Though the end of Toy Story toys leave their previous long-time owner Andy, probably for good. He's eighteen now and going to college. Though he considers taking Woody with him, Woody sneaks into the box of toys Andy gifts to Bonnie, a little girl who can appreciate the toys better. The final shot of Toy Story 3 is of the toys sitting on Bonnie's porch, watching Andy drive away, while Woody says, "So long, partner."
Toy Story 4 picks up a little while later, with Woody feeling out of place at Bonnie's house. He was Andy's favorite toy, but isn't Bonnie's and has trouble adjusting to the new status quo. On a road trip, he runs into his old flame, Bo Peep. The two adventure through a traveling fair and Woody learns about lost toys like Bo. At the end of Toy Story 4, seeing a new life path for himself, he decides to stay with Bo at the carnival, helping carnival toys find new owners. He says goodbye to his friends, including Buzz and Jessie.
Woody Leaving Andy Is The More Relatable Ending
Both endings are emotional, but the Toy Story 2 came out were adults around the same age as Andy for Toy Story 3. Many of the kids who enjoyed the first two Toy Story films were now going off to college and facing the same questions and problems Andy was dealing with.
Andy saying goodbye to his toys conjures up nostalgic guilt about growing up and leaving behind once cherished childhood toys. It's a cathartic scene that lets viewers know this is something others experience and everything will be okay, but it's still incredibly sad. The universal emotions of the scene appeal to college-aged viewers, but also older adults who their long-gone childhood toys and kids who aren't ready to let go of their toys yet. It's why the Toy Story 3 incinerator scene is also so distressing. No matter what age, viewers the love they have had for toys and miss them.
Toy Story 4's Ending Is More Positive
The Toy Story 4 ending has a more positive spin. Woody's choice to leave his old friends is more conscious than his choice to leave Andy. The latter was due to Andy growing up, something nobody could stop. Though Woody ultimately chose to leave Andy, it was something that would have inevitably happened someday, he just made sure it happened on his . If he hadn't, he would have had to say goodbye to his friends, anyway. He knew it would be better to stay with them and a child for at least a little while longer than to sit alone on a dorm room shelf and never be played with.
At the end of Toy Story 4, Woody could have returned to Bonnie with the other toys and tried to adjust to that life. It would have been almost as bittersweet as what does happen since he would have lost Bo Peep again. But while the ending of Toy Story 3 promises a new life for the toys, the ending of Toy Story 4 promises a better life. Woody wasn't happy to leave Andy, even though he knew it was time, and unfortunately, he wasn't happy with Bonnie either. At the end of Toy Story 4, it's clear he's in a position he feels more comfortable with and will probably never have a real owner again because nobody will ever live up to Andy.
Meanwhile, the other toys get to go back to the life they enjoy with Bonnie. After all, Woody was made in the 1950s and is older than most of the other toys. He likely had owners before Andy—possibly even Andy's parents. He has already lived the regular toy life multiple times and got to be a favorite toy, so can happily move on to new experiences with no child. But the other toys still haven't necessarily been favorites or found their perfect kid, which Woody had with Andy. He leaves them to find their kids while helping other toys do the same.
Woody Leaving Andy Leaves No Way Back
What ultimately makes the end of Toy Story 3 sadder than the end of Toy Story 4 is that the former leaves no way back. When Woody leaves his friends in Toy Story 4, the door is open for them to meet again someday. The fair could end up near Bonnie or her family could go on another road trip. The return of Bo Peep in Toy Story 4 proves that another meeting between the toys is possible. They could also find ways to send letters to each other, like the letters they send between Bonnie's house and Sunnyside Daycare in a credit's scene of Toy Story 3. It wouldn't be easy to stay in , but the toys could find a way if they want.
But after Toy Story 3, Woody and his friends will likely never see Andy again. Even if Andy visits Bonnie's family on a trip home from college, he definitely won't be playing with the toys. And they aren't able to communicate with him like they do with each other, so there will be no sending letters. When Woody says goodbye to Andy, he knows that is the end of their life together. Andy will never be a kid again, and he'll never play with Woody again.
A possible Toy Story 5 would almost certainly feature Woody and the toys reuniting, but audiences will probably never see Andy again. The end of Toy Story 3 is like losing a loved one forever, while the end of Toy Story 4 is like saying goodbye to friends after graduation. Both conjure up deep emotions, some happy and some sad, but one is more permanent and heartbreaking.
