Toy Story 4 (2019)
A sequel to Toy Story 3.
Between Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3, Woody and Bo Peep rescue Andy's remote control car, RC, from being washed away in a storm. Just then Bo, her sheep (Billy, Goat, & Gruff), and her lamp are donated to a new owner. Distraught, Woody tries to rescue her, but Bo has accepted her fate as part of a toy's life. Woody attempts to go with her, but realizing that Andy still needs him, he shares a heartfelt goodbye with Bo and stays (“You’ve Got A Friend In Me”).
Nine years later, after a college-bound Andy has donated his toys to Bonnie, Woody struggles to adapt as Dolly acts as the leader in Bonnie's room, and Bonnie shows little interest in playing with him. Remaining convinced that Bonnie needs him, Woody sneaks into her backpack on the day of her kindergarten orientation. When another child steals Bonnie's art supplies, Woody leaves objects from the trash on Bonnie's table. Bonnie creates a doll from a spork and other materials, naming him Forky. Forky comes to life but suffers an existential crisis, seeing himself as trash, not a toy. As Forky quickly becomes Bonnie's new favorite toy, Woody repeatedly has to stop Forky from throwing himself away.
When Bonnie's family goes on a road trip, Forky continually attempts to throw himself away but Woody stops him each time (“I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away”). One night, Forky jumps out the window of the RV, and Woody goes after him. As they walk to the RV park, Woody convinces Forky that his place is with Bonnie, and Forky overcomes his existential crisis. As they pass an antique store’s (Second Chance Antiques) window, Woody recognizes Bo Peep's lamp, and detours inside to find her. They encounter a talking doll named Gabby Gabby and Benson, one of her ventriloquist dummy friends, who try to take Woody's voice box to replace Gabby's broken one. Woody escapes the store, though Forky is captured by Gabby Gabby. At a playground located near the RV park, Woody reunites with Bo Peep and her sheep, who have become "Lost Toys," free from any owners and able to do as they please, along with their new friend, a miniature police officer toy named Giggles McDimples. They agree to help Woody rescue Forky. Bo Peep and her sheep get around in a toy RC car that is disguised as a skunk (skunk-mobile).
Buzz Lightyear, trying to find Woody by following his “inner voice” (i.e. voice box), gets lost in a carnival and becomes a game prize, but escapes with plush toys Bunny and Ducky. They meet up with Woody and Bo, who leads them to a hangout inside a pinball machine (known as Tinny’s), where they find Canadian stunt bike toy Duke Caboom, who reveals that he was abandoned by his kid Rejean when he couldn’t jump as far as the commercials portrayed. They attempt to rescue Forky by jumping across the aisle to the cabinet, only to nearly get killed by the store owner's cat, Dragon. The toys argue about going back, and Woody, desperate to be necessary to Bonnie, inadvertently insults Bo by saying "Lost Toys" cannot understand loyalty. He is left alone to rescue Forky, but when he confronts Gabby, she explains that she has wanted a child's love her entire life, having come out of the box with a defective voice box. Woody sympathizes and gives her his voice box on the condition Forky is released.
As Woody and Forky leave, they see Gabby callously rejected by Harmony, the store owner's granddaughter. Woody leaves Forky and convinces Gabby to return to Bonnie's house with him. Bo, Caboom, McDimples, Bunny, and Ducky return (after Bo realizes that Woody is loyal so Bonnie can be happy), and help the pair escape to the fairgrounds. Jessie, after Forky informs her of the situation, rallies Bonnie's toys to take over the RV controls and drive it to the fair. As Woody's group approaches the RV, Gabby notices a lost little girl and stops to comfort her. The little girl is found by her parents and keeps Gabby as her toy.
Woody and Bo Peep prepare to leave each other again, but Buzz assures Woody that Bonnie is okay without him and that he can stay with Bo as a "Lost Toy" along with McDimples, Caboom, Ducky, and Bunny. Woody gives his sheriff badge to Jessie, and his friends share an emotional goodbye with him before leaving with Bonnie.
In an epilogue, the "Lost Toys" travel with the carnival to help prize toys find owners, and Bonnie creates a companion for Forky from a plastic knife ("The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy”).
TRIVIA
Visual Style
The team visited local antique stores and discovered a lot of charming, interesting and fun people running them as well as many visual similarities from store to store. There’s often a stoplight, a juke box, sometimes a big plastic Santa, and of course lots of collectables and real antiques. There are many lights and lamps illuminating all the items throughout the store—lights connected to lots and lots of extension cords and power strips. The front desks are always interesting, small notes, little curiosities, extra tags and refreshingly low tech: they laboriously hand-write receipts and chat about your purchase. There’s also a cat or two that have the run of the place.
Easter Egg(s)
The battery pack in the skunk-mobile is from the company BnL (Buy’n’Large”) from Wall-E. The sheep also bring a grape soda bottle cap which is a reference to Russel’s final badge in Up.
A 2020 Pixar short Lamp Life takes place during Toy Story 4 where Bo Peep recounts her journey between Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 4.