I Still Can’t Forgive Toy Story 4 for Ruining 2 Great Characters

When Toy Story 4 hit theaters in 2019, it was 24 years after the first Toy Story charmed audiences with its cast of characters. I was only nine years old and was exactly the target demographic for the film. Who doesn’t imagine their toys coming to life when they’re out of the room as a child? Years later, when Toy Story 2 (1999) was released, it proved itself to be one of those rare cases where the sequel absolutely lived up to the original. And it almost felt like Pixar Animation Studios could do no wrong. I was working for the Walt Disney Company when Toy Story 3 came along in 2010 and received a complimentary DVD of the film — it certainly felt as though everything had come full circle.

Since Toy Story 3 was such an emotional roller coaster, I was surprised when Pixar chose to add another installment to the franchise with Toy Story 4. And I was even more surprised when one of the franchise’s beloved characters re-emerged not just with a new look, but a new attitude. Bo Peep returned in Toy Story 4 with a clear purpose, to offer young women a different sort of role model in Pixar’s animated movies. Be that as it may, I think they totally missed the mark with her transformation.

Bo Peep Became a Totally Different Character in Pixar’s Toy Story 4

Bo Peep first appeared as somewhat of a romantic interest for Woody in the first Toy Story. She was a supporting character and one of Molly’s (Andy’s sister) «toys.» She’s not technically a toy. She and her sheep are part of the base of a themed lamp in Molly’s room. She’s made of porcelain and acts as a calming force for a neurotic Woody, who was threatened by the presence of a new toy, Buzz Lightyear, in Toy Story. She reappeared again in Toy Story 2, again in a supporting role, and did not contribute a large amount to the story, especially with the emergence of new characters like Jessie, Bullseye, and Prospector Pete.

By Toy Story 3, Bo Peep had disappeared entirely. There was one line where Woody and some of the other toys acknowledged Bo’s absence. The implication of the scene was that some toys have gone on to other homes, been lost, or were outgrown by their former owners. It stands to reason that Molly would no longer have the need for a porcelain Bo Peep lamp as she grew older. However, Bo Peep did not get the same treatment as Jessie, where the audience gets more of a glimpse into what happened to her after she was donated (Jessie was kept in storage by a collector for a number of years). Bo Peep simply ceased to be part of the Toy Story cast.

Since Bo Peep was never a major player in the Toy Story movies, it was interesting that Pixar chose to bring her back as such a large presence in Toy Story 4. I thought it could have been a good angle. And a throwback to the first movie, where Woody worries he and Buzz are «lost toys» after getting stranded at a gas station seemingly in the middle of nowhere. But I don’t know that I liked how they approached re-introducing audiences to Bo Peep — and the way they did it had more than a few inconsistencies. Potts returned as Bo, which was nice to see, but this was a very different Bo than when we last saw her in Toy Story 2. She’s rough and tumble, has done away with her dress-wearing days, and wants Woody to stay with her in her new life as a childless toy.

Toy Story 4 even went so far as to rewrite some of Bo’s lore. In a flashback, the toys organize a rescue mission to save Andy’s remote-controlled car, RC, from a rainy grave, and she is more of an active participant. Her skirt, which was once depicted as a hard shell, similar to her exterior, is also now shown to be fabric. It’s almost like Pixar thought audiences weren’t paying attention. Bo wasn’t exactly a ringleader like Woody, as seen in her updated version, nor was she a pushover. She always served as a nice complement to Woody, but Pixar clearly wanted to update her character to fit in with the new story they were planning to tell.

The Ending of Pixar’s Toy Story 4 Did Not Make Sense for Woody’s Character

In the flashback scene in Toy Story 4, there was also an added moment where Bo Peep attempts to convince Woody to get in the donation box with her. Woody looks and sees Andy and can’t bring himself to leave his kid. The entire crux of the role of a toy, and Woody’s specifically, in the franchise up until this point is to be there for a child who needs you. And in this scene, Woody cannot go against his core mission statement, the thing for which he was made. It’s one of the core characteristics that endears audiences to Woody, even with his neurotic moods at times. And Pixar did a great job in making sure this was Woody’s most grounding element.

Both Bo and Woody go through a sort of transformation in Toy Story 4, Bo’s being more obvious than Woody’s. Bo is more assertive, and audiences can only assume she has been hardened by what would seem to be a tough life on the mean streets for a toy. The idea in theory that she has gone through a personality shift during that time theoretically makes sense. But without any further inside look into her struggle, it seems abrupt. Not only that, the flashback made it seem like we were meant to believe there were always seeds of rebellion and (for lack of a better term) «strong woman» energy in Bo’s personality. It makes me wonder why Pixar felt the need to alter one of its existing female characters with such a patchy methodology as opposed to creating a fresh one for the franchise to stand in this role.

So, in the end, when Woody decides to leave Bonnie — when it became clear he was no longer a favorite — it just does not feel true to his character. We have spent all this time bonding with Woody and learning what drives him, only to see him change his mind on what feels like a whim. Not to mention, Buzz seems a lot more bumbling in Toy Story 4. And while he was ignorant in the first Toy Story, he has always been Woody’s right-hand toy in the following installments and is anything but dim (if not amorous in Spanish mode). If needing to change the trajectory and established nature of your main characters is necessary to build another installment in your franchise, it might be time to retire those characters. Bo always had a strength of character, and one that didn’t require any sort of «strong-female protagonist by the numbers» personality quirks.

Toy Story 5 Is Completely Unnecessary

With the outcome of Toy Story 4 and how it altered its main characters in order to squeeze one more movie out of them, I can only imagine what’s in store next. Toy Story 3 had already tugged at our heartstrings in so many ways that I’m starting to wonder how many more times we can stand to say farewell to these characters. The tearful goodbyes are going to begin to lose their sting after a while. Toy Story 5 is slated for a June 2026 release. According to Pixar, the premise is as follows:

The toys are back in Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” and this time around it’s Toy meets Tech. Buzz, Woody, Jessie, and the rest of the gang’s jobs get exponentially harder when they go head to head with this all new threat to playtime.

Pixar isn’t giving us much to go off of, but it’s clear we can assume Woody somehow makes his way back to Buzz and crew. Not sure how that will come to pass since their past parting, but we shall see. My only hope is that Pixar does not feel the need to rewrite and alter any of its beloved characters any more than it already has. Besides, with each new story comes the chance to introduce new characters that can move and bend with the changing times.