Anyone who's been around kids can tell you that they get attached to the weirdest things throughout their young lives — a stick, a washcloth, a paper towel roll. It's always random and always seems weird that they care so much about the object when they have plenty of other "real" toys. The first full trailer for Toy Story 4 [1] is here and actually touches on this phenomenon, and leave it to Woody to explain it in the most beautiful way.
In Toy Story 4, Bonnie "creates" a toy out of a spork, googly eyes, and pipe cleaners, and names him "Forky." Sounds silly, but wise old Woody recognises instantly what Forky means to Bonnie; so when he runs away, dooming himself to the trash, Woody once again sets off on a journey to save a friend in the name of a kid who loves them.
"Bonnie made a friend in class. No, no, she literally made a new friend. I want you to meet Forky! . . . Forky is the most important toy to Bonnie right now. We all have to make sure nothing happens to him," Woody tells the crew before they all head out on a trip with Bonnie, where Forky tries to escape his plaything fate. "You're Bonnie's toy," Woody says after throwing himself out an RV window to catch up with the despondent spork. "You are going to help create happy memories that will last for the rest of her life."
Anddddd I'm crying.