Ron Jacobsohn Reviews Toy Story 4

It is understandable that when a franchise comes to its fourth installment, it makes fans a bit uncomfortable, as in will it continue to produce quality movies that the fans will still go to see… Thankfully we are here speaking about a Pixar Studios property, the studio who has yet to fail at anything.
Let’s not forget that this franchise has been with us for more than three decades and with every movie (1995, 1999, 2010 & 2019) like great aging wine, Toy Story has become just better with age. We did expect the saga of Woody and Buzz to conclude with a trilogy, yet the fourth installment is far from being disappointing.

Director, Joe Cooley, who took over from John Lasseter, who left Pixar/Disney, has the magic touch this franchise needed, to entice our kids that when one toy’s mission concludes, a new mission embarks. It’s the existential question of a toy that outlives its usefulness to one kid then becomes very useful to another kid.

One of the secrets of the success of the Toy Story movies is their consistency from its inception in Lasseter’s short, Tin Toy, almost a quarter of a century ago.
In many other animated movies, we see characters who want to transition into someone or something different than they are. In Toy Story, the toys never try to be something else than toys and are destined to stay that way forever.

The most astonishing part in the fourth installment is, without a doubt, how much technology has advanced in CG Animation since the first movie in 1995. The fact that this is the first Pixar flick created in widescreen makes it look a lot more cinematic looking especially when taking for example the opening and end scenes, the imaginary of rain, or the use lighting makes you almost forget this is not a live-action movie.

The movie tackles universal adult issues like morality, destiny and even finding your purpose in a multi-layered script, which both adults and children can understand and enjoy, each one in a completely different way.

No one can deny that Toy Story ushered in an era of CG features, which opened the door to so many amazing movies in the genre, and the fourth movie in the franchise wraps up the saga really beautifully… until Disney decides to make another one. I give it a Thumbs Up.

About Ron Jacobsohn

World renowned, award winning, correspondent, Ron Jacobsohn, brings from his very entertaining world to Ron's World.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *