A few days ago, I was sitting in my room re-watching the "Toy Story 4" trailer, and I started feeling nostalgic. As I re-watched the trailer, I remembered my childhood experiences watching the first three movies in awe. The stories were so captivating, and I felt an emotional attachment to the characters as if they were real. I mean, I still get teary-eyed whenever I hear "You've Got A Friend In Me" come on my Spotify. However, as I was drifting away in nostalgia, I suddenly began to snap back into reality and realized something painfully absurd: this movie is about a plastic spork.
Now, I've seen this trailer a few times, and obviously, it wasn't the first time that I realized a plastic spork was in the movie. However, I never understood the absurdity of having a plastic spork as a central character until a few watches. As I began to dwell on this absurdity, I realized a few things. Firstly, I can't believe that a plastic spork is going to generate millions of dollars of revenue for Disney and Pixar via the film and the selling of plastic spork toys. Secondly, and most importantly, I can't believe that someone, in a writers' meeting, actually pitched the idea of a plastic spork being the central focus of this movie. Honestly, I would've paid money to sit in that writer's meeting to see the look on everyone's face when that person first pitched the idea of a plastic spork.
On the flip side, what if everyone in that writers' meeting didn't react surprised or confused by that pitch? I mean, they've probably heard so many wacky ideas for so many different movies that it doesn't faze them. And what about us, as viewers? I didn't realize the absurdity of a plastic spork being a toy until a few watches in. Does that mean that animated movies, over the years, have desensitized me to absurdity? I mean it would make sense considering I have spent years watching a house that can fly because of balloons, a rat making a five-star meal, a box-shaped robot cleaning up the earth's trash, and a meerkat, warthog, and young lion harmonizing about a worry-free life.
With all of these assumptions and ideas circulating in my head, I'm looking forward to a few things. Firstly, I'm still really excited to see "Toy Story 4" and what role the plastic spork plays in the lives of the rest of the beloved characters. Secondly, I'm curious to see if the general public comments on the absurdity of a plastic spork as a central character. Finally, I'm curious to see how more absurd these animated movies can get. Moreover, will an animated film concept ever be so ridiculous that it gets called out by the general public?
