Script Analysis: “Toy Story 4” — Scene-By-Scene Breakdown

Here is my take on this exercise from a previous series of posts — How To Read A Screenplay:

After a first pass, it’s time to crack open the script for a deeper analysis and you can do that by creating a scene-by-scene breakdown. It is precisely what it sounds like: A list of all the scenes in the script accompanied by a brief description of the events that transpire.

For purposes of this exercise, I have a slightly different take on scene. Here I am looking not just for individual scenes per se, but a scene or set of scenes that comprise one event or a continuous piece of action. Admittedly this is subjective and there is no right or wrong, the point is simply to break down the script into a series of parts which you then can use dig into the script’s structure and themes.

The value of this exercise:

• We pare down the story to its most constituent parts: Scenes.
• By doing this, we consciously explore the structure of the narrative.
• A scene-by-scene breakdown creates a foundation for even deeper analysis of the story.

Today: Toy Story 4 (2019). You can download the script here.

Screenplay by Andrew Stanton & Stephany Folsom, original story by John Lasseter & Andrew Stanton & Josh Cooley & Valerie LaPointe & Rashida Jones & Will McCormack & Martin Hynes & Stephany Folsom.

Plot summary: When a new toy called “Forky” joins Woody and the gang, a road trip alongside old and new friends reveals how big the world can be for a toy.

Toy Story 4
Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
by Tara Yarlagadda
GoIntoTheStory.com

1–7: We start with a flashback to nine years in the past, when the human ANDY is eight years old. Andy enters his room and dumps some more toys, including the cowboy WOODY and the astronaut BUZZ, on the bed. Andy leaves the room. The toys come to life, panicked. Woody rushes to the windowsill. It’s raining. There appears to be a missing toy outside. Woody heads across the hallway to the bedroom of MOLLY — Andy’s sister.

The toy BO-PEEP and her SHEEP stand on a child’s rotating lamp. Bo-Peep assists Woody and Buzz, who peer through the window. There, they spot the missing RC CAR, which is stuck in a drain canal and at risk of sliding into a river of water. Bo-Peep reassures Woody with a steady smile.

Other toys, including cowgirl JESSIE and SLINKY DOG, help Woody open the window and stage a rescue attempt for the car. But then, a MAN (VISITOR FATHER) pulls up in the driveway in his car. The toys pull RC Car into the room, but the window slams shut, leaving Woody out in the cold. From the outside, Woody looks into the window and sees ANDY’S MOM donating Bo-Peep and her sheep to the visitor father, who takes them away in a box. Woody rushes to Bo Peep, and tries to persuade her to stay.

But Bo Peep says she needs to move onto the next kid that needs her. Woody plans to jump into the box with Bo Peep, but he hears Andy’s voice, and decides to stay. With a pained smile, Bo straightens Woody’s hat. The visitor drives off with Bo in the box. Andy, panicked, picks Woody up off the driveway. The rain clears, and the white clouds in the sky resemble Andy’s wallpaper.

7–8: Opening credits roll and the classic Toy Story song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” plays while a montage of shots unfolds, which shows Andy maturing from child to teenager and the toys being transferred to a new, younger owner: BONNIE. Bonnie plays with Woody. She sets Woody aside and plays with the other toys. Cut to one year later, and Woody is still on the sidelines. Written on the underside of Woody’s boot: BONNIE. End credits.

9–15: The toys gather in a dark closet. The de facto toy leader, DOLLY, tells the toys that BONNIE’S MOM is cleaning the bedroom. Dolly checks in with Woody, but Woody seems to have a hard time being second-in-command. The closet door opens and Bonnie snatches Woody’s badge and pins it to Jessie, leaving Woody in the closet with the other toys that she’s outgrown. These toddler toys tease Woody.

BONNIE’S DAD enters and tells Bonnie that she has to get ready for her kindergarten orientation; she must leave her toys behind. Bonnie leaves. Woody asks Dolly if they can send a toy with Dolly to kindergarten, like he used to do with Andy. Dolly says that Bonnie isn’t Andy and shoves Woody in the closet. Bonnie bursts back into the room. Her parents usher her back out. Woody is gone, to the other toys’ puzzlement. We see Woody hidden in Bonnie’s backpack as she heads off to school.

15–17: Bonnie’s mom drops off a nervous Bonnie at school, where she meets the KINDERGARTEN TEACHER. Woody watches Bonnie from the open zipper of the backpack like a guardian angel. A boy steals Bonnie’s caddy of craft supplies. Some supplies end up in the trashcan. Woody throws the supplies out of the trash and onto the floor, where Bonnie picks them up. Meanwhile, Woody dumps more supplies on Bonnie’s table. Woody returns to hiding. Bonnie smiles and makes a plastic spork with googly eyes. This is FORKY.

17–22: Bonnie introduces Forky to her parents. Bonnie’s parents announce that they’re taking a road trip before school officially starts. Bonnie places Forky in her backpack with Woody, who freaks out when he realizes that Forky is alive. Woody introduces Forky to the other toys. Forky, perplexed, keeps repeating the word ‘trash.’ Forky tries to make a run for the wastebasket. Woody pulls him back, and explains that Forky was made from garbage. He tells the other toys that Forky is very important to Bonnie, but Forky has escaped into the wastebasket during Woody’s speech. Woody launches Forky out of the basket into Bonnie’s hands. He keeps doing this until Bonnie falls asleep

23: Forky returns to the trash. Forky is scared of Bonnie. Woody grabs Forky, and Bonnie, sleeping, grabs onto Woody and Forky. Woody smiles — he’d almost forgotten what it feels like to be held by a child.

23–24: Woody wakes up to find Forky in the wastebasket. Woody fishes out Forky just as Bonnie’s Dad enters the room. Bonnie grabs Forky and leaves the room. Woody reassures buzz that he can handle Forky.

24: A montage of Bonnie playing with the toys in the RV on the road, which is set to the song “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away.” Forky throws himself away, and Woody saves him.

25–27: Bonnie clutches Forky while sleeping. Buzz checks on an exhausted Woody. Woody tells Buzz that the voice inside of him — his conscience — is what keeps him going. Buzz considers this concept. Buzz presses his voice command button, as if trying to activate his own ‘inner voice.’ They glance around to see Forky making an escape through the RV window. Woody jumps out the window and plans to reunite with the toy crew at an RV park down the road.

27–31: Woody walks down the highway and drags Forky back. A frustrated Woody explains to a distracted Forky what it means to be Bonnie’s toy. Woody accidentally brings up Andy, and winds up explaining to Forky the routine of his former life as Andy’s toy. We cut forward to different moments in Forky and Woody’s conversation as Woody reminisces. He tells Forky that he feels useless now.

Forky tells Woody that he’s trash — like Forky. Forky explains that he feels warm and comforted in the trash, and Woody seizes that moment to explain that Bonnie feels the same with Forky. Forky finally gets it and runs down the highway to reunite with Bonnie.

32–33: Forky runs toward the RV park, but Woody gets distracted by Bo Peep’s lamp, which he spies in an antique storefront.

33–38: Holding Forky, Woody climbs through the store’s mail slot. Several toys emerge, including a baby doll in a carriage known as GABBY GABBY and her dummy stooge, BENSON. Woody asks Gabby Gabby if she’s seen Bo Peep. Gabby Gabby says that she knows Bo Peep. Benson plops Woody and Forky in the carriage. Gabby Gabby is curious about when Woody was manufactured. She appears interested in his voice box. Her own voice box is damaged.

Woody is disturbed by her line of questioning and tries to steer back the conversation to Bo Peep. Gabby Gabby clearly wants Woody’s voice box. Dummies menacingly surround Woody and Forky. The front door opens. The store owner (MARGARET), daughter CAROL and granddaughter HARMONY enter. Gabby Gabby is excited by the appearance of Harmony. Woody tries to grab Forky and make a run for it, but he fails. Woody goes limp and pulls the string to his voicebox as he sees Harmony. Harmony picks up Woody. Harmony exits the store with Woody, who sees Benson rise eerily in the window, his hand over Forky’s mouth.

38–42: Back in the RV, the other toys place a spoon in Bonnie’s sleeping hand, but Bonnie wakes up, panicked. Mom, Dad and Bonnie rush to find Forky. The toys turn to Buzz for guidance. Buzz seeks help from the generic messages in his voice command box — his “inner voice” — which tell him to go on an adventure. Buzz leaps out the window. Buzz runs through the RV park, which contains amusement park rides. He consults his “inner voice” and flies off one of the rides and soars…before rebounding and crashing to the ground. A carnival attendant picks up Buzz and ties him up as a prize for a game.

42–51: At a local park, Harmony plays with Woody. Woody makes an escape, but must duck into a sandbox when a group of kids arrives. Woody is picked up by a girl in the group. The girl turns Woody around to face Bo Peep, whom Woody hasn’t seen for nine years. The girl runs off to play elsewhere. Bo leads Woody into nearby bushes. Bo and Woody awkwardly reconnect. Woody is astonished to realize that Bo is a ‘lost toy’ by choice. A remote-controlled toy skunk appears, with Bo Peep’s sheep inside. The sheep present Bo Peep with various scavenged items.

There is also a small police badge case in the car. Out of the case pops a half-inch-tall toy, GIGGLE MCDIMPLES, sitting in a miniature police headquarters. Another toy, COMBAT CARL, emerges from the bushes and shares information about a birthday party. The toys, minus Woody, are excited to be played with. Woody tells Bo about Forky being trapped in the antique store; Bonnie doesn’t want to go back to the store after spending years sitting on the shelf there. Woody brings up memories of Bonnie and her previous owner, Molly. Bonnie reluctantly agrees to help Woody rescue Forky.

51–53: In the antique store, Benson re-attaches Forky’s arms. Harmony re-enters the store, and Gabby is enraptured by her. Gabby Gabby flips through a book about the Gabby Gabby doll, and pauses on a section of the doll’s voicebox being pulled. Gabby Gabby wants her voicebox fixed so she can be Harmony’s toy. Gabby Gabby asks Forky about Woody.

54–55: Meanwhile, Buzz tries to escape from the carnival booth. The other prize toys, DUCKY and BUNNY, get jealous of Buzz. Buzz uses his ‘inner voice’ or voicebox, which tells him to close his helmet. Buzz closes his helmet just as Ducky kicks Buzz. Ducky and Bunny yank Buzz out of the zip ties holding him to the booth. All three fall to the ground. Buzz leaves, but Ducky and Bunny are upset, because they wanted to get adopted by a kid as a prize.

55–60: Woody and Bo ride in the skunkmobile through the carnival on the way to the antique store. The skunkmobile crashes. Bo climbs to the top of the carousel to get a look at the fairground and hatch a new plan. Giggles McDimples says Bo shouldn’t get involved with Woody because Woody is still attached to a kid. Bo and Giggles decide to enter the store by the roof. Bo lassos her team and Woody and makes her way to the top of the carousel with all of them.

Woody asks Bo about her previous kid, and Bo says that the little girl grew up and gave her away. From the view of the carousel, we see many kids. Bo is happy with her life now. Bo, Woody, Giggle, and the rest of the crew jump from the carousel.

60–63: Buzz uses his ‘inner voice’ and finds Woody and Bo jumping onto the antique store’s awning. Bo asks Woody about his life with Jessie. Buzz comes up and embraces Bo. Ducky and Bunny also catch up to Buzz, berating him for ruining their chances of finding a kid. Woody says he’ll take Ducky and Bunny to Bonnie, who can be their kid.

63–65: Back in the RV, Bonnie cries over a lost Forky. Jessie, Rex and the other toys in the RV worry about how to stop Bonnie’s Dad and Mom from driving off without Woody and the others. Jessie pops the RV’s tire, forcing the family to stay at the RV park for the time being.

65–72: Bo, Woody and gang slide through the chimney fan into the store. Bo, Woody and gang map out a plan to get to Forky without being seen by Gabby Gabby’s dummy henchmen — or the store cat, DRAGON. Bo proposes that they avoid the floor and jump to Gabby Gabby’s cabinet. Bonnie and her parents enter the store. Woody rushes to get Forky, nearly ruining Bo’s plan. Bonnie and her parents exit the store. Two dummies lunge for Woody. Bo’s sheep bite Benson’s butt. A customer looks down the aisle, and the toys drop to the floor. Benson uses the opportunity to disappear into the shadows, taking Bonnie’s sheep with him. Angry with Woody for blowing their cover, Bonnie chases after Benson.

Giggles McDimples forms a plan with Buzz to get the keys to Gabby Gabby’s cabinet from the store owner, Margaret. Ducky and Bunny imagine various scenarios where they scare Margaret to get the keys. Buzz rejects these harebrained schemes.

72–80: Benson informs Gabby Gabby of Woody’s arrival. Gabby Gabby instructs Forky to play hide-and-seek to keep him away from Woody. Meanwhile, Woody and Bo sneak into an old pinball machine in the store, where a secret party is going on. Bo greets some old friends. She finds DUKE CABOOM, a toy stuntman on a motorbike. Bo exhorts Duke to jump over the store aisle to Gabby Gabby’s cabinet. Woody brings up Bonnie, spurring Duke to recall memories of his old kid, Rejean. Rejean threw away Duke because Duke could not jump as far as he wanted. Using her powers of persuasion, Bo gets Duke to agree. Giggles, Buzz and their crew return with the key in hand. Impressed, the other toys ask how they got the keys. There is a brief flashback that shows Margaret merely setting the key down, which the toys easily pick up.

81–87: While Margaret is distracted, the toys move down the aisle and begin setting up for Duke’s big launch to the cabinet. Woody asks Bo about her life in the store, and Bo says that she sat there for a few years waiting to be purchased before eventually setting out on her own. Bonnie asks Woody if he could ever be a lost toy. Woody doesn’t think so. Bo and Woody enter into a part of the store filled with sparkling chandeliers. It’s a beautiful moment.

Then, Bo tells Woody that he’ll be joining Duke on the long jump. The toys launch Duke and Woody on the bike using some yarn. Woody course-corrects as Duke panics, but the bike still seems like it’s going to come up short. Woody leaps off the bike and grabs the cabinet door knob. Duke falls to the ground and speeds off after waking up Dragon. Bo zip-lines on the yarn to join Woody. Woody finds Forky, alone, still playing ‘hide-and-seek.’ We pivot quickly to Buzz and Giggles, who are facing off against the dummies.

Back to Woody and Bo in the cabinet. Gabby Gabby appears. Bo demands to see her sheep. Buzz and crew yank on the yarn, pulling Woody — who’s holding Forky — off the ground. Gabby Gabby grabs onto Woody’s voicebox, which starts issuing random cowboy slogans. Forky falls off the cabinet to the ground, facing off against Dragon. Woody and Bo are about to escape on the yarn, but Woody makes a bid to save Forky. Woody jumps on Dragon’s back. Because the other toys are holding the yarn connected to Woody, they all fall to the ground. Giggles gets swallowed by Dragon. Woody gets off Dragon as Duke Caboom distracts the cat. But in the meantime, one of the dummies grabs Forky.

88–92: Dragon continues to chase Duke in the back alley behind the store. Dragon slams into a dumpster, hacking up Giggles. Woody wants to go back into the store to rescue Forky. Buzz tries to reason with him, and Bo shoots him down. Woody says that this is the only thing he can do for Bonnie.

Bo calls out Woody, saying that he actually needs Bonnie more than Bonnie needs Forky. Woody says that a lost toy like Bo wouldn’t understand loyalty to one kid. Ducky and Bunny tell Woody that they’ll find their own kid. Bo and her crew leave. It’s just Buzz and Woody. Woody leaves Buzz behind to get Forky. Buzz consults his inner voice command button, which says that he should retreat from the mission. Buzz takes this as a cue to return to the RV.

92–94: Margaret and granddaughter Harmony prepare to lock up the store for the night. Woody confronts Gabby Gabby. Gabby Gabby appeals to Woody’s loyalty, which says that a toy’s foremost duty is to help a child. Gabby says that she was defective out of the box. She imagines what it must have been like for Woody to have fun playing with Andy, and, later, Bonnie. Gabby Gabby wants the same experience. Woody agrees to give up his voicebox in exchange for Forky.

94–97: Bonnie’s dad fixes the RV tire. Jessie and the other toys in the RV worry about Woody. Buzz returns, and tells them that they must help Woody and Forky. But Bonnie and her parents re-enter the RV, causing the toys to go limp. Buzz consults his voicebox for help as Bonnie’s parents prepare to drive off. Annoyed, Bonnie’s parents put Buzz in the drawer, but he issues one real command, reminding Bonnie that she left her backpack in the antique store. Bonnie’s dad turns around to return the RV to the store.

97–99: Bo and her toys wait behind some bushes to see if the coast is clear so they can head to the carousel. Bo is distracted. But Bo snaps together and instructs the toys to hide in the middle of the carousel so they can be carried off when the carnival leaves town the following day. But they must dodge the carousel’s rotating pistons to get to the center. Giggles is angry at Woody and says that he only cares about himself. But Bo defends Woody, stating that he cares about protecting his kid. With some difficulty, Bo and the toys navigate the pistons and hop in the skunkmobile, returning for Woody.

99–104: With Woody’s voicebox restoring her audio functions, Gabby Gabby pulls her voice string. She is overjoyed, and thanks Woody. Gabby Gabby bids farewell to Forky. Bonnie and her parents enter the store. Woody and Forky plan to get into Bonnie’s backpack before she finds it, but Forky points out Harmony, who is playing near Gabby Gabby. Gabby Gabby pulls her voice string, and Harmony eyes Gabby Gabby. Woody and Forky watch, but Harmony decides to discard Gabby Gabby as an old toy.

Forky and Woody jump in the backpack, and Bonnie is thrilled to find Forky. But Woody and Forky worry about Gabby Gabby. Woody makes a decision, and tells Forky that he must send a message to Buzz: get the RV to the carousel. Woody hops out of the backpack and goes to Gabby Gabby. Woody persuades her to take a chance on being Bonnie’s kid.

105: Buzz and the other toys chat in the RV about how to get the RV to the carousel. Jessie has a plan.

105–106: Woody, Gabby Gabby, and Benson sit in a baby carriage as Margaret opens the store door to pull a street sign inside. Bo launches her skunkmobile at the same time that Benson pushes the carriage. Woody and Gabby hop into the skunkmobile. The carriage crashes into the carnival crowd. A concerned woman picks up the carriage, only to be terrified by Benson.

106: Bo, Woody, Gabby Gabby, and Giggles McDimples hatch a plan to get through the crowded fairground to the carousel. Bo and Woody eye the ferris wheel and Duke Caboom. They have an idea.

106–108: Back in the RV, one of the toys, TRIXIE, imitates a GPS to lead Bonnie’s dad off-track — back to the carousel.

108–109: Bo, Woody and the other toys sit atop the ferris wheel. Duke Caboom’s bike is now tied up to a string of carnival flags. Bo and Woody encourage Duke Caboom, and he gets so energized that he decides to make the 40-foot jump with his eyes closed. He wants to redeem himself for his old kid, Rejean. He crashes perfectly into the roof of another booth, allowing the toys to zip-line down the carnival flags and escape detection.

110: Bonnie’s parents realize that the “GPS” must be broken. They begin driving away from the carousel. The toys stomp on the gas pedal and try to turn the RV slowly back toward the carousel. Confused, Bonnie’s dad hits the brakes, so it’s a tug-of-war between Dad and the toys.

111: Woody and the toys spot the RV heading toward the carousel. Gabby Gabby sees a LOST GIRL, and decides that she will be her toy. Bo and Woody change their plans.

111: As the RV lurches down the street, a police car instructs them to pull over. Bonnie’s dad has no idea what’s going on with the RV.

112–114: Woody reassures Gabby Gabby. Gabby Gabby edges out into the open. The lost girl picks up Gabby Gabby. The girl pulls Gabby Gabby’s voice string, which asks if the girl will be her friend. The lost girl gets courage from Gabby Gabby, and asks for help from a security guard. The guard reunites the girl with her parents. The girls shows her parents Gabby Gabby. Finally happy, Gabby Gabby smiles at the other toys.

114: From atop the carousel, the toy gang watches as the lost girl — with a happy Gabby Gabby in hand — is reunited with her parents. A police siren exhorts the RV — now jerking around behind the carousel — to stop.

114–119: Buttercup releasees the gas pedal and the RV grinds to a halt. A police officer knocks on their window. Bonnie and family exit the vehicle to speak with the cops. Outside the RV, the police cars drive off, but, inside, Forky mans the RV lock button, locking the family out temporarily and buying time for Bo and friends to escape. The toys unfurl the RV’s awning, forming a bridge between the RV and the carousel.

Woody says goodbye to his new friends, Bunny and Ducky. Bo says an awkward, emotional farewell to Woody, and she begins to walk away with her sheep. But his hands cling to the edge of the RV, much like how they once clung to Bo’s box as she was taken away from Molly. Buzz tells Woody that Bonnie will be okay without him, and to listen to his inner voice. Bo and Woody run into each other’s arms. Woody pins his sheriff’s badge on Jessie. He bids farewell to the toys, but reserves a separate hug for Buzz.

Bonnie and family re-enter the RV. Bonnie and Woody flee to the carousel. The other toys collapse in the RV. Woody and Bo watch the RV pull away. Back in the RV, REX asks if Woody is a lost toy now. Buzz says that, no, Woody isn’t lost anymore. Looking through the RV window at Woody and Bo, Buzz salutes his friend with one final “to infinity and beyond.”

119–121: Scenes play during the end credits. At a seaside carnival, Bo and Woody rig a carnival game so that a little girl wins, and she carries off with her one of the carnival frogs from earlier in the script. In an alternate reality sequence, the toys imagine terrorizing the mean carnie that controls the games. But upon return to reality, Bo and Woody decide to continue helping toys find homes.

121–22: After the end credits, Bonnie drops her backpack off in her room. Jessie leaves the backpack, revealing that Bonnie made a new friend in first grade…literally. Out pops a new plastic fork toy, KAREN BEVERLY. Karen Beverly and Forky meet, and it’s love at first sight.

Writing Exercise: I encourage you to read the script, but short of that, if you’ve seen the movie, go through this scene-by-scene breakdown. What stands out to you about it from a structural standpoint?

To download a PDF of the breakdown for Toy Story 4, click here.

Kudos to Tara Yarlagadda for doing the scene-by-scene breakdown.

To see dozens more screenplay scene-by-scene breakdowns, go here.