Toy Story 3

2010, Rated G, 103 minutes, Directed by Lee Unkirch, Written by Micheal Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkirch, Produced by Darla Anderson, Original Music by Randy Newman

With: Tom Hanks (Woody), Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear), Joan Cusack (Jessie), Ned Beatty (Lotso), Don Rickels (Mr. Potato Head), Michael Keaton (Ken), Wallace Shawn (Rex), John Ratzenberger (Hamm), Estelle Harris (Mrs. Potato Head), John Morris (Andy), Jodi Benson (Barbie), Timothy Dalton (Mr. Pricklepants)

Thirteen years after Pixar launched the animation world into a new era with Toy Story, we once again enter into the world of Andy’s toys, Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang. And the great part is, the 13 years that elapsed in real time, is the same amount of time that has elapsed in the Toy Story world. Toy Story 3 has a great premise, stunning visuals, and pure nostalgia that will excite any viewer. While the plot is slightly, dare I say, old hat, watching they toys come to grips with their future roles after Andy leaves for college is yet another great adventure into the world of Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang.

In less than a week Andy will be heading off to college. His mom prods him along to pack up his stuff and he has to decide what to do with his old toys. Despite their most valiant efforts, Woody and the gang have not been played with for years and the future seems very uncertain. Fortunately, Andy is not completely heartless and he decides to put them in the attic. But, oh no, through a series of unfortunate events the toys find themselves being transported to Sunnyside day care to be donated. This poses a great conundrum for the toys: is their allegiance to Andy everlasting or should they embrace their new place and chance to be played with every day. They find out that Sunnyside is not as Sunny as it seemed and Lots o Huggin bear is running a repressive and dictatorial regime over the toys

They toys decide that they need to get back to Andy and resolve themselves to the fate of the attic to faithfully wait to be brought out once again when Andy has children of his own. First they have to escape Sunnyside, which proves to be one of the most difficult challenges they have faced. 

Pixar has always been excellent at creating wonderful new worlds that delight the senses and imagination.  Toy Story 3 lives up to its Pixar name in the new world of Sunnyside Day Care. There are relatively few scenes that take place in Andy’s room and the Toy Story universe expands exponentially in this film. There is something about seeing toys come to life that connects with both kids, whose toys come to life daily, and adults, who enjoy being able to step back into that world for two hours. Toy Story 3 introduces us to a plethora of new characters, mainly Lots o Huggin bear (Lotso for short), Ken and Big Baby. With a day care full of toys, and a new  character’s of toy collection, we get to see a vast array of characters with varying personalities from method actor (Mr. Pricklepants), to groovy stylista (Ken). Pixar is somehow able to capture the exact personality you would expect from each individual toy (of course Ken would be a smooth talking fashionista). Getting to see all these toys makes the movie worth seeing in itself.

Toy Story 3 also develops the deeper themes of loyalty and faith throughout the movie. Watching the toys wrestle with their own trust and faith issues separates the movie from other surface layer animated films. Not only does the film develop these issues, they are presented in a way that is easy enough for a child to understand, but also deep enough for an adult to appreciate. PIxar’s ability to simultaneously cater to both levels is one of the elements that makes its films so successful.

Pixar’s animation is once again stunning. While it did not make any giant leaps forward in the animation industry with this movie, the images were beautiful. They became even more incredible when I learned that director Lee Unkirch mandated that all the characters had to be re-created from scratch and no old files could be used. My personal favorite visual scene was seeing the toys being played wiith near the end of the movie. For some reason it just seemed so real and nostalgic. The visuals of that scene were an integral part in creating the nostalgic tone of that scene as we were saying goodbye to the characters (I don’t mean this in a spoiler context just in the fact that it was at the end of movie and we know it is the last installment of the Toy Story franchise).

While the new characters were great, the visuals stunning, and the nostalgia was compelling, the overall plot itself was pretty standard for a Pixar film. A group of characters face a great problem and have to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to fix it. There were many great scenes within this plot and several twists made it slightly unique, the only problem was that it has been done before. Because of its great filmography, I tend to place very high standards on Pixar movies, and as far as an original plot, these standards were not met.

All that said, Toy Story 3 is a wonderful movie. It effortlessly entertains children and adults alike. Parents will not have to worry about falling asleep in the theater for this film as it immerses in the world of toys; the very world every kid loves and lives in, and every adult remembers with fond memories. While the plot lacked originality, the characters were excellent and entertaining. Two hours passes all to quickly and you find yourself not wanting to say goodbye when the credits roll; fortunately there were some great clips during the credits so that audience has sufficient time to decompress and accept the fact that this may be the last time we see these toys on the big screen. Goodbye Woody, Buzz, Mr. & Mrs. Potatohead, Slink, Rex and the rest of the gang. It has been a great 15 years, and we will always remember you with the same nostalgia that we remember our own toys. It is hard to accept the fact that we may never see you again (but then there is always the DVD).


B+

Content Advisory

There is an intense scene near the end, there is relatively no objectionable content

Food for thought/discussion

1. Throughout the film, the toys discuss their purpose in life-- to be their for Andy. They wrestle with it in the midst of change but always go back to it. What is your purpose in life? How do you figure it out?

2. What does the film have to say about loyalty and family?

3. How does the film comment on the biblical concept of loving your enemies?