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'Toy Story 4' Is On Its Way, But How Do We Feel?

Noah Camarena |
November 11, 2014 | 11:36 p.m. PST

Staff Reporter

Woody and Buzz (Twitter, @independent)
Woody and Buzz (Twitter, @independent)
"Toy Story 4" has been officially announced, and young adults all around the world are jumping for joy with a confused look on their faces. It’s hard not to be excited for another sequel in one of the best movie franchises of all times, but it’s also easy to be a little upset that it is happening. Here are some reasons to be excited about the movie, but also some reasons for concern.

Who is Bonnie?

My first thought after hearing about the new movie was, who exactly is this kid that will now be playing with the toys we all grew up loving? She will never be Andy, but then again, Andy was barely in any of the movies anyway. Would Bonnie take up a more prominent role as a way to change the vibe of the movie, or would she be mostly MIA while the toys run rampant? Either way, the old toys will still have to adjust to a new owner, who will likely interact with them differently - and produce some interesting reactions from the toys. It is also important to note that she is a girl, so there is a potential for more tea party scenarios than bank robberies. 

READ MORE: 7 Best Childhood Movies Of The 90's

Potential for New Characters

Each "Toy Story" sequel up to this point has introduced a new cast of characters, both good and bad. It will be interesting to see how the new additions from the last movie will behave and how many more characters will be added to the cast, if any. Pixar's team could also decide to focus on less prominent characters rather than add a whole new slew of names to remember. I personally can see them taking this route because all the new characters added in the last movie received very limited time on-screen. More time getting to know Bonnie’s original toys would probably be more effective than adding more toys and trying to equally distribute screen time for every one.

What More Can They Do?

It is worth asking, how many more times can Woody or Buzz get lost? Every movie until now has followed a rescue team of toys who had to save one of their leaders. Pixar could completely shake it up and get rid of a key character, but I feel like that would anger too many fans. Villains have already gone from a kid, to a grown man, to another toy. So what other options are left? Maybe they could just make Bonnie a terrible owner, but they would be a complete u-turn from how she was portrayed in the last movie. Realistically, the only other options involve making a parent the enemy, or some disaster could occur and tear apart the group. I trust the minds behind this movie, but I just hope they’re not just making another sequel because the "Toy Story" brand is a guaranteed box office hit. 

READ MORE: Can Walt Disney Animation And Pixar Coexist?

Will Someone Replace Woody?

This could be an interesting storyline to follow. What if Woody and one of Bonnie’s toys do not get along, and everyone turns on our favorite cowboy? This is a similar storyline to the original movie, but what if this time Woody just never befriended the other toy? This could cause him to seek out another owner and cause a huge divide in the group of toys. Or maybe Woody will realize that it's time to pass on the leadership role and he will take a backseat in his new environment. Bonnie could also just dislike Woody and never play with him. Could this be the movie where Jessie takes over and Woody is forced to watch from the sidelines? All possibilities, but Woody will most likely remain in the spotlight.

It’s Toy Story!

No matter how much speculation there is leading up to the release, there should be nothing to worry about because Toy Story has never disappointed. Usually, a franchise that extends past a second movie flops by the third film, yet Toy Story was able to overcome that hurdle. "Toy Story 4" will most likely be a way for the franchise to introduce itself to today’s kids while still being popular for people in their late teens, who were the target audience for the earlier Toy Story films. Toy Story has some of the best and most recognizable and most widely loved animated characters of all time. As crazy as it is to think that Pixar could improve upon Toy Story 3, they have yet to disappoint us - and there really is no reason to think that they could start now.

Contact Staff Reporter Noah Camarena here and follow him on Twitter here.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

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