Toy Story 4: 5 Times We Felt Bad For Gabby Gabby (& 5 Times We Hated Her)

One of Disney’s most beloved franchises is Toy Story. Each of the films features a central villain. While the first 3 films feature ruthless villains, Toy Story 4 decides to introduce a villain that is both dangerous and sympathetic.

In Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3, the villains first appeared to be friendly but then were shown to have malicious intent. When Woody and Forky first meet Gabby Gabby, it was immediately clear that something wasn’t quite right. Throughout the film, fans’ perceptions of her changed as she had both ruthless and moving moments.

10 Hated: Lied About Bringing Them To Bo

Woody and Forky first meet Gabby Gabby when they are looking for Bo in an antique shop. As Gabby Gabby is strolling the aisles with her dummies, she introduces herself to them. When they say that they are there looking for Bo, Gabby Gabby is very insistent that she can take them to her.

Despite Woody’s feeling that something may be a bit off, they are forced to go with her and it soon becomes clear they are not going to be seeing Bo any time soon.

9 Felt Bad: Talks About Being Defective

While Gabby Gabby’s methods for trying to obtain a new voice box are questionable, it is clear throughout the Toy Story movies how much not having a child to play with can impact a toy.

When Gabby Gabby shares that she was defective from the start and has lived a life of isolation due to this, it is hard not to empathize with her.

8 Hated: Captured Forky

Woody is able to escape from Gabby Gabby, but in doing so, Forky is captured and held hostage. This seems incredibly cruel as Forky is naive and innocent.

He has no idea how to escape, and more importantly, he does not even realize that he should be trying to escape. Holding someone as friendly and well-intentioned as Forky hostage as a way to gain power over Woody is deplorable.

7 Felt Bad: Practicing Tea Time

Gabby Gabby fantasizes about playing with a little girl named Harmony who often comes into the shop. During one scene, Gabby Gabby reads through a Gabby Gabby book in which she is shown having tea time with a child.

As she reads this, she notices Harmony in the store playing tea time alone and imagines what it would be like to play tea time with Harmony. Watching Gabby Gabby practice for this moment with such hope in her eyes, once can’t help but feel her pain, desire, and longing.

6 Hated: Manipulated Forky

Forky’s gullible nature gets him into several tricky situations. As Gabby Gabby holds him captive, she begins to form a relationship with Forky and he seems to think they are good friends.

But Gabby Gabby is actually taking advantage of Forky’s nativity and using him to obtain information about Woody — information that will help her capture him.

5 Felt Bad: Harmony Discards Her

When Gabby Gabby finally gets a voice box, she is sure that Harmony will finally like her and play with her. The moment she has been waiting and hoping for years is about to come.

Harmony picks up Gabby Gabby and pulls her string, listening to her voice. While her eyes are wide and she initially seems interested, Harmony quickly discards Gabby Gabby.

4 Hated: Tyrannical Rule

Likely due to the lack of power in her life, Gabby Gabby controls the entire antique store. It is pretty clear that Gabby Gabby and her dummy henchmen make the environment in the antique store extremely hostile.

This is evident in the first scene when Woody and Forky are the only ones walking the aisles while Gabby Gabby and the dummies patrol. It is also evident through Bo’s conversations with Woody about the antique store as she mentions escaping and never going back.

3 Felt Bad: Offers Woody The Voice Box Back

When Harmony discards Gabby Gabby, she completely breaks down. After a life of rejection, which she attributed to the lack of a working voice box, she finds herself still unwanted.

At this moment, Gabby Gabby loses faith that her life will ever get better and she is completely ready to give up all hope. In a heartbreaking moment, she even offers Woody back the voice box she worked so hard to obtain.

2 Hated: Took Woody’s Voice Box

When Woody returns to rescue Forky, he walks straight into a trap. He is cornered by Gabby Gabby and her dummies. She launches into a long speech about the importance of getting his voice box and Woody exasperatedly agrees. It is clear that in this moment that Woody is only agreeing because he is exhausted and feels defeated.

While fans empathize with Gabby Gabby’s struggle, they still don’t approve of her taking Woody’s voice box.

1 Felt Bad: Break Down At Fair

Woody convinces Gabby Gabby to come with them and she eventually agrees. But on their way back to Bonnie’s van, they encounter a small girl crying at the fair. Gabby Gabby is immediately intrigued by the girl and pauses to watch her. It seems that she feels an instant connection and wants to approach her.

Woody tries to encourage her to do so, but Gabby Gabby breaks down, worried about being rejected again after what happening with Harmony. This moment of vulnerability really helped fans empathize with Gabby Gabby’s struggle and understand her motivations.

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