Research paper on Toy Story 4Introduction 

The Toy Story franchise has played a huge role in my life since I was a child. Watching Woody and Buzz coming into life and adventuring made me realize that I should also go out with my friends and discover what's outside. The film was developed by Disney and Pixar which turned these toys into real life. Toy Story may be a film for children but is not about children but rather toys seeking an adventure which can be applicable to real-life events that might occur. I will be discussing Toy Story 4 and researching the personality traits of the new characters and old characters. 

 Whenever I think about the Toy Story movies, I think of the lesson of accepting change and being a more accepting person. The first Toy Story made me realize that Woody, one of the main characters, was very jealous of Buzz, since replacing someone was hurtful for Woody. Woody accidentally sends Buzz outside the house where he tries to save him, which they need to locate Andy, where they go on an adventure to reunite with Andy again. Woody had to accept it and become friends with Buzz and with the other characters, which they would treat each other with respect and dignity. 

After the second movie of Toy Story Woody and Buzz have a strong bond which makes them a perfect duo. Again, another adventure between Woody and Buzz revealed another lesson about the importance of making new friends and accepting them. In their new adventure, they meet three new friends Jessie, Bullseye, and Stinky Pete. Jessie and Bullseye were badly influenced by Stinky Pete. They decided to stay away from Stinky Pete and go with Buzz and Woody since they taught them a valuable lesson, which opened their eyes. They were also encouraged to go out and make new friends. 

The third Toy Story was very skeptical since Woody and Buzz enter a new setting which takes place in a daycare where they meet new toys; Lot-O’-Huggin’ Bear, Ken, Big Baby, Twitch. Scratch, Chunk, Sparks. These new toys were old, broken, and nasty looking which made them realize that their previous owners abandoned them which they feel super neglected in the movie. This is why it was very complicated to change them into a better toy since they already are very negative. Overall, they became friends since Woody also had the same experience in which they again opened their eyes, and they later got accepted into a new family regardless of how they looked. 

After watching the old Toy Story movies, I had the opportunity to watch the new Toy Story and talk about it. Ever since I was a kid, I liked the Toy Story franchise. I will talk about the personality of the new and old characters and how they interact with each other. I will be using psychological methods to understand their personality traits. This is very interesting to me since; I can conduct a research study on the movie that I grew up with.

Focusing on the psychological traits and behavior from the latest movie Toy Story 4 will be very interesting since many stuff can happen. This research paper could be successful or unsuccessful. They might be some obstacles to overcome, but I feel very optimistic that I can identify the personality traits and how they behave toward the new characters of Toy Story 4.

Context

I believe that after watching Toy Story 4, I learned something new which made me realize that this could also connect with the real-life world. Toy Story 4 could be very helpful and teach life lessons to adults. There are many life lessons that adults can extract from the film which might go well over a child’s head since it could be very complicated to understand what’s going on. But we should also understand the personalities and the people who stay with us since sometimes people can change over time.

Change is scary for some people, and sometimes they would accept it and continue forwards. Children wouldn’t understand, but they can choose their career path in the future. On the other hand, adults might not work out when they panic about the situation, which can change a person’s life and goals upside-down. In this case, we can see Woody, who stuck with Andy all the time but as time goes on, he is now under Bonnie.

On the other hand, change can be a positive thing since we can see Woody has changed a lot and accepted that he is no longer with Andy anymore. His goal has changed a lot by sticking up with his friends and how he can help them as one unit. Woody stays alongside Buzz after they encounter the new toys in Toy Story 4. 

Toy Story 4 is very interesting since the old characters had some difficulties adjusting to the new characters whose personalities have changed a lot during the film. For example, the new character Forky was created from “trash” which makes him not part with the other characters. This makes Woody frustrated since he calls Forky a toy he feels that Forky is just a piece of “trash”. Woody has changed a lot from the previous movie which makes me wonder why he feels very different when he interacts with them and the other characters.

Literature Review

To understand what’s going on with the old characters, they moved in with Bonnie and Andy had to move out. He left his old toys with Bonnie so she can play with them. This makes Woody and his friends very sad, but they had some difficulties adapting to their new place which they overcame. 

We can see that every personality trait differs from the other, which is why I am using the MBTI (The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) test in the new and old characters. This will help me a lot since this indicates how their behavior and personality feel towards each other in groups or separated from each other. This will indicate each one's personality traits which then, later on, will help me to build my data. 

They are other research about the personality traits that the new and old characters have, which people behave towards each other, “Forky, like Buzz before him, is struggling with the idea of being just a toy - not because he thinks he's a lofty action hero, but because he sees himself as trash ... literally. What is essential about Forky is that he is a small piece of disposable cutlery, (Canva, Paragraph 2)”. The author explains why Forky feels like he isn’t part of the group which makes him feel very isolated. 

Toy Story 4 provides a life lesson which at the end of the film Woody accepts everyone as their friend which he just meet and how can he look forward in the future, “Instead, Woody decides to seek the path not yet taken - at least for him - and hit the road with a new bunch that includes Bo, mini-cop Giggle McDimples (Ally Maki) and carnival prizes Ducky (Keegan-Michael Key) and Bunny (Jordan Peele). Woody chooses his own happiness and being with Bo rather than going back to Bonnie's toy box, and the end-credits scene - with Ducky and Bunny going crazy with giving out gifts to kids - hints that this group has a fun future ahead, (Truitt, Paragraph 5)”. Woody accepts the new characters which he first didn’t like at first which changes his behavior a lot which is why he decides to stay.  

The MBTI test fits perfectly since it shows us the characters’ personalities and behavior and that each character is unique in the film. Carl Jung is the founder of the MBTI test which he believes that finding an individual behavior, “They provide a mathematical formula for comparing the scores on the opposite bipolar constructs in order to assign individuals to categories as either extrovert or introverts, as either sensing types or intuitive types, as either thinking types or feeling types, as either judging types or perceiving types, (Francis and Village, page 3)”. Measuring a psychological trait can help us on how people behave toward each other.

To understand the MBTI, there are 16 personality traits which depending on the characters fall into the personality trait characteristics which are ESTJ, ESTP, ESFP, ESFJ, ENFJ, ENFP, INTJ, INTP, ISFJ, ISFP, ISTJ, and ISTP. There are 10 personality traits that are involved in Toy Story since other researchers have found the traits of each character from the movie. Thankfully after looking at other websites, I had the chance to look at more of these traits from the characters, “16 Personalities as Toy Story Characters”, “MBTI® of Toy Story 4 Characters”, and “The MBTI of Toy Story Characters”, these websites helped me to look more in the personality traits of every character from Toy Story 4. 

Research Question

We can see these types of personality traits in Toy Story 4 since in some acts there are characters that struggle to speak with the other characters whom they have a difficult time interacting with. For example, Forky is a toy that Bonnie built him using scraps of trash. We can see this since Woody is very harsh but also nice with Forky, while everyone is already adapted to the new place very well. Woody is annoyed by Forky since he thinks he's not a real toy since he was made up by “Trash”. Which Forky's feels that he’s worthless, but Woody calls him a “Toy” since he cares about Bonnie’s feelings. This is shown a lot during the film since other characters are also seen as “broken” while the old characters are trying to collaborate with the new characters. A MBTI can be used for this film since every character has their own personality and how they can interact with the old characters such as Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Bo, Potato Head, etc. The old characters call Forky “trash” and not a toy which is important to know why they treat him unfairly. Woody on the other hand sees Forky as a “toy” which he wants to help him and Bonnie.

Personality traits differ in some ways, but I want to know why the old characters have changed differently. To know the personality traits, I will watch the movie Toy Story 4 and categorize them into groups since they all have different personality traits, and behave differently towards each other. The best way to get the information is to group them up and then split them whenever they talk and behave towards each other. The most interactions and behavior between each toy will be determined as the favorites. The least interactions and behavior will determine that they might have a problem with each other.  

Methods

Definitions

MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator): The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a widely used personality inventory, or test, employed in vocational, educational, and psychotherapy settings to evaluate personality type in adolescents and adults age 14 and older.

ESTJ - ESTJs are often described as logical, take-charge kinds of people. They are assertive and concerned with making sure things run smoothly and according to the rules. 

ESTP - also known as Entrepreneurs and Dynamos— are outgoing and enjoy spending time with a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. They are interested in the here and now and are more likely to focus on details than take a broader view of things.

ESFP - People with ESFP personality types are often described as spontaneous, resourceful, and outgoing. The ESFP personality type is often referred to as "the performer" or "the entertainer."

ESFJ - ESTJs, and often become involved in civic duties, government branches, and community organizations.

ENFJ - People with ENFJ personality types are often described as warm, outgoing, loyal, and sensitive. 

ENFP - People with an ENFP personality are often described as enthusiastic, charismatic, charming, energetic, and independent. ENFPs are also creative, so they typically do best in situations where they have the freedom to create and innovate

ISFJ - This personality type is given the nickname "The Protector" or "The Defender," and for good reason.

ISFP - People with an ISFP personality—the Adventurers—have Introverted, Observant, Feeling, and Prospecting personality traits. 

ISTJ - ISTJs value loyalty in themselves and others and emphasize traditions. While they have a reputation for being blunt, they are also known for being nice, loyal, and responsible.

ISTP- ISTPs enjoy taking things apart just to see how they work. They are logical and rational but more interested in practical applications than abstract ideas. They love doing new things and can become bored with routines rather quickly.

INTP - INTPs have a rich inner world and would rather focus their attention on their internal thoughts rather than the external world. They typically do not have a wide social circle, but they do tend to be close to a select group of people. 

INFJ - INFJ is referred to as an "Assertive Advocate" and often displays confidence with a relaxed demeanor. An INFJ is known as a "Turbulent Advocate" and tends to be less confident and more easily stressed.

Results/Discussion/ Data Analysis

We can see that every character falls into this MBTI category which indicates that the most common are the ESFJ which are Rex, Trixie, and Ducky and Bunny all of them are green, but as we can see in the methods, Buzz was the only character that has a yellow which indicates that they both can disagree and agree. During the film Ducky and Bunny were angry at Buzz since he was a showoff during the carnival games which upset them, then later they had to help each other out in difficult obstacles.

Second, it shows me the ISTJ, ENFP, ESTJ, which only have two characters that fall into this category. Their personality trait is different from the others and only one-character falls into the only one MBTI category.

The Methods tell us how the old characters interact with new characters we can see that Woody, Buzz, and Be Peep have the reddest since Gabby and Benson are the antagonists which are trying to destroy Woody to collect his “heart” and rescue Forky. Their behavior is negative towards Woody, Buzz, and Be Peep. Yellow indicates us their behavior is bipolar which Woody has the most then second is Buzz. Woody fights with the new characters from Bonnie’s collection since he isn’t the leader anymore which they argue but also at some points they help each other out. Meanwhile, the other characters treat Forky unfairly since in the beginning, they call him “trash” which makes Forky feel melancholy but later in the film they accept him as “toy”. Lastly green indicates positivity since they all treat each other with respect. This is new since Woody tries his best to be friends with the new friends which he doesn’t meanwhile the others adapt to the place quickly.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can see that the MBTI was in some ways helpful since each character has their own distinct personality traits. I believe that this work is unfinished since it was very complicated to get every data correct, but the behavior was correct since the old characters adapted quickly meanwhile Woody took time to be friends with them. The movie taught me a lot of things since overcoming a change could be very complicated for people

The behavior was very accurate, which was the strongest part of this research paper. But overall, I believe that they’re some holes to be patched, the setting played a role in the film which I wasn’t very aware of it since it also played a role during my research question and my data was slightly off. The MBTI was very complicated since in the film we needed to focus the characters more deeply to have accurate data.

I encourage you to watch Toy Story 4, this was a very well-produced movie which I enjoyed a lot. I would also like to invite the people who enjoy Toy Story or Psychology since the MBTI is very complicated to understand but also fascinating to learn about since you can connect with it in other Disney films/movies.

Reference

Kim, Andy. “16 Personalities as Toy Story Characters.” Boo, Boo, 11 Dec. 2022, https://boo.world/blog/16-personalities-as-toy-story-characters. 

Truitt, Brian. "'Toy Story 4' provides life lessons, Hanks says." USA Today, 24 June 2019, p. 01D. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A590520760/AONE?u=cuny_guttman&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=373dc510.  Accessed 15 Dec. 2022

Canva. (2019). If I’m not trash, what am I? What Forky from “Toy Story 4” has to teach about identity and self-worth. The Washington Post.

McCormick, Colin. “MBTI® of Toy Story 4 Characters.” ScreenRant, 14 July 2019, https://screenrant.com/mbti-myers-briggs-toy-story-4-characters/. 

Francis, & Village, A. (2022). The Francis Psychological Type Scales (FPTS): factor structure, internal consistency reliability, and concurrent validity with the MBTI. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2022.2041584

Daley, Katerina. “The MBTI of Toy Story Characters.” ScreenRant, 30 Apr. 2019, https://screenrant.com/myers-briggs-types-toy-story-characters/. 

Cherry, Kendra. “What an ESTJ Myers-Briggs Type Means for You.” Verywell Mind, Verywell Mind, 22 June 2022, https://www.verywellmind.com/estj-extraverted-sensing-thinking-judging-2795985.