I saw Toy Story 4...

The swell thing about the "Toy Story" franchise is how it flows on two planes: Kids and adults alike can enjoy the films.

Now I must admit, I don't know how contemporary children (you know, those trapped in this age of sanitized sorcery and fairy-princess overload) perceive the Disney/Pixar series, though it seems that those who've been weened on it aren't tainted by an accursed sense of innocence. 

Innocence, contrary to what the snoots say, is a matter of copping out (or dropping out) with no desire to interact with (or shake up) one's turf. In the metaphorical sense, the "Toy Story" films are about skinning one's knees as one laughs and cries along the way. (Whether one wants to admit it or not, that's the gist of childhood...or should be.)  If a favorite toy, like Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Woody (Tom Hanks) or Jessie (Joan Cusak) happens to go along for the Bradbury-esque ride, all the better. (Really, the toys are just the eyes from which anyone might view a youngster's formative years.)

This angle remains installed in "Toy Story 4", directed by Josh Cooley (and scripted by a queue too long to list). This time, though, the idea digs deeper, spurring questions of life's purposes and plans. It also touches upon the importance of being guided (in the parent-child way), so that a young one (whether of flesh or plastic) can grow...become whole.  

This philosophical plunging springs from a spork (you heard right) that bright-eyed Bonnie (Madeline McGraw) decorates on her first day of Kindergarten. Forky (Tony Hale), as he's called, struggles with his baffling drives and so runs away to find answers. Woody goes after him (for he claims Forky's loss would break Bonnie's heart). During the arduous, "knee-scraping" exploit, Woody encounters his long-lost gal, Bo Peep (Annie Potts), who inspires the cowboy to consider his own lot in toy life. Get the running idea?

Though Woody's rumination occupies a fair sum of the plot, it never pushes it too far over the philosophical edge. The film's rambunctious nature prevents that from happening, as does its eventual, secondhand shop and carnival settings; then again, maybe the old-time ambiance insinuates a more-or-less sinister (Mr. Dark-type) meaning, if one is so inclined to see such that way...I guess.

If one isn't so inclined, that's okay, too, considering the cheerful diversions dealt by the movie's neighborly (though at times quarrelsome) "newbies".  In addition to Hale's Forky (hands down, the most influential), there's Keanu Reeve's Duke Kaboom (Evel Knievel, look out!); Keegan-Michael Key's Ducky; Jordan Peele's Bunny; and Ally Maki's Giggle McDimples. 

My favorites of the new participants are actually classic "Twilight Zone" knockoffs: Vincent, the ventriloquist dummy (or make that, dummies, for he's really four) and Christina Hendrick's Gabby Gabby, a neo Talky Tina. They instill a playful eeriness (and sometimes loneliness) that's special to this chapter (as well as establishing some high-end toys for those tykes who might still desire those things).

Even with its earnest elements, "Toy Story 4" is a fun, fast-paced fantasy. In other words, one needn't gain a throbbing brow or sweaty palms from its predicaments to get the most out of it. At the same time, it's a big stretch from the sissified stuff found in other family flicks. If one just goes along for the ride and accepts the fusion of guffaws, bumps and tears, one will be satisfied, no matter one's age.