At this point, it is basically a given that Pixar movies are going to make you cry. The tear-jerking nature of these films is so well established that a box of tissues could replace Luxo Jr. as the company’s mascot. This holds especially true for Pixar’s Toy Story franchise, and I think most of us expected this summer’s Toy Story 4 to continue this trend, but it may be even worse than we feared.
Toy Story 4’s voice actors didn’t record their dialogue together at the same time, so some actors got to the end before their co-stars. That resulted in Buzz Lightyear actor Tim Allen actually warning Tom Hanks about the film’s emotional ending, as the Woody actor explained:
This is the end of the series and I had gotten some texts from Tim Allen. These texts that say, ‘Have you recorded yet? Have you been in? Have you had a session yet?’ I said, 'No, not yet.’ [Allen says] ‘Wait until you see those last pages. Tough one, tough one.’
That, folks, is not a good sign if you were hoping to leave the theater dry-eyed come this June. As Tom Hanks told Ellen on The Ellen Show, Tim Allen actually texted him to see if he had recorded yet, presumably to gauge his reaction. When he found out that he hadn’t, he warned Tom Hanks about the script’s last pages, to help prepare his co-star for the film’s emotional ending.
The fact that the ending was so emotional that Tim Allen felt compelled to see what his co-star thought and then warned him about it means that it must be a doozy. I also like how Tim Allen’s warning of the ending amounts to “Tough one.” The terse response is fitting for the actor, and although I expect his diction wildly undersells it, this is probably Tim Allen’s way of saying that the ending is heart wrenching.
Tom Hanks went on to concur with Tim Allen’s sentiment once he reached those last pages. Those final recording sessions were particularly emotional, as the actor went on to say:
We’re saying goodbye to Woody and Buzz and Bonnie’s room and Andy and everybody. It was emotional.
Come on, Tom, let us at least go into the theater without tears in our eyes. The way Tom Hanks describes the experience of finishing up the film definitely makes it seem like this could be the final Toy Story movie and the end of the series. That would mean saying goodbye to a series and characters that many of us grew up with and have known for over two decades.
We once thought that Toy Story 3 was the end, and as such that ending was like a punch to the face. If Toy Story 4 is indeed the end or at least feels like it, as it apparently did for Tom Hanks, I expect its ending to be just as brutal.
Of course, as I said, we once thought that Toy Story 3 was the end of the series, even if those at Pixar didn’t. We’ve heard that the ending of Toy Story 4 would be a satisfying conclusion if it is the final Toy Story film. And given that Toy Story 4 will be Pixar’s last sequel for a while, it could still feel like the end, even if we find out years from now that it’s not.
Join the rest of the masochists when Toy Story 4 opens in theaters on June 21. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of all the big movies headed your way this summer.
