If I were to recommend a kiddies’ movie for adults, it’d be Toy Story.
From parts 1 to 4, Toy Story drips profound lessons meant for grownups.
Since I watched the first part in 2007, I’ve kept pace with the subsequent releases until 2019…and hopefully June 2022.
Like most kids and teenagers, I didn’t grasp the subtle lessons buried in parts 1 to 3. I went for the fun and ignored the message.
But seeing part 4 as an adult (in 2019) helped me connect the dots. It was like shoving my face in cold water on a sunny day.
I feel sad for people who write off cartoons as “kiddies’ junk”.
If you’re guilty, I don’t condemn you. Not many adults have the patience to burn 100 minutes watching talking toys that play dead at the sight of humans.
Judging from its first release in 1995, Toy Story wasn’t crafted for adults. But with the franchise releasing four successful movies across 27 years, many adults like me who grew up watching it might follow through.
Here’s what I picked from these 4 parts.
Lesson #1: Change is inevitable; brace for it!
As the plot evolved through the decades, I noticed the painful reality of change and what it does to us.
I saw Woody the Cowboy move from Andy’s favourite toy to a distant relic of his childhood. Although Woody knew Andy would eventually outgrow him and move on, nothing could’ve prepared him for that awful reality.
When Andy, now 17, was about to leave for college, he piled all his old toys, including Woody, into a carton, took a long, pensive look at them and donated them all to a kid named Bonnie.
While Woody felt special with Andy, Bonnie saw him like any other toy. Woody struggled with this! So did the other toys.
Being with Andy all those years made them believe their bond would last forever? But real life doesn’t work that way. Seasons change, and our circles won’t remain the same forever.
I still remember friends from 5 or 10 years ago whom I thought would be my friends forever. But we’re not even on a first-name basis anymore. Our communication has become so formal that we’ve almost reverted to strangers.
I wish I had understood the seasonal nature of life earlier. I wish someone had taught me that not everyone in your life today would be with you 10, 30 years from now.
Someone comes to mind as you’re reading this. You couldn’t imagine life without them. But when seasons changed, you drifted so far apart that your years together is been reduced to flashbacks.
Life shuffles the cards every now and then. As old friends go, new ones will take their place.
Yours is to be a good friend to everyone in your life right now and learn to water your relationships.
As the Toy Story goes, Woody found renewed purpose. As with Andy, Woody became Loyal to Bonnie, going to great lengths to unit the old and new toys under her.
Lesson #2: Be there for your friends, especially when they need you
Watching Toy Story through adult eyes taught me about loyalty, courage and sacrifice.
They were times when it was convenient and justified for the toy troupe to leave one of their own behind. But they always rooted for each other.
Again, Woody exemplified this trait so well. I recall a scene from Part 3 where he saved his friends from Sunnyside Daycare, ruled by a notorious cabal led by a teddy bear called Lotso.
Though he’d escaped, Woody returned to Sunnyside, rescued his friends and returned them to Bonnie’s care.
In a loyalty-starved world, the surest way to attract a loyal friend is to be one yourself.
Lesson #3: Don’t judge too early; we all have a history
Some Toys struggled with trauma from the past, which frustrated their current relationships.
Take Jessie, the yodelling cowgirl, for instance. When she first met Woody in part 2, Jessie’s guardrails were high up in the sky. Her boundaries were so thick no one could penetrate.
But everything changed when we learned about how her former owner, Emily, abandoned her. She wasn’t a cranky toy after all. She was only shielding herself from further hurt. She learned to open up later.
Jessie’s story is similar to Lotso’s, the notorious teddy bear who turned Sunnyside Daycare into a toy prison. He had an owner named Daisy who took him on a family trip but never returned home with him.
Lotso, a loyal toy, travelled through the rain and sunshine to reconnect with his owner only to realise that he’d been replaced with an identical teddy bear.
Embittered, he abandoned Daisy and found his way to Sunnyside, where he ruled with an iron fist.
Your greatest hurts will come from those you cherish the most. Though we all heal differently, some people have weaponised their hurt; short-circuiting their current relationships.
Lesson #4: How you see yourself changes everything!
In Part 4, Bonnie made a new toy out of trash. She named him Forky.
Bonnie created Forky with her own hands on kindergarten orientation day. Though made of scraps of craft materials scavenged from the dust bin, Bonnie is super proud of her creature.
In fact, Forky means so much to her that she engraves her name on the bottom of his popsicle-stick feet.
Despite his privileged status, Forky still sees himself as trash. Little wonder he dives into any dust bin he finds.
We’re all Forkies in one form or another. Most people don’t see value in themselves, and therefore, they act in ways that reinforce that notion.
We indulge in habits that demean our dignity.
We shy away from opportunities because we don’t feel qualified even to try.
We compare our everyday lives with the social media highlights of other people’s lives.
That you’re made from dust doesn’t make you’re the scum of the earth. Your maker is proud of who he made. He wants you to feel confident in what he has put inside you; treasures, not trash.
After constant reassurance, Woody eventually helped Forky to see his true worth. Everything changed after that. He found his way back to Bonnie and remained her fave toy.
Guess what, Woody was okay with that. Having enjoyed special status under Andy for 18 years, he was okay with letting another toy take the stage.
Lesson #5: Kindly share your takeaways after watching the movie(s)
PS: There’s a new installment coming up. Instead of Toy Story 5, Pixar studios announced that it’s working on Buzz Lightyear.
This version would zoom into the life of Woody’s best buddies, Buzz, To infinity and beyond!
