Child's Play VS Toy Story 4

Anthropomorphism - the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object.

...Or, in this case, toys.

Long before humans started documenting history on scrolls, we have been fascinated with the concept of toys. We've dug up decrepit carvings and figures stuffed with cotton or leaves, shaped as animals and humans for years and continue to find more artifacts like them as time goes by. These artifacts could be nothing more than what we used to distract ourselves with when we weren't busy farming, hunting, sewing our own clothes, or building a fire... But, these toys have followed us throughout the years into our more modern lives even today. Now that we're not so occupied with having to harvest our own food and build our own homes with mud and sticks, we have more time to play with even more advanced toys, like game consoles, iPads, and occasionally - depending on the age (in most cases) - even dolls.

What is it about inanimate objects that are purposely molded to resemble things we know and recognize that we love so much? Why are we so fascinated with the idea that a thing that looks human, with a smile and bright eyes that resemble our own, has to feel something? Or, even have it's own secret life while we're not looking?

Director: Lars Klevberg

Year: 2019

Genre: Horror

Summary: A mother gives her 13-year-old son a toy doll for his birthday, unaware of its more sinister nature.

4/5 Pineapples

It's important to understand where Chucky's story began. In 1988's Child's Play, directed by Tom Holland (not the Spider-man we know and love today), the character, Charles Lee Ray, was a murder on the run from the police. He found what he hoped would be salvation in a closed toy store. Unfortunately, the cops were hot on his heels, and Charles wasn't likely to escape. After being severely wounded, in his last few moments, Charles used voodoo to embed his soul into one of the 'Good Guys' dolls for sale on the shelf.

Fast forward a few months later. A desperate mother who only wants her (pretty selfish) son, Andy, to have a good birthday, stumbles upon a discounted 'Good Guy' doll that a peddler is selling behind the mall where she works. Thinking nothing but of her son who is a die-hard 'Good Guys' fan, she accepts the sketchy business transaction.

In the 1988 version of Child's Play, the 'Good Guy' doll is a literal doll. You have to pick him up to move him and you have to set him down the way you'd like to simulate whatever pretend engagement you're attempting to have with him. This made when he did move all the more jarring. He also could only say a few lines, such as "Hi, I'm Chucky!" and "Want to play?"

Andy grows very close to his 'Good Guys' doll. He starts cursing, leaving class, and referring to Chucky as a human being with genuine thoughts and feelings of his own. Of course his mother doesn't believe her son at first, but it all eventually comes to light that Chucky is a doll possessed by the soul of a murderer and therefore has the ability to move, speak, and kill on his own. The longer that Charles Lee Ray's soul is embodying the doll though, the more human the doll becomes. The only way to stop Chucky from becoming a mortal being again is to kill the person who first learned the secret of who Chucky the 'Good Guys' doll really was. Andy, of course, then becomes Chucky's primary target.

Overall, I was a bit unimpressed - and sometimes bored - by the original telling of Child's Play. There were a few kills that didn't contribute to the overall story, or should have contributed more but seemed to have little affect on the characters - not to mention the clever, but still racist and therefore distasteful, voodoo situation.

I stated that it's important to have this foundation of understanding about the original Child's Play because, of course, many people compared the two. Many stated the original was better. I believe a reboot was necessary for how our technologies (or toys, if you will) have advanced, therefore creating the ability to advance an already legendary scary movie - which I believe was ingeniously executed.

2019's Child's Play begins in a much different way. In a modern day Vietnam Kaslan toy factory, a disgruntled employee is being mistreated by his superior. In his distressed state, the employee decides to override all of the precautionary software that prevents a toy from using language and acting out of violence before the employee throws himself off the company building.

In a more believable scenario than the one we experienced in '88 with a peddler behind a mall, a young mother, Karen (played by Audrey Plaza), working at a supermarket assists a woman requesting a refund for her 'Buddi' doll because she claims the doll's eyes glow red and that he doesn't work properly. Being a young, pink-collar mother, she bargains with her boss to let her keep the malfunctioned doll to give to her 13-year-old son for his birthday.

At first, I thought it was odd to give a 13-year-old a doll, but the 2019 'Buddi' does it all. He walks on his own, talks on his own, is consistently learning through conversation and experience. He also has access to all Kaslan products, such as TV's, speakers, computers, and phones. For a 13-year-old-Andy who just lost his father and is new in town... a 'Buddi' doll is a teen's best friend.

Things get in the way, though, when Andy begins making other, human friends.

At first, Chucky is just a bit over protective of his best friend. When Andy's cat growls, hisses, and eventually strikes Andy, Chucky attempts to strangle it. Chucky sits in on a casual horror movie night with Andy and his friends, which leads to him misunderstanding the social boundaries of kitchen knives and harmless jokes. Enter Karen's horrible taste in boyfriends, and things really shake up. Things get tense when Karen's boyfriend, Shane, thinks he can play "father" - and not very well. In fits of rage, Andy screams into his pillowcase that he just wishes Shane would die.

Now, Chucky being the absolute best friend he can be to Andy, happily obliges. He sneaks into the backseat of Shane's car where we end up at Shane's other family's house. Honestly, who can blame Chucky for this one?

While hanging up Christmas lights, Shane falls from his latter, getting tangle in the string lights. Chucky's waiting on the ground with a tiller slowly tugging and eating away at lights - and eventually Shane. Before the machine can devour Shane's torso, Chucky climbs on the 2-timer's chest and says, "This is for Tupac!" as his dives his kitchen knife into Shane's sternum.

The one thing that I think truly set this movie apart from the original is that you genuinely empathize with this 'Buddi' doll for most of the first half of this film. This almost-clay-mation, CGI, robot figurine feels much like a child or a puppy that just wants to play and be loved. Unfortunately, like a child, he also takes common uses of expression too literally. So when Andy says how much his cat is a "total dick" and how he doesn't want him around anymore, Chucky does everything in his power to make Andy happy. And as we can see, wishing Shane dead gets taken literally too. But again, who can be mad? Shane sucked.

Andy scrambles to cover up the violent and growing messes that Chucky is creating because, who would believe a doll did it? And during this time we really feel broken up about the fact that Chucky is just misunderstanding social cues and only wants the best for Andy. It isn't until the second half of the film when Chucky starts murdering characters we grew to love and targets Andy and his family that we are brought back to the original 1988 feeling of "fuck dolls!"

This 2019 version of Child's Play built compassion in a way that the original didn't, making the climax evermore powerful. The kills were original, over the top, and even hysterical. For example, the unnecessarily macabre scenario of being in a supermarket, waiting in a line full of toddlers to see a mascot of a 'Buddi' doll that ends up getting high jacked by a glitched, actual 'Buddi' doll which leads to blood spewing all over a little girl's face. Sickly hysterical.

I was surprised to find so many people didn't enjoy this re-imagining, receiving only a 6.2/10 stars on IMDb. I went into this wanting a fun, bloodbath of a movie, and that's what I got. The only critique I personally have against this film is not a big one. Andy's character has a hearing aid, but it never came into play in the overall story line. Then again, this can be seen as a good thing, as it normalizes those who are non-hearing or hearing impaired without having to make that a staple in the overall plot line.

Director: Josh Cooley

Year: 2019

Genre: Animation/Adventure/Comedy

Summary: When a new toy called "Forky" joins Woody and the gang, a road trip alongside old and new friends reveals how big the world can be for a toy.

2/5 Pineapples

Let's just stick with the first 3 Toy Story's and let these character go. They've told their stories, and they are tired.

In this pretty unnecessary addition to the Toy Story storyline, Woody and the gang pick up where they left off, in Bonnie's care. Except, Woody isn't Bonnie's favorite, and Woody is struggling with that fact. Determined to be her favorite and save her from the anxieties of her first day of pre-school, he lunges into her backpack and inadvertently assists with helping her create a new toy. With a fork, what I'm assuming is play-dough, googly eyes, and a popsicle stick, Forky is born.

And Forky is dumb as a rock... and suicidal? Being that he was made out of trash, he wishes to be only in the trash. The gang scrambles to keep Forky alive for the mental wellbeing of Bonnie.

The "fam" hits the road in an RV for a roadtrip, but Forky manages to leap out of the window. Woody, being the hero, follows suit, planning to bring Forky back with him to Bonnie.

On their way back to where they know the RV will be parked for the evening, Woody finds what he remembers is Little Bo Peeps lampshade in the window of an antique shop. Taking a detour to reconnect with an old flame, he enters the antique shop. He stumbles upon a seemingly sweet doll named Gabby, but things become less friendly when she realizes that Woody's voicebox is still operable and in tact. This is lucky for Gabby considering her voicebox no longer works and she's been rejected by every little girl that enters the antique shop due to this fact. Woody manages to escape her malicious grasp, but Forky was not as lucky, and is held captive.

The extent of the film is the gang trying to get Forky back from Gabby and away from her weird, Dead Silence puppet friends.

Woody stumbles upon a wild Bo Peep who has, since leaving Molly's care, decided she don't need no kid and is now a strong, independent toy.

With Bo Peep's help, Woody ends up storming the antique shop to rescue Forky, but still ends up making the ultimate sacrifice by giving up his voicebox to Gabby in exchange for his trash-friend, Forky.

To Gabby's dismay, the girl she hoped would then play with her still doesn't care to. Because forgiveness is so easy in Disney films, Gabby becomes a friend of the gang's and ends up finding a forever home with a little girl who got lost at the carnival across the street from the antique shop.

Little Bo Peep's will stays strong in wanting to remain apart from the domestic life of being someone's toy. Woody finally accepts that he is not Bonnie's favorite and chooses to live the wild life with Bo.

Woody and Buzz have a pretty pathetically orchestrated goodbye. After years of friendship and now 4 movies of exploration together, their goodbye was pretty dry - leaving the movie to feel even more unnecessary.

The 3rd Toy Story was truly where the story ended for me. Andy went off to college, and the toys are passed down to a better home, and we can use our imaginations for what follows. Despite the 8.2/10 stars on IMDb, we didn't need this 4th movie. It came off as a cash-grab to me. Just greedy Disney being greedier.

~

Both films released in June of 2019. One clearly rated with more IMDb stars than the other. Both Child's Play and Toy Story are about dolls. Both have a main character named Andy. Both feed our incessant, anthropomorphic tendencies in different ways. One way is our fear of not knowing whether or not an inanimate object really could have a life and thoughts of it's own - and what if they're dangerous?! - and the other fuels that wonder by teaching us values through entertaining journeys in the lives of dolls. And both are worth watching in their own right.

With all of this being said, only one can take the crown.

The 2019 reimagining of Child's Play was more creative, emotional, necessary as an addition to a series, and fun than Disney's Toy Story 4.

....And, arguably has a better theme song?

You are my Buddi, until the end More than a buddy, you're my best friend I love you more then you will ever know I will never let you go I am your Buddi until the end More then a Buddi I'm your best friend When you feel lonely then you start to cry, I am always by your side, We are best Buddi's until the end More than just Buddi's we are best friends Don't ever leave me please don't say goodbye I'll be yours 'til the day that I die