It was directed by Josh Cooley from a screenplay by Andrew Stanton and Stephany Folsom; the three also conceived the story alongside John Lasseter, Rashida Jones, Will McCormack, Valerie LaPointe, and Martin Hynes.

[4] Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Don Rickles,[b] Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Jeff Pidgeon, Laurie Metcalf, John Morris, Joan Cusack, and Estelle Harris are among the actors who reprise their character roles from the first three films, and are joined by Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, and Ally Maki, who voice new characters.

Like its predecessors, the film received acclaim from critics, with praise for its story, humor, emotional depth, musical score, animation, and vocal performances.

At a playground nearby, Woody reunites with Bo and her sheep, who have become "lost toys", free from owners and able to do as they please, along with their new friend Giggle McDimples.

Buzz Lightyear, trying to find Woody, gets lost in a traveling carnival and encounters prize toys Bunny and Ducky.

The toys refuse to go back due to the danger, but Woody, desperate to be necessary to Bonnie, inadvertently insults Bo and leaves her and Buzz behind.

He is left alone to rescue Forky, but when he confronts Gabby, she explains that she means no harm and has wanted a child's love for more than 60 years.

Rashida Jones and Will McCormack joined as writers, with Galyn Susman returning as a producer from Toy Story short subjects.

[32] Lasseter explained that Pixar decided to produce the sequel because of their "pure passion" for the series, and that the film would be a love story.

[44] This enabled Cooley to explore more ideas for Woody's overall story in the franchise, including an attempt to conclude the character's arc.

[45][46] By January 2018, Disney had confirmed that the screenplay was being written by Stephany Folsom,[47] who eventually rewrote three quarters of Jones and McCormack's original script, according to Annie Potts.

[8] She was told by Pixar's then chief creative officer John Lasseter that her character's absence in the third film was attributed to them saving her for the fourth.

Hale has performed roles before with similar panicked characters, including Buster Bluth on Arrested Development and Gary Walsh on Veep.

"[61] Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele were cast as a pair of carnival prize plush toys named Ducky and Bunny.

He wrote two new songs for the film, titled "The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy" and "I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away", with Newman also performing the latter.

[78] Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit as $368 million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs; box office grosses and home media revenues placed it sixth on their list of 2019's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".

[79] In the United States and Canada, on May 28, 2019, Toy Story 4 set the records on Fandango for most tickets sold by an animated film in its first 24 hours of pre-sales (besting Incredibles 2), while Atom Tickets reported it sold nearly 50% more than the previous three highest-selling animated films combined did in their first day (Incredibles 2, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation).

[84][85] Although below projections, executives at Disney were satisfied with the debut, since it continued Pixar's "remarkable consistency" at the box office and showed "proof of audiences' long-time love for the Toy Story franchise.

[76][85][88][89] The film opened in the number one spot and retained the top position at the box office the following weekend, but it was dethroned by Spider-Man: Far From Home in July.

[76] The film received a four-star rating from Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com, who wrote "This franchise has demonstrated an impressive ability to beat the odds and reinvent itself, over a span of time long enough for two generations to grow up in.

"[98] The Washington Post's Ann Hornaday also gave the film four out of four stars and praised its "visually dazzling concoction of wily schemes and daring adventures", as well as achieving "a near-perfect balance between familiarity and novelty, action and emotion, and joyful hellos and more bittersweet goodbyes.

"[99] Peter DeBruge of Variety wrote "Toy Story ushered in the era of computer-animated cartoon features, and the fourth movie wraps up the saga beautifully.

"[28] The Daily Telegraph's Robbie Collin wrote "Toy Story 4 reaffirms that Pixar, at their best, are like no other animation studio around.

"[100] Writing for IndieWire, David Ehrlich gave the film a grade of B+ and wrote "Clever, breathless, and never manic just for the sake of keeping your kids' eyes busy, the action in Toy Story 4 is character-driven and paced to perfection.

[102] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal said that "the new film isn't flawless, but it's hugely enjoyable and speaks, with bewitching buoyancy, to nothing less than the purpose of living and the mystery of life.

"[103] While Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor wrote that the film did not put him "through the emotional wringer the way its predecessor did," he still gave it a grade of A− and said "it's consistently inventive, funny, witty, and heartfelt.

"[104] Conversely, Kyle Smith of National Review called the film "the weakest effort in the series", criticizing the characterization, and felt it prioritized comedy while the story's underlying themes were "tossed out haphazardly without much follow-through".

[112] A short film titled Lamp Life reveals Bo Peep's whereabouts between leaving and reuniting with Woody.

[115] It focuses mainly on Forky, but other Toy Story characters such as Rex, Hamm, Trixie, Buttercup, and Mr. Pricklepants also make appearances.

Evel Knievel's son Kelly and K&K Promotions sued Disney and Pixar in September 2020 for using his father's likeness without permission to the character Duke Caboom.