Toy Story 4 is a 2019 American animated comedy-drama film directed by Josh Cooley and written by Andrew Stanton and Stephany Folsom. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, it is the fourth installment in Pixar's Toy Story film series. It features Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, and Joan Cusack among the reprising roles, with Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, and Ally Maki joining the cast. Toy Story 4 follows Woody as he, Buzz Lightyear, and the other toys go on a road trip with their new owner, Bonnie, who brings along with her, Forky, a spork made with recycled materials from her school. During the trip, Woody is reunited with Bo Peep, and must decide where his loyalties lie. Don Rickles, who died in 2017, posthumously reprises his role as Mr. Potato Head through unused archive audio.
Talks for a fourth Toy Story film began in 2010, shortly before the release of Toy Story 3. When the film was officially announced in November 2014 during an investor's call, it was reported that the it would be directed by Toy Story co-creator John Lasseter, who later announced it would be a love story, after co-writing a film treatment. Cooley was announced as the film's co-director in March 2015, and ultimately replaced Lasseter as the director. The script went through many revisions with Cooley, Stanton, Folsom, Lasseter, Rashida Jones, Will McCormack, Valerie LaPointe, and Martin Hynes all receiving story credit. Composer Randy Newman returned to score the film, marking his ninth collaboration with Pixar.
Toy Story 4 premiered in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on June 11, 2019, and was released in the United States on June 21. It grossed $1.074 billion worldwide, becoming the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2019 and is the highest-grossing film in the franchise, marginally surpassing Toy Story 3. Like its predecessors, the film received acclaim from critics, with praise for its story, humor, emotional depth, musical score, animation, and vocal performances. The film was nominated for two awards at the 92nd Academy Awards, winning Best Animated Feature, and received numerous other accolades. A sequel, Toy Story 5, was released on June 19, 2026.
Plot
Nine years ago, Woody and Bo Peep rescue Andy's remote control car, RC, from being washed away in a storm, before Bo and her lamp are donated to a new owner. Woody attempts to rescue her, but she insists it is okay as it is "time for the next kid". She asks Woody to come with her but when he hears Andy calling out for him, he chooses to stay.
In the present day, after a college-bound Andy has donated his toys to Bonnie, Woody struggles to adapt as she shows little interest in playing with him and her toys already have a leader. Bonnie is quite nervous about starting kindergarten, so Woody sneaks into her backpack as moral support. When she creates a toy from a spork at her kindergarten orientation, it comes to life as Forky, who immediately suffers an existential crisis, seeing himself as trash and not a toy. As Forky quickly becomes Bonnie's favorite toy, Woody tries to stop Forky from throwing himself away.
When Bonnie's family goes on a road trip, Forky jumps out of the window of the RV, and Woody goes after him. As they walk to the park, Woody convinces Forky that his place is with Bonnie, and Forky overcomes his existential crisis. As they pass an antique store, he recognizes Bo Peep's lamp in the window, and detours inside to find her. They encounter a talking doll named Gabby Gabby and her ventriloquist dummy friends, who try to take Woody's voicebox to replace Gabby's broken one. Woody escapes, though Forky becomes Gabby's prisoner. At a playground nearby, Woody reunites with Bo and her sheep, who have become "lost toys", free from owners and able to do as they please, along with their new friend Giggle McDimples. They agree to help Woody rescue Forky.
Buzz Lightyear, trying to find Woody, gets lost in a traveling carnival and encounters prize toys Bunny and Ducky. They find Woody and Bo, who take them to stunt bike toy Duke Caboom. They attempt to rescue Forky, only to nearly get killed by the store owner's cat Dragon. The toys refuse to go back due to the danger, but Woody, overwhelmed by the ordeal of being neglected by Bonnie, indirectly ensued a dispute with Bo who dejectedly leaves with the others except Buzz. Upon confronting Gabby, she explains that she means no harm, only wanting his voice box so she can be played with by the store owner's granddaughter, Harmony. Woody voluntarily sacrifices his voice box to Gabby, in exchange for the safe return of Forky, only for Harmony to reject Gabby afterwards.
Woody sends Forky to the RV and convinces Gabby to return to Bonnie with him. Bo and the rest of the gang return and help the pair escape, and Bo and Woody reconcile. Buzz and Jessie rally Bonnie's toys to use the RV to drive back to the fair. On the way, Gabby notices a lost child at the carnival and leaves the group to comfort her until the parents arrive; the girl takes Gabby with her. Woody chooses to stay with Bo as a "lost toy" with Buzz's encouragement to live in happiness. Woody shares an emotional goodbye with his friends as they return to the RV and leave the fair. Some time later, the "lost toys" help prize toys find owners, while Bonnie creates a companion for Forky from a plastic knife.
Voice cast
Tom Hanks as Woody Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear Annie Potts as Bo Peep Tony Hale as Forky, a toy that Bonnie makes out of a plastic spork. Keegan-Michael Key as Ducky, a duck plush whose hand is attached to Bunny and was originally a carnival prize. Madeleine McGraw as Bonnie. McGraw replaces Emily Hahn, who voiced Bonnie in previous Toy Story media. Christina Hendricks as Gabby Gabby, a doll who tries to steal Woody's voice box in hopes of repairing hers and finding a kid for herself. Jordan Peele as Bunny, a bunny plush whose hand is attached to Ducky and was originally a carnival prize. Keanu Reeves as Duke Caboom, a motorcyclist toy who is devastated by his previous owner's disappointement in him. Ally Maki as Giggle McDimples, a tiny policewoman toy who is friends with Bo and usually sits on her shoulder. Jay Hernandez as Bonnie's dad Lori Alan as Bonnie's mom Joan Cusack as Jessie
Reprising their roles from previous Toy Story films are Bonnie Hunt as Dolly, Kristen Schaal as Trixie, Wallace Shawn as Rex, John Ratzenberger as Hamm, Blake Clark as Slinky Dog, Jeff Garlin as Buttercup, Estelle Harris as Mrs. Potato Head (in her final film role before her death in 2022), Timothy Dalton as Mr. Pricklepants, and Jeff Pidgeon as the Aliens. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
Don Rickles, who died in 2017, posthumously reprises his role as Mr. Potato Head through unused archive audio from previous Toy Story media; Carl Weathers reprises his role as Combat Carl from Toy Story of Terror!; John Morris and Laurie Metcalf reprise their roles as Andy and his mom during the film's prologue, while Jack McGraw voices Andy as a child.
Mel Brooks, Carol Burnett, Betty White, and Carl Reiner, respectively, voice baby toy versions of themselves seen in Bonnie's room known as Melephant Brooks, Chairol Burnett, Bitey White, and Carl Reineroceros; Alan Oppenheimer voices Old Timer, also found in Bonnie's closet; Emily Davis voices Billy, Goat, and Gruff, Bo's three-headed sheep; Steve Purcell voices Benson and The Dummies, Gabby Gabby's henchmen; Melissa Villaseñor voices Karen Beverly, a toy made out of a knife whom Forky falls in love with, in a mid-credits sequence.
Additional voices include June Squibb as Margaret, the owner of the antique store, Lila Sage Bromley as Margaret's granddaughter Harmony, Patricia Arquette as her mom; Maliah Bargas-Good as a lost girl in the carnival, Juliana Hansen as Miss Wendy, Bonnie's kindergarten teacher, Bill Hader as Axel the Carnie, Flea as the Duke Caboom commercial announcer, and Rickey Henderson as an Oakland Athletics bobblehead figure.
Production
Development Development on Toy Story 4 began shortly before the release of Toy Story 3 (2010). Tom Hanks and Tim Allen had tentatively signed on to reprise their respective roles of Woody and Buzz; Hanks stated the following year that he believed Pixar was working on a sequel. Then-studio head of Pixar John Lasseter, who directed the first two films and executive-produced the third, was scheduled to return to direct after writing a film treatment with Andrew Stanton, with input from Pete Docter and Lee Unkrich. Rashida Jones and Will McCormack joined as writers, with Galyn Susman returning as a producer from Toy Story short subjects. Lasseter explained that Pixar decided to produce the sequel because of their "pure passion" for the series, and that the film would be a love story. He also felt that "[Pixar] never even talked about doing another Toy Story film. But when Andrew, Pete, Lee and I came up with this new idea, I just could not stop thinking about it. It was so exciting to me, I knew we had to make this movie—and I wanted to direct it myself". According to Lasseter, the film was kept so secret that even Morris and his boss Edwin Catmull had no knowledge of it until the treatment was finished. He stressed that "we do not do any sequel because we want to print money" but rather to tell a new story.
In March 2015, Pixar president Jim Morris described the film as a romantic comedy and said it would not be a continuation of the third film. Josh Cooley was revealed to be the film's co-director that month. While concluding work on Inside Out (2015) and directing its short Riley's First Date (2015), Cooley was invited by Lasseter to join the project as co-director, a role Cooley accepted. Docter, Hanks, and producer Jonas Rivera were conscious that Cooley made another "younger generation" for filmmakers. At the D23 Expo in August 2015, Lasseter revealed that Toy Story 4 would be a love story between Woody and Bo Peep, and the story would involve Woody and Buzz Lightyear setting out to find and bring Bo back home. In 2016, Cooley replaced Lasseter as the director of the film and re-conceived the story as well as the purpose of Bo's return to the series. At the D23 Expo in July 2017, Pixar announced Cooley as the film's new director. In November 2017, Jones and McCormack were revealed to have withdrawn during production, citing "philosophical differences".
Writing
After writing a treatment for Toy Story 3 (2010), Stanton wrote one for Toy Story 4. This enabled Cooley to explore more ideas for Woody's overall story in the franchise, including an attempt to conclude the character's arc. Cooley and Rivera considered Toy Story 3 as the culmination of Woody and Andy's relationship; Rivera reasoned it that the franchise's focus was Woody.
By January 2018, Disney had confirmed that the screenplay was being written by Stephany Folsom, who eventually rewrote three quarters of Jones and McCormack's original script, according to Annie Potts. Folsom collaborated on the screenplay with Stanton, who had co-written the first two films.