Toy Story 4 teaser introduces a new toy named Forky

Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang are back in the teaser trailer for Toy Story 4 and they have a new, very upset friend.

Doesn’t it seem like it was just yesterday when Toy Story 4 was announced? The teaser practically came out of nowhere and it’s not what was expected. A lot has changed since the film was announced back in 2014, it was originally going to be directed by John Lasseter, written by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones and would follow Woody and Buzz on an adventure to find Bo Peep. But it looks like Bo Peep is as lost as her sheep.

Since then, Lasseter, McCormack, and Jones all left the project and Josh Cooley is its new director and Stephany Folsom its new writer. The pair changed the story into a road-trip adventure full of existential crises.

Instead of a film about finding their lost friend, the gang has to put up with a new one, a spork toy named Forky. Yes, he’s a spork, one of those plastic sporks your school would hand out during lunch that was only good for eating mashed potatoes, with a face and arms attached on. “Forky” is voiced by Tony Hale and is described as being “an actual spork-turned-craft project who insists he isn’t a toy”.

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True to his word, Forky doesn’t look happy to be there, making him unlike any “toy” the franchise has ever had, because he’s actually a utensil. Wait, does this mean that everything can talk? If Forky can talk like the toys but he’s not a toy, then can other things like the toilet and your pillows talk? That’d be uncomfortable. Which is clearly how Forky sees it.

The teaser shows the toys dancing in a circle, smiling and jumping in peaceful bliss until the circle lands on Forky who stands between Woody and Slinky and acts exactly how I act whenever I’m at a party. He screams, “I don’t belong here”, and runs away. I feel you Forky.

The synopsis reads as follows:

"“Woody has always been confident about his place in the world and that his priority is taking care of his kid, whether that’s Andy or Bonnie. But when Bonnie adds a reluctant new toy called “Forky” to her room, a road trip adventure alongside old and new friends will show Woody how big the world can be for a toy.”"

Bonnie is a little more imaginative than Andy, so it’s not surprising that she would make a toy out of crafts. The Toy Story movies have always given messages of self-acceptance, friendship, and love. Maybe the message for Toy Story 4 will be one for the times, showing the audience, and Forky, that you can be anything you want. Even a fork who acts like a toy.

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“Forky” and his self-identity crisis is a far cry from the “Woody and Buzz rescue Bo Peep” story that was originally pitched, but Peep isn’t totally gone. Annie Potts, the voice of Bo Peep, confirmed that she’s still part of the film, but also said that “three-quarters” of the original Toy Story 4 screenplay was rewritten after Lasseter left. It’s not clear yet how the Bo Peep character will reappear. Maybe she appears on that road trip the group goes on.

Toy Story 4 will be in theaters on June 21, 2019.