Toy Story 3 Review

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.