Toy Story 4: Lured by Hooks, Lines, and Lasers – Great

We’ve had a buddy film, prison break and then horror, now the stage is set for romance in Toy Story 4. Love always seemed to be a second thought in the Toy Story films. As confirmed by the Pixar team, Bo Peep’s character was to provide a female voice – with no clear reason why she needed to be Woody’s girlfriend – and Buzz taking an interest in Jessie was only made apparent in the conclusion of the second. Now it’s the centre point of the plot. Interesting, I thought, this sudden desire to delve into it with Bo Peep making a large comeback.

Even more interesting is a perspective that no one thought existed – the potential that Bo Peep seriously considered Buzz and not Woody as a love interest.

ABC News published an exclusive interview with Annie Potts, voice actress for Bo Peep, on Good Morning America.

.@anniepotts, the voice of Little Bo Peep in the @toystory franchise, tells us that Bo FINALLY chooses between Woody and Buzz in #ToyStory4! pic.twitter.com/fuIDrjfBSt

— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 15, 2019

We were introduced to a new outlook on Bo Peep’s character. But what was certainly not expected was the interviewer stating, “.. when we last saw her [Bo Peep] she was trying to choose between Woody and Buzz…”

Was there a film I missed? Double checked, no triple checked the title. Yep, it’s definitely Toy Story 4.

If this was true and Bo Peep was in theory trying to choose between them, who is to say Buzz is or wants to be available for choosing? He had shown no sign of anything other than friendship with her in the little scenes they shared over the films.

It’s not hard to assume that Bo Peep did have divided loyalties. From Toy Story 1, “I found my moving buddy” while fanning herself and from Toy Story 2, the lingering kiss. WIth the scarce scenes shown of Bo in the first and second film, we had little to work with to establish her character to the same depth as the main characters. This could be easily brushed off as it paid no real significance to the main plot.

However, most viewers of Toy Story have paid enough attention to them to realise how out of the blue this seems.

It would not have been surprising if you only remembered Bo Peep when Rex mentioned her loss in Toy Story 3. One might think she was cast aside because she was no longer needed, very much like Wheezy who had more lines in one film alone. But her role has been greatly enhanced for the sake of this film – with a new look and a new purpose.

Early concept shows that Bo Peep definitely had some fire in her soul. There is a version of the scene with Sid blowing up Combat Carl with the following line, “Oh that Sid Phillips is just downright evil”. All the while gripping and raising her hook. This was swapped to Bo Peep grabbing Buzz’s arm with her hook while telling him to get down from the windowsill. Was this the connection that gave birth to the illustrious love triangle that awaits us?

This, of course, was purposefully done, because it was always going to be Woody and Buzz in the foreground. Pixar choosing the fourth film to be a romance allows Bo Peep room to make a comeback Why? We don’t know. It’s harmless enough but at the same time, did Bo Peep really summon such a following that Pixar felt she needed to come back? Or are they playing their part in the newfound demand for stronger, independent female leads? For a character Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3’s director) explained was not going to survive Sunnyside Daycare to suddenly do aerobatic stunts can raise a few eyebrows.

What piques curiosity is Jessie seems to have had her role downplayed – almost swapped with the old Bo Peep role. The film synopsis doesn’t mention her at all.

But will the new film make a smooth transition to a Bo Peep character we never knew? Building on the little we knew to a character that is still Bo Peep? Or will they imply with flashbacks that was this was supposedly there all along?

As they’re already introducing parts of the relationship we’d never heard of before – claiming it to be historic – then it’s safe to worry it will be the latter. However, I feel there is a strong possibility that this is an overreaction. We’ve had interviewers who have not done their research before, but we have also had those who can purposefully lead us down a thought train to distract us from the real plot.