Film Review #90: Toy Story 3

In 2009, when I first heard that Toy Story was getting another sequel, I was absolutely ecstatic.  After all, coming off of two of the best films they would ever make (WALL-E and Up), a second sequel to one of the most storied franchises in motion picture history was not only well documented, but also in high demand.  Everyone wanted to see Andy grow up and wondered aloud what would happen to Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Mr and Mrs Potato Head, Rex and the others should Andy leave for college.  I went into Toy Story 3 with a lot of optimism.  But when I left, I was not impressed.  I wasn't exactly appalled, but I wasn't exactly enthralled either.  Maybe it's because I absolutely loved Toy Story 2 and I valued it as one of the greatest films ever made.  But in any case, Toy Story 3 becomes ill with a deadly case of "Return of the Jedi" syndrome.  But this film is still better than any of the other sequels to come out from Pixar (not named Toy Story 2).

Plot: The movie begins almost too well.  It shows Andy's numerous adventures with the toys as he grew up more and more, ultimately cutting Randy Newman's famous "You've Got a Friend in Me" short.  Andy is now grown up and on his way to college.  But the toys, instead of remembering the good times they had with Andy, now panic that they would be thrown away or sold (like some of the other toys had been).  When they overhear that Molly has to donate her toys, they all decide they want to be donated after Andy's Mom accidentally takes the bag of her son's toys to the curb to be picked up as trash.  

The original group, plus Barbie (Jody Benson), arrive at Sunnyside Daycare and are instantly welcomed by the old toys there and their leader, Lotso Huggin' Bear (Ned Beatty) and his second in command Ken (Michael Keaton).  They bring them to their room, but Woody feels still loyal to Andy and leaves Sunnyside, but is accidentally picked up by a girl named Bonnie, who takes him to her home.  The toys, eager for playtime, are played with roughly by toddlers far too young to play with them.  Buzz goes to find Lotso and see if he could rearrange their situation, but Lotso is revealed to be a villain who has control over Sunnyside, and he switches Buzz back to Demo Mode, making him think he was a space ranger again.  

Woody learns of this from a clown toy named Chuckles, and departs to Sunnyside to help his friends escape and get back to Andy's.  The breakout works reasonably well, but the group is ultimately trapped in a garbage truck on their way to the dump.  The toys must escape from the dump before getting incinerated.

What's Bad?: There are a lot of problems with the continuity of the story.  For instance, at the end of Toy Story 2, Woody and Buzz come to the realization that although Andy will grow up, they are willing to endure the years because they want to be there to see it happen for themselves.  But in this movie, they are far more interested in their own lives, which seems really out of place to me.  

The story is a lot darker than I thought, which was also offsetting to me.  While I do like the villain and the setup for the story, some of the imagery, lighting, and scenes were very out of place to me.  If Toy Story had always had that dark underpinning, I would have normally had no problem with it.  

And I did not cry at the end of the movie.  I did feel sad that one large part of my childhood was ending, but not enough to cry like I did in Up or The Lion King.  

What's Good?: In the tradition of the great Disney Animated Films, what's good is REALLY REALLY GOOD.  The key moment for me was the emotional ultimatums both Woody and Andy come to at the end of the movie.  It was done, in my point of view, flawlessly.  The scene made a boy's departure from childhood to adulthood significantly easier, because it was involving two characters I had grown up with, since I first opened the VHS for my third Christmas in 1996.  

I absolutely love the new characters, especially Ken and Barbie.  Michael Keaton as Ken was absolutely hilarious.  Just the amount of jokes one could get out of a man doll like him reminded me a lot of my childhood, tormenting my sister and ruining all her Ken dolls.  Barbie is also hilarious.  You don't expect the voice of Ariel to act like Barbie does, but it's still very heartwarming to have yet another person from my childhood portray another comedic character in this movie.  

Overall: Toy Story 3 is among one of the better Pixar films, but it isn't exactly the best.  It has flaws, both practical and impractical, but it is still worth a showing once in a while.  Not the worst, but not the best.  And although the things in it that annoy me REALLY annoy me, the stuff that is good is too good to ignore.  

Final Grade: A-