'Toy Story 4' Trailer Teases Forky — And Breaks Its Own Rules

Pixar unexpectedly released a teaser trailer for Toy Story 4 on Monday, the next installment in the fan-favorite series that follows 2010’s tear-jerking epic. The short video reveals the return of big names like Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr. Potato Head and the toy aliens from Pizza Planet — but also contains a surprise newcomer that disrupts the scene.

The company uploaded the teaser with the following description:

Woody has always been confident about his place in the world and that his priority is taking care of his kid, whether that’s Andy or Bonnie. But when Bonnie adds a reluctant new toy called “Forky” to her room, a road trip adventure alongside old and new friends will show Woody how big the world can be for a toy.

In some respects, the teaser raises more questions than it answers. “Forky” seems to deny the fact that they’re a toy, echoing the character of Buzz Lightyear from the original 1997 movie. But while Buzz seemed to genuinely believe that he inhabited the world laid out by his creators, as an intergalactic soldier set to defeat Emperor Zurg, “Forky” looks like a fork with a bit of pipe cleaner wrapped around, a household object void of any such backstory.

Resembling something created by a child in arts and craft class, “Forky” raises questions about how toy consciousness works in the Toy Story universe. Do toys have to be created by a toymaker to attain life, as seen with Sid’s terrifying mashups in the original film? Or did “Forky” suddenly jump into existence because a child liked playing with them as a toy, thus making them a toy? With the number of wild fan theories surrounding Toy Story, including ones that it inhabits the same world as The Walking Dead, it’s perhaps not one of the weirder questions to come out of the franchise.

Toy Story 4 is set to hit theaters in the United States on June 21, 2019.