Trailer Review | Toy Story 4

I think it’s fair to say that we have been waiting longer than expected for Pixar to give us a substantial look at Toy Story 4 – potentially their biggest film to date – but now, it’s finally here. Click the image below to watch the trailer.

In all honesty, I don't feel that my excitement for this film has significantly increased since before watching this trailer, but I already had huge expectations for this film, and it is understandable that they are trying to keep things close to the vest. What I will say is that it felt very familiar in regards to the story elements given away here, but again, this is not problematic since it's clear that the more emotionally powerful aspects of the film are going to be kept from us until we see the fill film on the big screen.

However, although it felt familiar, it felt very different tonally, likely because of the lack of focus on the characters we have known and loved for almost 25 years. This is of course with the exception of Woody, but even Jessie, a majorly significant character in the second and third entry, has been completely side-lined, and replaced by a seemingly crucial new character, Forky, who has already made an impression on fans. I am very interested in what Forky will bring to the franchise, because they seem to be hinting at a theme of self identity, since Forky is not an actual toy, which could be incredibly poignant.

The highlight of this trailer for me, however, was something that will probably not even feature in the film, but really heightened the emotion, was the use of The Beach Boys' God Only Knows, which is simply perfect - it embodies the incredibly heartfelt and bittersweet nature of these films and from that point onwards, the trailer demonstrated that.

Toy Story 4 is released on June 24, 2019.