To Infinity and Beyond

How Toy Story 4 is Disney’s Most Gratuitous Money Grab Yet

I can still remember the dampness in my eyes during the closing moments of the film. I don’t cry often and I nearly never cry in public. But damn if that one didn’t hit my square in the heart. I can even still remember the final words … “So long, partner.”

Toy Story 3 was no perfect film by any measure, but it did a pretty good job of putting a final touch on the saga of Andy and his toys. That little boy had grown to be a young man, headed to college, and ready to leave his adolescence behind. And everybody in the audience over the age of 25 could relate to that. I know I wasn’t the only one wiping away a tear when the lights came on.

It was a great ending. A trilogy of films that had a real story arc with character development, engaging plots and something so elusive in Hollywood these days … closure.

And then a bunch of middle aged men in overpriced suits got together and decide to muck it all up.

That might has well be the tagline for Toy Story 4: a bunch of middle aged men in overpriced suits get together and decide to muck it up all. Too wordy? Maybe they can call up Ollie Stone and borrow a tagline his film Wall Street (1987) made famous … “Greed is good.”

That’s the dirty truth behind Toy Story 4. It’s all about the money. The richest film studio in history isn’t satisfied and is getting the gang back together for another Billion or so.

Money… and the belief that consumers can be duped into spending more on franchise that’s already said its goodbyes.

Watching the new trailer for Toy Story 4 explains everything you need to understand about this film. There are no new ideas here. Scattered over two minutes and twenty-seven seconds we see plenty of recycled plot points, old jokes and situations that wreak of nostalgia. And not that good kind of nostalgia either. More like that eye rolling deja vu.

Stop me if this sounds familiar: Woody (Tom Hanks) gets separated from the other toys. Woody believes a toy should be…

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