TOY STORY 1-4 Recap | Must Before TOY STORY 5 | Movie Series Explained

[00:00:00]The first Toy Story film introduces viewers to a world where toys come alive when humans aren't watching. The story follows a young child named Andy and his various toys, including Ham the piggy bank, Rex the dinosaur, Slinky Dog, and Mr. Potato Head. But, the most popular and beloved of all of the toys is the cowboy Woody. Life is good for Woody as Andy's favorite, flirting with Bo Peep and commanding respect from the other toys, but his world is turned upside down when Andy gets a new toy for his birthday, Buzz Lightyear. As the other toys become impressed with Buzz and Andy begins to favor him, Woody is left feeling abandoned and worthless. As his envy grows, Woody begins to alienate himself from the other toys. This jealousy leads to a series of mishaps that results in Woody and Buzz accidentally ending up in the possession of Andy's sadistic teenage neighbor, Sid. As Sid plots to launch Buzz into space using fireworks, Woody discovers that Andy and his family are moving to a new home, meaning if Buzz and Woody don't make it back in time, they could become lost forever. And so, the two rival toys are forced to work together to make it back to Andy. Along the way, the pair become friends, but not before Buzz goes through an existential crisis to realize he's not a real space ranger and is in fact a toy. In the end, Woody and Buzz reunite with their friends and return to the proper care of their rightful owner, Andy. In Toy Story 2, Andy's toys are all happily together and honored to be used to fulfill their owner's greatest imaginations. But, that's all thrown into disarray when Woody's arm is accidentally ripped. As Andy heads off to cowboy camp, he leaves the injured Woody behind, adding even more fuel to his abandonment issues.

[00:01:48]When Andy's mom puts fellow broken toy Wheezy up for sale, Woody saves him, but gets stolen by a nefarious toy collector in the process. The collector, Al, takes Woody to his home, where the cowboy discovers that he originated as part of a toy set based on a black and white puppet show from the 1950s.

[00:02:06]Other toys in the set include cowgirl Jessie, Bullseye the horse, and Stinky Pete the Prospector. Having finally completed the set, Al plans to sell the toys to a museum in Tokyo. Although Woody is desperate to escape and return home, Stinky Pete wants to live in the museum free from the threat of being played with by a destructive child. And so, he begins to manipulate Woody, revealing that Jessie had once belonged to a young girl named Emily, who eventually grew up and abandoned her.

[00:02:36]Pete warns that one day soon Andy will similarly abandon Woody. Although Woody becomes resigned to his fate, his friends, led by Buzz, stage a rescue mission. Buzz reminds Woody that a toy's purpose is to be played with. And so, they all band together to defeat Stinky Pete. In the end, Woody returns home and brings Bullseye and Jessie with him, allowing the cowgirl to finally have a new owner who will cherish and play with her. In Toy Story 3, as a now 18-year-old Andy prepares to leave home to go to college, he boxes his childhood toys up to be stored in the attic, all except for Woody, whom Andy plans to hold on to out of nostalgia.

[00:03:18]Unfortunately, Andy's mom mistakes the toys for trash and throws them all away.

[00:03:23]Believing this was Andy's intention, the toys manage to escape in a donation box headed to a local daycare called Sunnyside. Woody follows his friends there, but they don't believe him when he assures them that Andy didn't intend to throw them away. While at the daycare, Woody gets taken home by a nice Sunnyside student named Bonnie, where he befriends her toys and learns of the villainous nature of a stuffed bear named Lotso. Lotso runs all of the toys at Sunnyside and forces Andy's toys to live in the toddler room where they are horrified by the toddlers rough and aggressive play style. When Mrs. Potato Head uses an eye she lost in Andy's room to see her owner looking for his lost toys, she realizes that Woody has been telling the truth. And so, the toys now want to escape Sunnyside to reunite with Andy. Woody returns to help free his friends, but they are confronted by Lotso and his gang, inadvertently leading them all to being carried away in a garbage truck. Lotso manages to escape, but Andy's toys are placed on a conveyor belt headed toward an incinerator. Facing certain death, Woody, Buzz, and all of their toy friends join hands to face a horrific fiery death together. Fortunately, Andy's toys are saved at the last second by a group of alien toys who had evaded capture. While Lotso is captured by a truck driver who dooms him to the horrible fate of being strapped to the hood of his truck indefinitely. Woody then writes a note to Andy, which Andy believes was written by his mother, inspiring him to donate all of his toys to Bonnie. As Andy says goodbye to his childhood favorites like Slinky, Rex, and Buzz, he hesitates in giving away his personal favorite, Woody. But ultimately chooses to play with the cowboy one final time before moving on from his childhood for good. With that, Andy departs for college while his toys stay in the delicate and loving care of their new owner, Bonnie. In Toy Story 4, as Andy's toys adjust to their new home, Bonnie brings home a new toy she created at school using a spork known as Forky.

[00:05:27]This creation immediately becomes Bonnie's favorite toy. Though after gaining sentience, Forky believes himself to be nothing more than trash that needs to be thrown away. Despite wishing that he could be Bonnie's favorite, Woody steps up to help Forky adjust to his new responsibility as his owner's main source of comfort. When Bonnie's family departs for a road trip in an RV, Forky continues to suffer from immense existential dread and throws himself out of the window. Woody leaves behind his other toy friends to follow Forky, eventually helping him overcome his issues and resolve to reunite with Bonnie. As the pair make the long journey to catch up with the RV, Woody discovers evidence that his old crush Bo Peep now resides in a nearby antique shop after being given away by Andy years prior. While searching for Bo, Woody and Forky are confronted by a doll named Gabby Gabby and her gang of ventriloquist dummies who want to steal Woody's voice box to replace Gabby's broken one. Although Forky is captured, Woody manages to escape the shop and eventually reunites with Bo Peep. Bo explains that she and her new toy friends are lost toys, free from the burden of entertaining their owners and instead allowed to live life for their own desires. As Bo tries to persuade Woody to join her, she agrees to help him on his mission to rescue Forky.

[00:06:48]Meanwhile, Buzz leaves the RV to find Woody and help him safely return with Forky. Along the way, he encounters a traveling carnival and befriends the prize toys Bunny and Ducky. The trio find Woody and Bo and alongside the stunt man Duke Caboom, the group return to the antique store to rescue Forky.

[00:07:07]While there, Gabby confesses her desire to fix her voice box is due to the store owner's granddaughter Harmony refusing to play with her. Feeling sorry for Gabby, Woody selflessly gives her his voice box while Forky is allowed to go free. Unfortunately, even with the regained ability to speak, Harmony rejects Gabby, leading Woody to invite her to join the other toys at Bonnie's house. Jessie helps rally her other toy friends to commandeer the RV and drive it back to reunite with Woody, Buzz, and Forky. On the way to the RV, Gabby notices is lost child at the carnival, scared and alone. And so Gabby decides to comfort the girl until her parents arrive, leading to Gabby finally being taken home and cherished. As Woody prepares to reluctantly say goodbye to Bo once again, Buzz instead assures his old friend that Bonnie will be okay without him. And so Woody shares an emotional goodbye with Buzz, Jessie, Forky, and the others as they return to Bonnie and he stays behind to join Bo and the other lost toys. In the end, Bonnie creates a new companion for Forky using a plastic knife, while Woody, Bo, and the other lost toys travel with the carnival to ensure that the prize toys find homes with children in need of a friend.

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