Toy Story 4 2019
Toy Story 4 is a 2019 American computer-animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the fourth installment in Pixar's Toy Story series and the sequel to Toy Story 3 (2010). It was directed by Josh Cooley (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Andrew Stanton and Stephany Folsom; the three also conceived the story alongside John Lasseter, Rashida Jones, Will McCormack, Valerie LaPointe, and Martin Hynes.[4] Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles,[a] Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Blake Clark, Jeff Pidgeon, Bonnie Hunt, Jeff Garlin, Kristen Schaal, and Timothy Dalton reprise their character roles from the first three films, and are joined by Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, and Ally Maki, who voice new characters introduced in this film. Set after the third film, Toy Story 4 follows Woody (Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (Allen) as the pair and the other toys go on a road trip with Bonnie (McGraw), who creates Forky (Hale), a spork made with recycled materials from her school. Meanwhile, Woody is reunited with Bo Peep (Potts), and must decide where his loyalties lie.
Toy Story 4 2019
Talks for a fourth film to Toy Story began in 2010, and Hanks stated that Pixar was working on the sequel in 2011. When the film was officially announced in November 2014 during an investor's call, it was reported that the film would be directed by Lasseter, who later announced it would be love story, after writing a film treatment with Stanton, and input from Pete Docter and Lee Unkrich, while Galyn Susman would served as the producer. Cooley was named co-director with Lasseter in March 2015, while Pixar president Jim Morris said it was not a continuation of the third film, who described the film as a romantic comedy. In July 2017 at the D23 Expo, Lasseter was stepping down and leaving Cooley as the sole director. New characters for the film were announced between in 2018 and 2019 along with new cast members. Composer Randy Newman returned to score the film, making his ninth collaboration with Pixar. The film is dedicated to Don Rickles (the voice of Mr. Potato Head) and animator Adam Burke, who died on April 6, 2017, and October 8, 2018, respectively.[5][6]
Toy Story 4 premiered in Los Angeles on June 11, 2019, and was released in the United States on June 21. It grossed $1.073 billion worldwide, becoming the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2019. Like its predecessors, the film received critical acclaim, with praise for its story, humor, emotional weight, musical score, animation, and vocal performances. The film was nominated for two awards at the 92nd Academy Awards, winning Best Animated Feature, and received numerous other accolades. A sequel is in development.
Disney officially announced Toy Story 4 during an investor's call on November 6, 2014.[34] Then-studio head of Pixar John Lasseter, who directed the first two films and executive-produced the third, was scheduled to direct after writing a film treatment with Andrew Stanton, with input from Pete Docter and Unkrich. Rashida Jones and Will McCormack joined as writers, with Galyn Susman returning as a producer from Ratatouille.[35] Lasseter explained that Pixar decided to produce the sequel because of their "pure passion" for the series, and that the film would be a love story.[36] He felt that "Toy Story 3 ended Woody and Buzz's story with Andy so perfectly that for a long time, [Pixar] never even talked about doing another Toy Story film. But when Andrew, Pete, Lee and I came up with this new idea, I just could not stop thinking about it."[37]
In March 2015, Pixar president Jim Morris described the film as a romantic comedy and said it would not be a continuation of the third film.[38][39] The same month, Variety reported that Josh Cooley was named co-director with Lasseter, having previously been head of story on Inside Out.[40] According to Lasseter, the film was kept so secret that even Morris and his boss Edwin Catmull had no knowledge of it until the treatment was finished. He stressed that "we do not do any sequel because we want to print money" but rather to tell a new story.[41] Cooley later revealed that development of a fourth film had actually begun shortly before the release of the third film.[42]
By January 2018, Disney had confirmed that the screenplay was being written by Stephany Folsom,[46] who eventually rewrote three quarters of Jones and McCormack's original script, according to Annie Potts.[47][48] Folsom collaborated on the screenplay with Stanton, who had co-wrote the first two films.[49][50] According to Cooley, the center of the film's updated screenplay was around the relationship of Woody and Bo Peep. Bo Peep had been absent in Toy Story 3, explained narratively as Bo Peep having been given away. This had set the stage for the conclusion of the third film, with Woody getting the idea to give Andy's toys to Bonnie. Cooley said that when they thought about bringing Bo Peep back in the fourth film, it was not only to rekindle the romantic interest between Woody and Bo Peep. Bo Peep's becoming a lost toy also reflects a fear Woody has had through the series, and challenges his world view.[51][52] By September 28, 2018, recording for the film had begun. Allen said that the film's story was "so emotional" that he "couldn't even get through the last scene."[53] Similarly, Hanks called the film's ending scene a "moment in history."[54] On January 30, 2019, Hanks and Allen finished recording their characters' voices.[55]
Tony Hale was cast as Forky, a homemade toy suffering an existential crisis. Hale has performed roles before with similar panicked characters, including Buster Bluth on Arrested Development and Gary Walsh on Veep. When asked to voice Forky, Hale said, "A utensil's existential crisis? I'm in!"[59] Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele were cast as a pair of carnival prize plush toys named Ducky and Bunny. Cooley said that while they brought them on to provide some improvised comedy to the film, "they were story motivated which elevated Ducky and Bunny and the film to a level I never could have expected."[60] Additionally, Keanu Reeves was announced to be voicing a character in the film[16] named Duke Caboom.[17] Reeves said he was contacted by Pixar, much to his surprise, with the intention of voicing the part and letting him develop the character's verbal mannerisms.[61] On March 22, 2019, Madeleine McGraw, who had previously voiced Maddy McGear in Pixar's Cars 3, was revealed to be voicing Bonnie, who was voiced by Emily Hahn in the previous film and other works.[14] Comedians Carol Burnett, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and Betty White were added to the cast to voice a set of four toys that Bonnie played with as a toddler but had since outgrown, acting as "veteran" toys to help Woody prepare for when the same happens to him.[28]
Randy Newman, who composed and wrote songs for the previous three films, was confirmed to be returning during the 2015 D23 Expo.[62][63] Director Josh Cooley said that he hired Newman to return because he "can't imagine making a fourth [film] without Randy Newman."[5] Newman wrote new themes for Bonnie, Gabby Gabby, and Duke Caboom, with the latter's featuring accordions and mandolins to represent the character's memories of rejection.[5] He also wrote a "subordinate theme" for Forky.[5] Newman also reused his previous orchestral themes from the first three films. He wrote two new songs for the film, titled "The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy" and "I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away", with Newman also performing the latter.[5] On June 5, 2019, Chris Stapleton's version of "Cowboy" was released as a single.[64] The film's soundtrack, featuring Newman's score, Stapleton's and Newman's versions of the two new songs, and Newman's "You've Got a Friend in Me", was released on June 21, 2019.[5][64]
Toy Story 4 premiered on June 11, 2019, at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles.[65] The film was originally scheduled for general release on June 16, 2017,[34] but it was pushed back by two release dates, first to June 15, 2018,[66] and later to June 21, 2019.[67] Toy Story 4 was the first Pixar film without a theatrical short since Toy Story (1995),[68] and was also released in IMAX.[69]
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released Toy Story 4 for digital download on October 1, 2019, and on DVD, Blu-ray, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 8. Physical copies contain behind-the-scenes featurettes and deleted scenes.[70] The film made a revenue of $56.3 million from home video sales with 2.8 million units sold, making it the fifth best-selling film of 2019.[71]
Toy Story 4 grossed $434 million in the United States and Canada, and $639.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.073 billion.[3] It was the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2019.[72] The film had a worldwide opening of $244.5 million, the third biggest for an animated film.[73] It crossed the billion dollar mark on August 13, 2019, becoming the 43rd film as well as the fourth Pixar film to ever do so.[74] It was also the fifth film released by Disney in 2019, and sixth overall, to cross the milestone, both records for a single year.[75] Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit as $368 million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs; box office grosses and home media revenues placed it sixth on their list of 2019's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".[76]
Conversely, Kyle Smith of National Review called the film "the weakest effort in the series so far", finding its subject matter was unclear and the motives of the characters opposed and undermined the series' previous installments. He further critiqued the film for prioritizing its comedy while the story's underlying themes were "tossed out haphazardly without much follow-through", saying "It may be an essential element of Disney's corporate strategy, but as a film it's forgettable."[102] 041b061a72