Forky

About

Forky is a handcrafted plastic spork character in Toy Story 4 who insists he's trash and not a toy. His existential crisis within the movie and self- deprecating personality has turned him into a relatable icon.

Origin

On November 12th, 2018, Pixar uploaded the Official Teaser Trailer for Toy Story 4 (shown below). The video gained over 19 million views and 274,000 likes in eight months.

Spread

On November 12th, 2018, after the teaser trailer release Twitter users began commenting on the outsider character of Forky. Twitter user @bmanuel^[4] tweeted, "Forky is a gay icon. Note the 🌈 on his foot and how his crippling anxiety ('I don’t belong here!') is triggered by 'Both Sides Now.'" The tweet garnered over 800 likes in eight months. @NickdeSemlyen^[5] tweeted, "I will say this for new Toy Story character Forky: he’s the perfect embodiment of 2018" (shown below, right). The tweet gained over 66 likes in eight months.

On March 19th, 2019, The Disney Company^[1] released the synopsis for Toy Story 4 which introduces the character Forky:

"Woody (voice of Tom Hanks) 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. So when Bonnie’s beloved new craft-project-turned-toy, Forky (voice of Tony Hale), declares himself as “trash” and not a toy, Woody takes it upon himself to show Forky why he should embrace being a toy. But when Bonnie takes the whole gang on her family’s road trip excursion, Woody ends up on an unexpected detour that includes a reunion with his long-lost friend Bo Peep (voice of Annie Potts). After years of being on her own, Bo’s adventurous spirit and life on the road belie her delicate porcelain exterior. As Woody and Bo realize they’re worlds apart when it comes to life as a toy, they soon come to find that’s the least of their worries."

On March 19th, Disney Pixar uploaded the Toy Story 4 Official Trailer to YouTube which gained 15.7 million views and 646,000 likes in a day (shown below).

On Mar 26th, 2019 in reaction to the official trailer, PrimeMinisterofAntartica^[6] posted an image of Forky exclaiming that "birth is a cursed, existence is a prison" with the caption "i think I’m gonna like this spork" (shown below). The post received 41 notes in three months.

On June 21st, Toy Story 4 was released in theaters. After the release, Forky solidified his reputation as a self-depreciating character which connected to older audiences. That day, Twitter user @FairyTaleMindy tweeted, "#Forky is a character who is convinced he’s trash and keeps trying to throw himself away but his friends do their best to convince him he is worthy of love, so I finally feel represented in a Disney movie" (shown below). The tweet garnered over 500 likes that week. Forky also prompted a series of questions as to how the toy life cycle works in the Toy Story universe which were reported on by Slate^[2] and USA Today.^[3]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References