[Warning: Spoilers ahead for ‘Toy Story 3’ and ‘Toy Story 4,’ but who am I kidding, if you haven’t seen them by now you wouldn’t be reading this!]
If you’re a fan of the ‘Toy Story’ franchise, you gave a sigh of relief at the end of ‘Toy Story 3’ because Woody and the gang narrowly avoided being junked (shredded by a gigantic wood-chipper and burned to ash) and found a new home with a new kid who would love them and play with them and make their lives fulfilling. I never minded this idea that the meaning of life for toys was that they were meant to be with kids, but I always found it a little disturbing that the common theme throughout the films was that toys without kids were heartbreakingly lonely or villains.
That’s why it was such a surprise when at the end of ‘Toy Story 4,’ after spending the entire movie desperately trying to get himself and Forky (the toy made out of a spork and pipe cleaners) back to their kid Bonnie, Woody decided that he didn’t need a kid anymore and decided to stay with his one true love Bo Peep. It was rather shocking — didn’t he care that he had Bonnie’s name on his boot? She wrote it on his boot! Yet with barely a look back, he finally did something we humans can identify with, and made earth-shattering life changes in the uncertain pursuit of love. Everyone was happy, the toys who wanted kids all got one, the ones that didn’t weren’t psychotic, and Combat Carl finally got his high-five.
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And yet … Entertainment Weekly just released an exclusive video showing what the ending of Toy Story 4 might have been. If you thought Andy giving up his toys to Abby was hard to watch, go take a look at this alternate ending.
I think it’s safe to say we’re all better off having the satisfaction of how the movie actually ended!
