I Ran a Half Marathon to see Toy Story 4

Out of Seattle, through Shoreline, past Montlake Terrace, into Lynnwood. 
I ran so far they gave me a plastic straw with my iced Americano at Starbucks. All to see Toy Story 4 in IMAX at the AMC Alderwood Mall 16.


The Route


Starting from Ballard, I ran North onto the Interurban Trail at 110th and Fremont.
The Interurban Trail follows the route used by the Interurban Trolley (1910-1939), once linking downtown Seattle and Everett. It was our light rail before ST3 and had cost just 75¢ to ride. When then-Seattle Mayor Ole Hanson purchased the entire streetcar system for triple the market value at $15 million dollars, the resulting debt made operating the lines unsustainable. In 1932 the Aurora Bridge opened without provisions for the tracks and the railway was abandoned 7 years later, the streetcar tracks themselves would be removed in 1941 and sold to Japan for scrap.

After being decommissioned in 1939, Streetcar #55 was used as a diner for a few years and later a ticket office for the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad. In 1993 the city of Lynnwood purchased it and restored it with the help of a federal grant. It's currently on display in Lynnwood's Heritage Park.

(Photo Credit: City of Lynnwood Tourism)

The trail itself was well maintained and charming once you got past 200th and Aurora where it connects by Lake Ballinger. Up until that point, I had been running parallel to Aurora which isn't as unpleasant as running directly on Aurora, but only by a slim margin. The scenery became more rural as the trail continued to curve into Lynnwood, (at a certain point I was pretty sure I would see someone on horseback) until it met up with I-5, running parallel to the highway and into the Alderwood Mall Parkway.

Once I saw the AMC logo on the castle-like 16 theater cinema house, I knew I'd finally made it. Here are some thoughts I had before seeing the flick.

Foresight

Pixar had never intended Toy Story to be a franchise but Disney, recognizing the box office and merchandising success of the first film, had other plans. With Pixar busy working on A Bug’s Life, Disney began production on a direct-to-video sequel in a building seperate from Pixar. Later in development, Pixar (then led by John Lassester who later stepped down amid sexual misconduct allegations) saw the work produced thus far and was unhappy with the quality of the film. The Pixar story team redeveloped the entire plot in a single weekend and Toy Story 2 was upgraded to a theatrical release. It went on to be the 3rd highest grossing film of 1999 and became one of the coveted few movies to garner a 100% fresh rating on review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes (out of 166 reviews).

9 years later, I saw Toy Story 3 on Father’s Day. It was released Friday, June 18th, 2010, Father’s Day was the following Sunday. I haven’t revisited it, but I’ll always remember being the one couple on a date in a theater surrounded by dads and their children. Even though it’s been almost 10 years since I’ve seen TS3, the dark intensity of the characters accepting their fate as Lots’O’Huggin attempted to murder them in an incinerator, and the sound of dozens of dad’s sniffling around me during Andy’s goodbye to all his childhood toys will forever remain in my memory, along side Spanish Buzz. 

With Andy leaving his toys to Bonnie and going off to college, audiences and critics both agreed (Toy Story 3 went on to be nominated for Best Picture as well as win Best Animated Feature) the trilogy had reached a natural and satisfying conclusion. The idea of a 4th Toy Story feels like a shameless Disney cash grab, but was it worth the run?

Hindsight

The level of skill that went into Toy Story 4's animation is immediately apparent. The rendering, shading, and movement of characters and backgrounds are jaw-dropping. The film opens with a flashback from 9 years ago. Its a dark and stormy night and we are transported back to Andy's bedroom where the toys are staging a rescue mission. Led by Woody, all of our old buddy's band together in a Rube Golberg-esque fashion to save a toy from being washed away in a street gutter. Everyone coming together in a recovery effort is the Toy Story version of a Bond cold-open action sequence. Slinky, Ham, Bo Peep, Jesse and all of the toys we've come to know and love are there to help (except Rex, who's watches anxiously - "The panic, it's attacking me!").

After our rescue, the movie enters a montage to catch us up to current day. We watch as Andy passes his toys down to Bonnie, a little girl from Sunnyside Daycare, and sets off to college and Bonnie prepares for her kindergarten orientation. The plot takes off as Bonnie and her family (with toys) set off on a road trip to have a little fun before the start of the school year.

The movie plays like an action-comedy and the laughs come fast and hard. More jokes landed with the adults in my audience than children, with kids laughing at the broad physical comedy and adults laughing at clever one-liners. Much of the action takes place at a carnival and antique shop that's on the road trip route.

Along the way, we meet a slew of new characters, including Canadian stunt rider Duke Kaboom (Keanu Reeves), stuffed animal Ducky (Keagan Michael-Key), the terrifyingly polite Gabby Gabby doll (Christina Hendricks) and of course, Forky (voiced by Tony Mchale of Arrested Development fame).  Someone must have taken up a bet in Pixar and challenged them to make an audience empathize with googly-eyed spork with popsicle stick legs, and somehow Pixar won. Forky was worth the ticket price alone - to go into his history and detail would be spoiling his appearance.

As always, heavy themes are present, which is part of why this series has always played so well to adults. The toys struggle with existentialism (what's a toy without a child who loves them?) and morality (their ageless beings who live only to watch those who loved them move on as they age). These dilemmas are where the film draws the majority of its pathos from, while primarily focusing on spectacularly choreographed and plotted action set pieces.

Toy Story 4, while lacking the emotional depth of the third installment, was an absolute delight to watch. The rules established in the first movie still hold true - the toys have to pretend not to be sentient in front of humans and watching them scramble, dive and hide throughout locations brings out the same primitive satisfaction I get when watching Tom Cruise run.

As for my run, yeah, this one was worth it.