Pixar unveiled new footage of Toy Story 4 during a recent press day at their headquarters in California - and the new clips promise a worthy sequel. Press were shown approximately 30 minutes of Toy Story 4, including the opening 20 minutes (which were previously shown at CinemaCon 2019) and a handful of clips from various points in the story.
The movie starts off with a flashback scene of Bo Peep leaving, then it shows Woody struggling with no longer being the favorite toy as well as Forky's creation. (A full description of Toy Story 4's first 20 minutes can be read HERE.) After that, Pixar showcased key scenes from the movie that highlight what the story is going to be about; it's not just about Woody meeting Bo Peep again but also getting Forky back to Bonnie, and him realizing his fate as her new favorite toy.
Throughout our visit to Pixar's HQ, the team behind Toy Story 4 highlighted those snippets of new footage from Toy Story 4, some of which weren't fully complete but have been developed enough to be presented, and we've compiled brief descriptions as well as anecdotal information for those new clips below.
Woody & Forky Meet Toy Story 4's Villain
Woody and Forky's journey is one of the key aspects of Toy Story 4, and when Woody gets sidetracked in trying to find Bo Peep inside the antique shop, they come across the movie's main villain: Gabby Gabby. She's a doll from the 1950s whose pull-string voice box appears to have deteriorated over the years. And so, she's hoping to take Woody's from him, seeing as his voice box works perfectly fine. The way Woody and Forky - and, by proxy, audiences - meet Gabby Gabby and her henchman, Benson (a ventriloquist dummy), is quite unnerving.
Benson pushes Gabby Gabby in her jogging stroller around the antique shop, after hours, and seeing her come around the corner of one of the store's aisles is Toy Story 4's version of a horror movie entrance. While it's not scary for audiences, it's certainly frightening for Woody. Forky, not so much. After Benson forces Woody and Forky into Gabby Gabby's jogging stroller, that's when it's revealed what Gabby Gabby's true intentions are: to fix herself by potentially dismantling Woody. In this particular scene - though it seems this is how it's going to be throughout the entire film - Forky's naïve attitude and somewhat innocent remarks make for some of the best comedy we've seen in the movie thus far.
Woody & Bo Peep Meet Again
Seeing as most of the story takes place in three areas - the antique shop, the carnival, and the RV park - all located in the same general vicinity, audiences will see the toys frequently move from one place to another. It can be quite confusing for them, especially to navigate, but for someone like Bo Peep, who seems to have lived in this area for years, it's actually easy. After leaving the antique shop, Bo Peep formed a team, which includes her best friend Giggle McDimples, and patrols the area inside her handmade skunkmobile. They appear to perform triage in the playground area, where lots of kids come and play with all the toys lying around.
This is where Woody and Bo Peep meet each other again, for the first time in nine years. And it's done in a rather perfect way, as a child holds up Woody in one hand and Bo Peep in another (after Woody first enters the playground and drops down in the sandpit when he hears kids coming), and both of them are looking directly at each other. But since a kid is playing with them, they cannot speak to each other just yet. After they're put down, Bo Peep takes Woody out of there and they briefly catch up near a sewer drain outside of the playground area. It's a big moment, especially for longtime Toy Story fans, but it's clear from the get-go that Bo Peep isn't the same toy she once was. She's a Lost Toy now, but one that isn't really... lost.
Bo Peep Introduces Duke Caboom
Just like in previous Toy Story films, Toy Story 4 puts our favorite toys in large environments, but perhaps one of the more interesting scenes shown to press was one in which Woody and Bo Peep were inside a pinball machine. It perfectly encapsulated the places that toys can go that humans simply can't. Sure, this is something that's been shown in previous installments as well, but it's amplified here. In this particular case, the pinball machine is essentially a night club... for toys. And Keanu Reeves' Duke Caboom appears to be the head/owner.
Woody and Bo Peep need help from Duke Caboom, so they go to the pinball machine. When they walk inside, everyone seems to know Bo Peep and are surprised to see her back. Woody, on the other hand, is out of his element. All the mechanisms, including the lights, in the pinball machine give off the notion that it's very much a club. Then Duke Caboom shows up at the end of the machine, on his motorcycle. He does a few action poses, but when Woody mentions that he needs to get back to his owner/child, that triggers bad memories for Duke Caboom, who was abandoned by his kid.
Although a sad story, Duke Caboom's recount of being cast aside from his owner, Rajon, is quite hilarious. He was the hottest toy on boxing day in Canada several years ago, but when his kid realized that Duke Caboom couldn't perform the same action moves that the toy could in the commercials, he was essentially thrown away.
Buzz Lightyear In The Carnival With Ducky & Bunny
While most of the Toy Story 4 footage shown to press was focused primarily on Woody and Bo Peep, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the gang are still very much integral to the story. And one clip, which has been somewhat shown in the Toy Story 4 trailer already, is of Buzz Lightyear being presented as a prize at the carnival. This is where we meet series newcomers Ducky and Bunny, voiced by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, respectively. (They were, in fact, among the first people to sign on for the sequel four years ago.)
Ducky and Bunny don't immediately get along with Buzz, who just wants to escape from the carnival and find his friends, and they show their distaste for the rocketman by kicking him with Ducky's foot. Plus, Ducky's insults are top-tier for Toy Story and perfectly represent Key and Peele's chemistry and wit. And it appears they manage to sneak a Star Wars reference in there as well.