Toy Story 3 Review
The Pixar film, Toy
Story 3 is a brilliant sequel that sets itself on another level from Toy Story
and Toy Story 2. When Toy Story was aired in 1995 it immediately became an
all-time favorite, and had every kid wondering what their toys did while they
were not around. The characters we all fell in love with, Woody played by Tom
Hanks and Buzz Lightyear played by Tim Allen are back for another action packed
adventure in the world of toys. This 2010 Pixar film was directed by Lee
Unkrich, who has no problem making this cute animation movie enjoyable for all
ages and including an underlying message to the viewers.
For everyone who has been following the Toy Story series
might feel like they grew up with the lovable owner of the toys, Andy. We wa7tched
him get his very first toy Woody followed by Buzz Lightyear, so it’s a surprise
to us to see Andy has grown up and ready to go off to college. His sister
Molly, went from a baby to a tween, who cracks on Andy for still having these
toys in his room. And we all remember
the peppy family dog, which now is old and slow moving. Andy’s toys have always
found a way to amuse themselves when no one was watching but for this bunch
there future is uncertain. As Andy is
finishing up packing for college he had some decisions to make, what goes in
the attic for keeps, what gets thrown away, and what gets donated to other
kids. You can tell how much Woody means
to him because it’s the only toy he could not give away and had planned on
taking to him to college because he could not break his attachment from his
childhood toy. The others were not happy that Andy would choose to give him
away, but it was his mom who made the mistake because Andy wanted them to be
put in the attic. Woody cares too much about his pals to let them get thrown
away so he comes up with a plan to save his friends. Eventually the toys end up
at Sunnyside Day Care Center, which is described as “a place of ruin and despair,” according to
Mr. Prickle Pants played by Timothy Dalton. After they see how the toys are
treated at Sunnyside and not at all what they’ve been told, the rest of the
movie is an action packed prison escape.
Sunnyside is not at all what they imagined especially after meeting some
of the new characters like the big purple teddy bear named Lots-O-Hugs, which all the toys treat
like the leader. There is also The one eyed baby who looks like a giant
compared to the other toys, the deceiving nicely dressed Ken doll and the
screeching monkey who is the eyes for the evil Lots-O-Hugs.
Toy Story 3 is a story of friendship and imagination. Toy
Story 3 is filled with lots of themes that make it so lovable, like family,
friends, coming of age, and potential social obsolesce. No one wants to grow
old and not be useful to anyone or anything anymore which is how Andy feels
about his toys. I love how Toy Story 3
emphasizes how much friends mean to one another and how friends should stick
together, and that’s what makes true pals. Throughout the whole movie no matter
what obstacles Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang went through, they always
stuck together. Even when Woody didn’t go to Sunnyside Day Care Center like the
rest, he was on a mission to get there and save his friends. They all plot together on how to escape from
Sunnyside and never turned their backs on one another and always stuck
together. Even towards the end of the movie when Lots-O-Bear was in danger,
Woody risked his life to save him, saying “us toys need to stick together,” but
was tricked only so Lots-O-Hugs could escape not caring for anyone but himself.
But what was really touching and made everyones heart melt, was when Woody and
the gang had to face a situation where they thought they would not escape and
would not escape from getting burned to ashes. The whole gang looked at each
other, locked hands, and was ready to face their destiny together. Not one time
did these pals deceive each other or only think about themselves in any of the
situations they faced through out there prison escape adventures. We all wish that we could have friends as
loyal as they are to one another.
Another reason why Toy Story 3 shows diversity to all
ages is the fact that we all have to deal with the issue of coming of age. This
is something that kids have to experience and adults are all too familiar with.
I think we all can relate to having our
most cherished toys from our youth. The ones that we couldn’t go anywhere
without and would breakdown if we misplaced. So we all can understand how hard
it was for Andy to give up some of his most favorite toys. It’s never easy to
let go of something you cherished for so long. Apart of growing up is letting things go,
which Andy battles with throughout the movie. Should he keep his toys in the
attic for memories, give them away for other kids to enjoy, or throw them away?
Our hearts all melted when Andy finally made the decision to give them to
another little girl named, Bonnie, who would cherish them just like he did. She
had the same kind of love for her toys as Andy did when he was a child. For
Andy, I think this was the closure that he needed to finally go off to college
and depart from his favorites for good. Andy knew they were in good hands,
unlike the kids at Sunnyside.
Toy Story 3 was by far the
most action packed, creative, and funny movie of all the Toy Stories. The
characters took some new turns like Buzz was bilingual and Mr. Potato Head
found a new identity as a tortilla, and all new characters that left you
wondering what would happen next from the good ones to the bad ones from
Sunnyside. For the duration of this 103 minute movie it never seemed to once
take its audience for granted. From the vivid characters, to the background
music, to the underlying messages to kids and adults, Director Lee Unkrich
deserves a standing ovation for the creation on this movie and the ending to an
amazing sequel.
References
Unkrich, Lee. (Director). Anderson, D.
(Producer). (2010). Toy Story 3 [Film].
Burbank: Pixar.
