Toy Story 4's trailer promises a franchise remix with even more dread

The Toy Story series is the best film trilogy of all time, and really didn't need a sequel. So it makes sense that the first trailer for that sequel, released last night, is basically just a compilation of the franchise's best bits so far.

There's the 'new toy comes to town' dynamic of the original film, as Forky – a canteen spork brought to life with pipe cleaners, googly eyes and a child's love – joins the gang. There's the 'this belongs in a museum' angle from the sequel, as Woody and Forky find themselves chased around by horrifying ventriloquists' dummies before bumping into Bo and discovering (a la Toy Story 3) that life outside the Toy Story bubble doesn't necessarily involve being abandoned or locked in a room with a bunch of creeps.

There's a brief glimpse of Keanu Reeves as stunt toy Duke Caboom, looking like a clear stand-in for the Ken dolls of the later films; there's a visual nod to the grabber-machine aliens of Toy Story featuring Ducky and Bunny (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele); there's a rekindling of Woody and Bo's on-again off-again love story. Will they? Won't they? What would it mean if they did?

If you can't see an embed of the Toy Story 4 trailer, click here

One thing that has been dialled up a bit is the existential dread in the dialogue. Some of the first words out of the mouth of Forky's malformed gob are "Why am I alive?"; Woody says at one point that he was "made... to help... a child. I don't remember it being this hard." Clearly, this is a film aimed over the heads of the children in the audience and straight at their jaded siblings and parents who've seen the hope of the 90s and 2000s evaporate in a whirlwind of late capitalism, big terror and environmental dread. It isn't about the toys, it's about something bigger. 

In short, it's Toy Story again, and we're back on board. Also, there is not enough of Rex the dinosaur – we see him pensively rubbing his tiny hands together in the background a couple of times, but we demand more. Rex is the neurotic, shambling coward with a heart of gold that we need right now, and nothing more than an MCU-style spinoff focussing on his attempts to become a pro gamer will do. Come on Disney, use your head.

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Toy Story 4 is released on 21 Jun by Disney