Friday 7 November 2014

Toy Story 4: A Franchise Ruined Forever Or A New Start For A New Generation?

One thing which has popped up in my Facebook's news feed recently is this little gem: there is going to be a Toy Story 4 coming out in June 2017, and it's going to be directed by John Lasseter, who directed the first two, but NOT the third one (that one was directed by Lee Unkrich).

Now, I have to say that my first response was not euphoria OR immediately screaming that the franchise was officially going to produce its Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (which I actually liked, but that's another matter for another time...), but was "Well, that's an interesting decision...". Don't get me wrong, I was excited about the idea of it, but I'd felt that Toy Story 3 was the perfect ending to what I consider to be the best trilogy ever made (yes, I would seriously put the Toy Story trilogy as the best trilogy ever made in the history of film, and I'm saying this as someone who loves The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and the original Star Wars trilogy! I won't even say "best animated trilogy" ever just to attempt to hold some form of critical integrity (since when have I ever had any?), because I hold that animation is a completely valid medium in and of itself to tell stories (if anything, I'd argue that it's STILL an underrated medium for telling stories due to the status among most people for animated works to automatically mean that it's only for children), and making out animation to be a lesser form of art than live action works is completely wrong to me, as I'd argue the inverse is actually true when you sit and think about it hard enough!) and, even now, I do not feel confident that there is any way to continue the story from where Pixar have left off today.

However, after some deeper thought, I think there is some potential in this idea, but, as shocking as this might sound when I say it, I do have some concerns for potential pitfalls which could make this the worst Toy Story film to date...although, granted, that's probably like being the worst Golden Globe winner, as you're still talking about something which is still likely to be really good, just not the most exceptional of the best!

Let us look at this cynically for a bit and see what potential pitfalls this film will be facing before I turn towards a more positive (and, hopefully, interesting) take on this.

First of all, focusing purely on the reputation that the Toy Story trilogy has, you're dealing with a fourth addition to a film series that is one of the best film trilogies ever made AND which is having to tell what is likely to be a story without Andy (because, let's be honest, getting Andy in Toy Story 4 is not really likely to work out well). This is going to mean a whole new environment to get used to, so this sequel already is starting off on a poor foot: the characters are the same, but the setting they are in is going to be VERY different from the last three films and, with that, is likely to come a change in tone. Toy Story 3 got VERY dark at points (incinerator scene, anyone?), but I don't see them being allowed to go further than that, so the tone of Toy Story 4 is likely to be more light hearted compared to Toy Story 3...and that's going to feel like a step back, no matter how well it is handled. And, well, any step back is going to hurt the film, even if it's for a justified reason in the creation process. In all honesty, weighing up the reputation of the Toy Story films and thinking about it hard enough, one could fairly argue that there is no way to make Toy Story 4 without it being seen as a decrease in quality on some level: if the film goes darker than Toy Story 3, it's going to probably be too dark to be considered a family film and, as such, would cause complaints from quite a few people, but, if the film takes a step back, everyone who liked the darker tone of Toy Story 3 is going to dislike it for taking a step back. It's really a bit of a lose-lose situation, from where I'm looking at it at the minute.

Secondly, moving to my earlier complaint, I think that there's no real way to continue the story of Toy Story without hurting the perfect ending to Toy Story 3. I've used the word "perfect" twice to describe the ending for Toy Story 3, and I do not use that word lightly: the ending hit every emotional note I should have expected from it, did it in a way that struck a chord with me, being about a year away from entering college myself when I saw it, and was a conclusion to the trilogy that I simply think could not have been bettered. Everything was just done to perfection, and I couldn't imagine a better ending to a trilogy that I hold so close to my heart. I do not exaggerate much when I say that the first two Toy Story films defined my childhood, alongside Monsters, Inc., The Hunchback Of Notre-Dame and The Pirates Of Penzance, so for me to say that I consider Toy Story 3 to be on the same level as the first two films...that is not just me saying that to seem impressive, that is me basically saying that, if Toy Story 3 had come out when I was still a child, I would have considered it a defining part of my childhood. Let that sink in...

So having the ending of Toy Story 3 effectively turn out not to be the end...I'm really sorry if I sound like I'm stuck in the past, but I simply cannot picture a story that I think would work to follow that film up or improve upon that ending in any way. For me, and most other people like myself who grew up with the first two Toy Story films, that was the ending we all were looking for, as heartbreaking as we might have found it when we actually saw it happening, so there is no way that a continuation can take that and make something new work without ultimately making that ending seem hollow now. I'm actually fighting back tears having typed that now that I've realised that, that's how much that film's ending meant to me and how hollow it's going to seem now that I know it isn't the final end to the trilogy any more.

The third issue is one which might not seem obvious at first, but requires me to look at the fact that John Lasseter is going to be involved in this. On paper, that's a brilliant thing: the guy who helped write all of the Toy Story films and A Bugs Life AND the guy who executive produced films like Frozen, The Princess And The Frog, Wreck-It Ralph and WALL-E is involved in this? SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

...Except he's also the guy who co-wrote Cars, Cars 2 and Planes? I WANT A REFUND ALREADY!

...OK, in fairness, I did actually like Cars (it was a fun watch, if not one of Pixar's finest moments by any measure), but the point still stands: since he co-wrote three of the worst received Pixar films, that indicates that it is possible for him to drop the ball, and the fact that his most recent involvements on a writing level (except for possibly The Pirate Fairy) have been among the worst received Pixar films means that there is a valid reason to have a healthy level of scepticism about the strength of the writing for Toy Story 4.

That's all I can really say for now, as no other details have been revealed. So let me try that other spin: maybe Toy Story 4 isn't going to be a film for the audience who grew up with Toy Story and Toy Story 2 being watched frequently on VHS (anyone else remember those?), but is for the audience who are coming up today who never got to experience the joys of Toy Story like I did. While the old grumpy sods like me will probably be sitting and complaining about how it's not the same any more when we see it, it should not be forgotten that, when we were in our early childhoods, it was films like Toy Story, Cinderella, Hercules and Pocahontas that entertained us when we were growing up. Yet, whenever I look at animated films today, I see no films like them out there any more (and I'm not just on about the 2D hand drawn style of the last three I mentioned, although I would really like to see more films like them today). In this day and age, there isn't the next generation's Toy Story. There isn't the next generation's Dragonball Z. There isn't even the next generation's Harry Potter. In this day and age, so many of the great works which defined our childhoods and inspired us to become writers, artists, actors and critics simply do not exist any more. And that is truly heartbreaking for me, as it leaves me with the sad belief that so many great creative mediums are going to be lacking the John Lasseters for the generation after the next, the Akira Toriyamas of the generation after the next...even the J. K. Rowlings of the generation after the next.

So, in essence, I feel it is our duty, as the generation who is watching this new generation start to develop, that we step up to become those people who they will look up or, if we cannot be those people, to guide them to find the works that will inspire them to become those people themselves. And, if that means we have to watch as our childhood icons have to become the icons of a new generation, then I feel that is a small price to pay if it means that we can inspire the great artists, writers and actors of tomorrow to become who they have the potential to be.

So let us inspire them.

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