Toy Story 4: Why Am I Alive?

Toy Story 4 explores the idea of sacrificing things that are important to you and overcoming one's fears and anxieties of instability in order to embrace change. It also emphasizes the challenges of finding one's purpose, especially during a shift in one's role in society.

Once Bonnie's family goes on vacation, the toys are mostly featured in an RV and eventually end up in a carnival that's in town for a few days, emphasizing the theme of mobility and temporary spaces. Woody has the hardest time embracing change after having to say goodbye to "his child" Andy and is still not over losing his former partner Bo Peep.

During a flashback at the beginning of the film, Bo tells Woody that it's okay for her to go as "it's part of a toy being taken away."

Woody's constant fear of loss is brought back again when he's introduced to Forky, which is a makeshift decorated fork that Bonnie makes during her first day of preschool. While Forky automatically gravitates to the trash because that's what he's familiar with, Woody always brings him back and doesn't let him out of his sight. This is not only his way of making sure that Bonnie is happy by not losing her new favorite toy, but his relationship with Forky is the only thing that he has left.

Tom Hanks playing a semi-similar role in Castaway, where his relationship with a volleyball named Wilson which is not only his only means of socialization but saves him during many years of isolation on the island.

During the trip to the town, Woody jumps out of the window to save Forky and they end up on a dark and windy road back to the RV. During their long walk, Woody reminisces on when he used to care for Andy and the importance of being there for your child, thus convincing Forky that he needs to be there for Bonnie in the same way.

At the end of the road, a bright light attracts Woody's attention as he walks towards an antique shop that has Bo's lamp in the display window, reminding him another time he was truly happy and foreshadowing another shift in his journey and his purpose.

Unlike Woody, Bo Peep embraces change and can easily adapt to whatever obstacle comes her way. By doing so, she's able to evolve from the once fragile "damsel in distress" whose static role eventually diminished out fears that she could easily "shatter into a million pieces" while doing daring stunts with the rest of her friends. While her previous attire limited her mobility and her cane was only used to lure Woody in a seductive way, her only tool has been repurposed as her power, strength, and ability to defend her and her friends in Gaby Gaby's lair.

Bo Peep's strength and adaptable nature is also addressed when Woody accidentally pulls her arm, which makes him freak out because he thought that he broke it himself. Bo Peep humorously laughs and explains that it happens all the time and "it'll make things more interesting" if she has to hold her broken arm around during their quest to save Forky. The act of Bo Peep having a broken arm that has been bandaged many times not only reflects her toughness, but the fact that this film was made during a time when the "Lotso" of the studio who made the film departed and opened up opportunity for women to finally shift towards the creative roles they deserve. While it's been publicly stated that female employees were once obstructed from joining the rest of the "boys club" in voicing their input and contributing to the stories they were making, they're able to collaborate with the rest of the team during a time of change, "sometimes change can be good."

By embracing change, Bo Peep is able to find her new home and purpose by protecting the other toys from Gaby Gaby.

When Woody first visits the antique shop, he meets Gaby Gaby who utilizes the space as her lair with the help of her mindless Godfather like minions. Like Woody, she was also created during the Boomer generation but never had the chance to experience what it's like to love a child because her broken voice box barred her from gaining attention of Hannah, the granddaughter of the antique shop owner.

Pixar also utilized their latest technology to create intricate cobwebs to decorate the dull and lifeless antique shop that she's lived in throughout her toy lifespan. Unlike Woody who has constantly been surrounded by other toys, Gaby Gaby is further isolated by the fact that the only other dolls in the shop can't even speak which prevents her from experiencing normal means of socialization. Once Gaby Gaby traps Woody, her story of living in desperate isolation and longing to even just experience one moment of what it's like to be loved by a child resonates with Woody when he slowly realizes that he's at a point in his life when he'll probably never be loved by a child again like how Andy did, despite his numerous escapades to nostalgia and inability to let go. By willingly giving his voice box to Gaby Gaby, he's finally letting go of his past in order to give another doll the ability to fulfill her purpose.

The story's theme of mobility and change also intersects with listening to your inner voice. Throughout the film, Buzz repeatedly presses the buttons on his space vest and confuses the sayings from his toy voice box as his guide to making each decision he makes. It's not until his plan to make Bonnie realize that she left her backpack with Woody and Forky at the antique shop fails, that he uses his own gut and thinking to act as her "inner voice" to remind her to turn back. This realization is utilized again when Woody says goodbye to Bo Peep at the carnival and their staging replicates the beginning of the story when he last said goodbye to her when she had to leave Andy's house. When Woody tells Buzz that he doesn't know what to do, he advises him to "use your inner voice."

After Woody and Bo Peep find their new purpose of helping other toys experience what it's like to have their own kid like they once did, and Gaby Gaby is finally able to find the right child for her after learning that things didn't work out with Hannah but there are "plenty of fish in the sea" the toys in Bonnie's room are introduced to a new friend that she made in first grade. As Jesse opens up Bonnie's backpack to reveal a decorated plastic knife named Knifey, Forky approaches her in true meet-cute fashion and offers to help her in her new journey as a toy instead of trash, only to have her respond with "How Am I Alive?" Forky is stumped by her question, but if Knifey's journey is anything similar to Forky and his friends, she'll learn to listen to to her inner voice. Nothing's going to happen if you just sit around.