Lamp Life

Lamp Life is a Toy Story short film released on January 31, 2020 on Disney+.^[1] It tells the story of Bo Peep and her adventures after Toy Story 2 before her reunion with Woody in Toy Story 4.

Plot

Some time after the events of the fourth film, Bo, Woody, Giggle, and the sheep are climbing the Ferris Wheel as Woody finishes his backstory with how he and Forky saw Bo's lamp at the antique store. Bo says that's quite the adventure while Giggle asks Woody if she's getting this straight: Woody gets saved by a Claw, given away by Andy to Bonnie, and a fork suddenly brings him to Bo. Woody confirms and Giggle laughs, saying that's nothing compared to Bo's story. As they rest at the middle of the wheel, Giggle suggests Bo tell her story, to which Woody agrees. He asks what happened all that time and if they missed the lamp. Bo asks the sheep if they miss the lamp, but they bleat in unenthusiasm, causing them all to chuckle. Bo begins her story:

Shortly after they left the Davis household, Bo and her sheep were given to a new family with a newborn baby, who, like Molly, loved them dearly. She admits they had nice moments, or at least in the perspective of a lamp, such as turning the lamp on while the baby and her mother sleep. As the baby grows into a toddler, she soon begins to play with Bo and the sheep on rainy days, for sleepovers, and for fairy tales. But unlike Andy and Molly's mother, this little girl's mother prevents her from playing with them due to them being fragile, much to their annoyance. But overall, Bo says life on a lamp wasn't exciting. They had to deal with the girl's screaming tantrums at night, due to the father believing he and his wife had to let the baby cry it out, and Bo and her sheep would often block it out by hiding in the drawer. She admits the thing about babies is that they can love you too much. One day, the girl pulls the lamp's cord in order to reach Bo and her sheep, but this causes the lamp to fall and the top of Bo's crook to snap (but it doesn't stop the girl from teething on the broken piece). This led to the crook being taped up and having the lamp placed high on top of the shelf. Soon, the girl gets a baby sister, which causes two little girls now to scream during the night. Eventually, they made their way back to the nightstand, where they still tried to sneak in playtime by sneaking themselves in between the sisters' toys. She admits it was risky but worth it. One rainy day, however, the girls are playing catch with Billy, Goat, and Gruff when one of them steps onto the nightstand to catch them, causing a space ship to collide with the lamp and fall. With the bulb broken, the girls secretly fix it but use the wrong kind of lightbulb. Bo then admits the hardest challenge was hazardous working conditions. The consequence of the girls' using the wrong light bulb causes it to short circuit one night and explode, causing Bo's pink bonnet to catch on fire. After that, a bonnet-less Bo fixes the light bulb secretly as her sheep comfort her. Soon, the girls begin to argue that they don't want the lamp (when their dad tries to intervene, the mother ironically reminds him to let them cry it out) and eventually say to give it away. This soon repeats with not only another little girl, but also a baby itself, and it all comes down to the same thing: The lamp was for a baby.

This led to to the lamp being put in a donation box on the curb, where Bo is picked up by a woman for a white elephant gift exchange, where they're given to a young man. This proves to be challenging, as the man taps on them while listening to music, throws wild parties, puts in a buzzing LED lightbulb (which causes Bo and the sheep to be covered in moths), takes the lamp to sea (where they deal with his seasickness), brings them to the Arctic for studying (which causes the lamp to get covered in snow and once again short circuit), before eventually throwing them in the trash. Bo then drags the lamp by the cord through a storm, but the wind causes the lampshade to open up and make the lamp, Bo, and her sheep fly away. Early the next morning, Bo wakes up to find that they landed in front of the Antique Store, where they're found by Margaret the storekeeper. Bo says that appliances have a shelf life, and they were definitely not on a shelf. Soon, Margaret glues the sheep and Bo onto the base of the lamp, and just like that, they were settled among snobbish porcelain figures. Bo found it comfortable at first, since it meant no trash, slobber, or being broken, despite being glued to the base and having to deal with the store cat, Dragon.

Until one day, she sees two kids leaving the store with their mother for the playground, and Bo suddenly had an epiphany: The playground would mean kids would be there every day, which meant unlimited playtime and leaving the lamp meant they can finally be toys. The problem was getting off the lamp and escaping the Antique Store, which has a highly detected security system. Bo and the sheep said goodbye to life on a lamp and initiated their escape plan: She soon gets Giggle to bring them a pick to pry Bo and the sheeps' feet off the base, took tape for repairs, distracted Gabby Gabby with Billy, Goat, and Gruff jump-scaring her and Bo placing the lampshade over her head and grabbing the key for the cabinet, trapping Benson in said cabinet, escaping the rest of the dummies by hitching a ride on Duke Caboom's motorcycle, and took down the security system by placing a faulty lightbulb into the lamp. Woody cuts in and says the Antique Store doesn't have a security system, but Bo chuckles it says it doesn't anymore. Cutting back, Bo turns on the lamp and leaves the snooty figurines to witness the explosion of the bulb. The sprinkler system is triggered by the smoke and flames, causing the doors to be unlocked by the fire alarm overriding the security system. After turning off the motion detectors, Bo, her sheep, Giggle, and Giggle's playset soon bust out of the store and head for the playground as police cars arrive after getting word of the store's fire sprinklers being set off and waiting for the fire department to arrive. After transforming her outfit into something more durable, she, her sheep, and Giggle soon enjoy playtime, whenever they wanted and for as long as they wanted. Woody impressed, asks if that all really happened, to which Bo confirms. After closing his shocked mouth with her crook and fixing his hat, Bo says, "Well, more or less." The group soon slides down the beams and runs off, laughing, as the camera pans to the star-covered sky.

Cast

• Annie Potts as Bo Peep
• Emily Davis as Billy, Goat, and Gruff
• Jim Hanks as Woody
• Ally Maki as Giggle McDimples

Characters

• Woody
• Bo Peep
• Billy Goat, and Gruff
• Giggle McDimples
• The Bensons (flashback)
• Gabby Gabby (flashback)
• Dragon (flashback)
• Margaret (cameo in the flashback)
• Duke Caboom (cameo in the flashback)
• Andy (mentioned)
• Bonnie (mentioned)

Gallery

Videos

Trivia

• The short movie originated from Bo's backstory originally being included in the fourth film. She was given to a new family, placed in storage for years, donated, brought at a thrift store, given as a white elephant gift, and then broken accidentally by a child. Bo then made a huge choice and left that kid. She and her sheep traveled through the rain and cover of night to create a new life at the antique store. Although emotional, the flashback was ultimately cut from the film and was then evolved into Lamp Life.
• This is the first non-movie Toy Story production to feature Bo Peep, excluding the Toy Story 2 Blooper Reel and the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command intro.
• A pink Luxo Jr. lamp can be seen in the short movie.
• One of Molly's Barbies, a Bitey White teething ring, the Luxo ball, and Bonnie's wooden dinosaur (from Forky Asks a Question) cameo as the little girl's toys.
• For some reason, Ducky, Bunny, and Duke Caboom don't appear with the other toys (although Duke makes a cameo when he assists in Bo's escape plan, along with Gabby Gabby).
• Neither Duke Caboom nor Gabby Gabby say anything in the short movie.
• The short movie doesn't necessarily explain how Giggle and Bo met; Giggle simply just helps Bo escape. It could be possible this demonstrates Giggle's compassion to help other toys due to being a cop toy.
• In the fourth film, Bo mentions that she has been a lost toy for several years, meaning the short movie takes place within the span of two of the nine years she was separated from Andy's toys.
• Due to the carnival still being located where the fourth film left off rather than New Stanton Beach (where the carnival was during the end credits), it can be possible that the short movie takes place almost immediately after the fourth film or they came back to the same location as the fourth film, similarly to Forky Asks a Question.
• At the beginning of the short movie, Woody has told Bo the story of final scenes of Toy Story 3 where the Little Green Men used the claw to save him, Buzz, Jessie, Bullseye, Rex, Hamm, Slinky, and Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head from the incinerator and where Andy then gives them to Bonnie.
  • Also Woody might told Bo about Lotso's story and his evil ambitions as a leader in Sunnyside Daycare, and how his friends went through in the Caterpillar Room and how they escaped the gloomy daycare.
• This is the first Pixar production to feature the Disney-Pixar brand above its logo at the start or at the end of the medias.
• Unlike the other short movies, Tom Hanks' brother, Jim Hanks, voiced Woody in Lamp Life.

References

https://twitter.com/ThePixarPost/status/1207021215182917633