-charged three-quel couldn’t dislodge it in my mind.

Toy Story was a film that almost all of us recall seeing in 1995. At the time, the rendering of plastic-like computer graphics proved to be an ideal place to go for PIXAR’s filmmakers. It became a surprise hit that winter, impressing critics, and making toys from the film fly off the shelves (something several retailers were not prepared for!). Toy Story was an event film that did for animation, what Jurassic Park did for the visual effects community.

Like many, I was excited when I saw the teaser trailer for Toy Story 2 before Tarzan in the Summer of 1999. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, the film would become my favorite PIXAR production many years, after many viewings, and readings on its production. And so, I thought I’d share, the Top 5 reasons, why the film resonates with me:

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5) Jessie’s Song

Nowadays, it seems almost every PIXAR film has one major emotional scene. To me, this was the first of them. Told with no dialogue, but infused with Sarah McLachlan’s vocals sounding like a distant, but sad memory.

We see Jessie the cowgirl doll, as the toy of a little girl named Emily. But as time goes on, and Emily grows up, her interests and world around her changes (the scene is almost reminiscent in a low-key way to the song/montage “Strange Things” in the first Toy Story film). Eventually, Jessie is retrieved from under the bed by her owner, and for a brief moment, it looks like Emily hasn’t really forgotten her. But at the end of the song, Jessie is placed in a donations box, and watches as Emily drives away.

I will admit this was the first PIXAR moment that made me shed tears, and I think helped elevate the studio in my eyes. I always marveled at how a bunch of pencils, ink and paint could make people cry when it came to the death of Bambi’s mother. Here, it’s just a bunch of computer data, but the audience doesn’t think that…they believe in these characters that don’t exist. That to me, was always the amazing thing about animation: you can make people “believe.”

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4) Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue!

While many loved psychotic/deranged Buzz in the first Toy Story, I was not that enamored with his ‘real space ranger’ act. With Toy Story 2 , I really enjoyed how Buzz and Woody had become friends, sharing the duties in running Andy’s Room. Plus, it is Buzz who really goes above and beyond in trying to get Woody back to the toys and Andy. Though to me, one of the shining moments comes when the roles from the first Toy Story are reversed.

In one scene in the first film, Buzz is prattling on about Woody delaying his ‘rendezvous with Star Command,’ causing Woody to snap back: “YOU! ARE! A! TOYYYY!!!!”

In Toy Story 2, Woody is going on to Buzz about how he was the star of a TV show, and how he’s a valuable collector’s item. This causes Buzz to almost recite verbatim what Woody told him in the first film, leading to a forceful build-up of “You, are, A TOY!!”

Woody responds that he doesn’t know how much longer he has. If he gets ripped or torn again, he could be thrown away.

“Somewhere in that padded stuffing is a toy that taught me life’s only worth living if you’re being loved by a kid,” responds Buzz. “And I came all this way to find that toy…because I believed him.”

This is one of the strongest moments of the film to me. We get to see how ingrained Buzz has become regarding Woody’s ‘philosophy,’ and in this case, the student tries to make the master remember the reason why those lessons were so important.

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3) Jessie, PIXAR’s first step into strong female character territory

In 2010 at a screening of Toy Story 3, I got the chance to say hi to Joan Cusack, and eagerly told her how all these years later, Jessie was still my favorite female character from the PIXAR library (beating out other great female characters like Mrs Incredible, Collette, and Dory). So why is this little cowgirl doll still a big deal to me?

Up until this point in PIXAR‘s films, there hadn’t really been a strong female presence in this boy’s universe of toys. Sure we had Bo Peep and Princess Atta, but they never really became major figures in my mind.  Sure, Atta’s younger sister Dot got a bit more screen-time (and I think became one of my youngest sister’s favorite characters, as she watched A Bug’s Life quite a bit on VHS), but none of these characters really stuck…until Jessie.

Jessie is a character that has numerous moods, but is also one of the most complex the filmmakers had made at the time. Her abandonment by her owner has mentally affected her. Though she is supposed to be a very exuberant character, the thought of being alone again or ‘going back in the dark,’ causes her to hyperventilate and panic. I still remember the panic attack was quite a shock to me, the first time I saw it.

Even when Woody offers Jessie the chance to come back with him to Andy’s, Jessie is hesitant, unsure if she’s willing to take a chance that things may be different. All of these extra layers make Jessie a well-rounded personality, but even Jessie’s voice-actress Joan Cusack gave her some extra material. In the big rescue at the end, it was  originally Woody who would save Jessie from slipping as they attempted to escape from an airplane. But in the recording booth, Joan suggested that it be the other way around!

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2) Mortality/Immortality, and going out and living life

If you look further into Toy Story 2, it is surprising how the filmmakers have intertwined thoughts regarding life and death, with a world comprised of toys. This is pretty heavy stuff that little Johnny or Suzie probably wouldn’t get, but one can see it come out wonderfully for those of us who want to smack people around and tell them, “animation does not always mean just for kids, dipstick!”

When Andy accidentally rips part of Woody’s arm, it’s a sign that nothing will last forever. It’s like those of us who look in the mirror, and see that first gray hair. For much of the first half of the film, Woody is determined to get back to Andy, but then hears about Jessie’s sad tale about how she was loved, and then abandoned. This casts a whole new bit of doubt in Woody’s mind, and as he gets ready to venture down a dark air vent to head back to his owner, the Prospector’s voice is heard:

“How long will it last, Woody? Do you really think Andy is going to take you with him to college? Or on his honeymoon? Andy is growing up, and there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s your choice, Woody. You can go back, or you can stay with us, and last forever.”

Woody at first chooses this path, but when his friends come to rescue him, he declines to go back to Andy’s. But just when they are about to leave, Buzz sheds light on something the Prospector didn’t consider.

“I don’t have a choice, Buzz,” says Woody. “This is my only chance.”

“To do what, Woody,” asks Buzz. “To be watched from behind glass and never be loved again? Some life.”

And now, Woody is faced with a realization:

-He can go back, serve his purpose as a toy, and be loved by his owner…with the possibility of one day being cast aside, or outgrown.

-He can go with Jessie, Bullseye, and the Prospector to Japan to be displayed in the toy museum…but he’ll just be a display piece, and never truly be loved.

In a way, Woody’s relationship with Andy is almost like that of a parent. As parents, many people often look at their child as they grow up, and can still remember just yesterday when they were still learning to talk, or riding their first bicycle. And like all parents, there will come a time where your child will become an adult, and leave you to pursue their own goals and dreams in life.

Like a parent, Woody comes to terms with this, and tells the Prospector, “You’re right. I can’t stop Andy from growing up, but I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

There’s a beauty in how the people at PIXAR tied this all together: life/death, mortality/immortality, toys/parents, it’s just mind-blowing when I consider it!

Though what also makes the film for me, is one of the final shots as the toys celebrate. Woody walks away from the festivities and looks out over the front of the house, seeing Andy playing with his Mom and Molly. As he watches, Buzz joins him.

“You worried,” asks Buzz.

“About Andy? Nah. It’ll be fun while it lasts,” says Woody, willing to let life roll onward, no matter what may happen.

“I’m proud of you cowboy,” says Buzz.

“Besides,” says Woody, putting an arm around his best friend, “When it’s all over and done, I’ll have my old pal Buzz Lightyear to keep me company…for Infinity, and Beyond.”

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1) “We killed ourselves to make it”

That line in the picture caption above, was mentioned by Steve Jobs in the documentary, The PIXAR Story. When you look at Toy Story 2, it looks so effortless. But in truth, probably even to this day, it was a feature film that tested not only what the PIXAR name stands for, but how dedicated its staff were to putting out the best product they possibly could.

Originally, Toy Story 2 was scheduled as a direct-to-video release, and was assigned to a B-team group (the A-team group, composed of Toy Story vets like John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Andrew Stanton, and many others, were working on A Bug’s Life).

Eventually, word came that Disney would like Toy Story 2 to be released theatrically, and set a Thanksgiving 1999 release date for it. However, as time began to dwindle down, the A-team at PIXAR began to hear word that the sequel was not working out.

After they returned from their promotional tour of A Bug’s Life, John Lasseter and his friends sat down to see what was happening. Though it has never fully been disclosed to the public just what that original idea was, it was a consensus among the head guys at PIXAR that the film currently in production, was not up to their level of quality.

Eventually, they corresponded this to Disney, but were told that their request to start-over again was impossible. With the film due for release in 9 months, Toy Story 2 was locked in, and the company was just going to have to live with a product that was ‘good enough.’ Well, for John Lasseter and his cohorts…’good enough’ was not good enough.

Even though he was spent from his time finishing A Bug’s Life and promoting that film, Lasseter took the reins of Toy Story 2, and after reformulating the story at a week-long retreat, the company set out to completely storyboard/animate/render/etc the feature film that we know today…all in the span of 9 months! Ordinarily, it takes 3-4 years to develop an animated feature (the only other exception I know of, is that Disney’s Beauty and the Beast was completed in under 2 years).

The making of the film definitely took its toll on a lot of people. There was a story about how one guy was supposed to drop his daughter off at daycare…only to realize shortly after he had been working at his computer, that he had gone straight from home to the studio, and his daughter was still in the car in the studio parking lot! In the end, some animators suffered severe wrist injuries, and one of those person had a wrist injury so severe, they couldn’t continue to work once the film was over.

Like all films, Toy Story 2 got a wrap party and screening for the crew. At the Fox Theater in Oakland, CA, John Lasseter took to the stage, and looked out over all these people who had worked their butts off to turn a film that was ‘good enough,’ into one that proudly displayed the PIXAR logo.

“I am so sorry,” he said. “We are never, doing that, again.”

And in truth, it sounds like John stayed true to his word. There have been no more reports of 11th hour revisions on any PIXAR films since then, and the studio took great care to make their workplace not into a sweatshop, but into a place where their creative members were treated with a level of pride and dignity.

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Of course, as many of us know, Toy Story 2 became one of the biggest hits of the fall/winter season of 1999. It was a hit with both fans and critics alike, and its improvement over the first film, had people comparing it to other ‘2’ films like The Empire Strikes Back, and The Godfather, Part 2.

One of the team’s most well-deserved moments, came at the Golden Globes on January 23rd, 2000. though it failed to win the award for Best Song that night, the highlight for me, was when they won for Best Comedy/Musical, beating out such films as Being John Malkovich, and Man on the Moon. I can only wonder how those people who gave their all for the film felt that night, when it won.

When I visited PIXAR in December of 2011 for the Cartoon Art Museum’s yearly benefit, I was so happy to see this award in person (see the picture to the right), displayed in a case near their main entrance. This wasn’t a ‘special honorary Oscar,’ or a ‘Best Animated Feature’ award. To me, this award showed that PIXAR had the clout to stand toe-to-toe with much of the live-action work out there.

And I’m pretty sure after Toy Story 2, I was cemented as a fan of PIXAR, eager to see what they were going to give us next, and eager to study animation, hoping one day, my path might lead me there.