Toy Story 4, mini movie review

 

Rating: A

When I heard that there was going to be another Toy Story movie I honestly rolled my eyes.  "Seriously? Another one?" I thought, and went about my day unfazed.  A little time later the trailer came out, and I was still not excited.  What could they do more?  Does this story about toys need rehashing?  How is this not going to be a simple repeat, just with a new kid?

Out of obligation I went.  Dragging my feet a little.

Boy did I have fun!

Andy is in college, and the homage he receives is that of nostalgia and background retailing.  Not too much.  Just enough.  Bonnie is the toys new kid, and they're all still wonderfully together, except for Bo Peep, who we haven't seen in quite awhile, but she wasn't Andy's toy, she was his sister's, and out of no where she disappeared.  I felt her loss back when, but moved on.  Bonnie is the focus now, and she's growing up a little.  Not growing out of toys, but entering a new phase in life: Kindergarten.  In order to cope with this transition Bonnie creates a toy out of trash and unknowingly brings it to life.  Forky.  A spork with doodads.  Forky has an identity crises, and in the midst of a road trip there's much insanity mixed with hilarity.

Toy Story 4 is a charming movie filled with warmth.  There's friendship, forgiveness, love, second chances, all the Pixar good stuff.  And plenty of jokes.  Seriously a ton of "laugh out loud" moments with a giggle here and there.

And we finally find out what happens to Bo Peep!  She's doing well.  Real well.  She's tough.  I really love what they did with her character.

There's plenty of new characters mixed in at a steady rate, adding to the story instead of overcrowding.  The new characters are interesting and fun.    One of them has me laughing on the inside right now just thinking about them.  But all the classic characters are there as well, fully utilized: This is their story.

So, without giving too much away, Toy Story 4 is a nice new chapter.  A great family film.  Worth seeing many times. 

MPAA: G

Window Displays at the Disneyland Emporium

 Right before my trip to France I wrote 18 blogposts that would update automatically while I was gone, and as soon as I left I had this nagging feeling that there was something I planned to talk about, but forgot.

Honestly, I'm surprised I managed all 18!

But then I remembered: The window displays at the Disneyland Emporium.

It's tradition for me, whenever I come to the Magic Kingdom in California, to see the window displays, which represent scenes from various Disney movies, as soon as I come into the park.  The Emporium is the first shop to the left on Main Street USA, and the windows are right at the entrance.  They're hard to miss, unless you're hypnotized by the distant Sleeping Beauty's castle.

When my family visited Disneyland it was the first week in November, and the park was transitioning from Halloween to Christmas, bit by bit, day by day.

And on the first day of our visit all the window displays were covered up, and stayed covered up through the week.  I was disappointed at first, and wondered if I would ever see the new displays, but as we were leaving the park on our last day, November 6th, sky dark and the castle glowing pink/blue, hurrying to buy final souvenirs, and waiting patiently as the nephew and nieces had their silhouettes cut out, my nephew slept through it, I noticed the curtains for the window displays outside the Emporium were finally open!  I could see them.  And everyone else noticed as well because there were huge crowds gathered around to see.

There was one final display that I wasn't able to see because the curtain was still down, so it will remain a mystery.

 There were five displays from five movies:

Frozen, Princess and the Frog, Toy Story, Cinderella, and Peter Pan.

A little of the old and new.

And each display had two scenes they switched between.  A marvel to watch.

 A sunny scene in Frozen changing to an icy scene, with Olaf walking around dreaming of Summer.

 A swamp scene changing to a celebratory Steam boat scene for Princess and the Frog.

 Woody and Buzz lightyear being played with in Toy Story.

 Cinderella having her pink gown changed to blue and then dancing with her prince.

And the scene from Peter Pan, which was my favorite.  The transition from the nursery scene to flying above the homes was seamless.  I watched this transition over and over.  A lot of fun to watch.

So if you ever find yourself at the Happiest Place of Earth, take the time to watch the window displays at the Main Street Emporium.

It's a fun dash of magic.