Review 26: Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3 is an incredible threequel, one of the best threquels out there and possibly is the best of the trilogy about the group of toys that secretly come to life and end up unexpectedly embarking on life-changing adventures.

Set ten years after the events of Toy Story 2, Andy is going off to collage and has not played with Woody, Buzz and the gang for some time, they are then put outside by mistake and stow away in donation box and are taken to Sunnyside Day Care. At first the Toys at the daycare (led by a pink who smells of strawberries called Lotso (Ned Beatty) seem friendly and welcome to them, but the children who play with them are violent with so they ask Lotso to be out somewhere else, but Lotso turn out to be a selfish evil toy, who traps all of them but Woody who escaped earlier. Woody soon returns and the toys make a plan to escape the daycare and get home to Andy before he leaves.

The plot is work of sheer, it takes its audience on a wonderfully nostalgic journey that brings back fond memories of the first two films and remains true to the spirit of those films whilst also taking us on a brand new action packed adventure with these wonderful characters complete with humour, wit and a tone of emotional depth.
Once again that allegory for childhood is very much present in this film as it was in the previous two films. Toy Story very much presents the end of childhood where Andy has outgrown his toys and is ready to move on which is very fitting for all those children who grew up watching the first two films.

Which leads to main theme of this film: Moving on and accepting change: With Andy going to collage, the future of Woody, Buzz and the other toys looks really uncertain. Then through a series of mistakes and misunderstandings, they're shipped off to a daycare centre and at first glance they think they're in some sort of Toy utopia

Director Lee Unkrich's animated direction is precise, the animation is beautiful, the production design is marvellous (the main setting of the film, Sunnyside Daycare Centre is presented as an ideal heaven for toys where multiple children will play with them and when they grow up, new children will replace them.

the character design is breathtaking, the score and songs by Randy Newman are splendid, the suspense is killing; right when you think that everything is alright, everything just escalates. The humour is mind blowing (Buzz actually gets switched to Spanish mode accidentally and even does flamenco dancing), there are some sensational action set pieces,



 the sound effects are marvelous, the emotional depth is the best of the series and gets the films tone right, its a story about what happens to a toy when he and his owner have to part ways and the ending was superb. I'm serious when I say the ending sequence is one of the most beautiful moments in Pixar history. 

 
The voice acting was also the best of the series, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen embrace there supposidly final moments as Woody and Buzz

Ned Beatty makes for a simply sick, twisted villain as Lots-O'-Huggin Bear. This is one nasty toy.
He may seem "plush and huggable" on the outside. But on the inside, he's a monster. He was once a child's favourite toy but was mistakenly abandoned; warping his worldview and leading him to believe that all toys are nothing more than worthless and disposable objects that are easily replaceable and rules Sunnyside Daycare with an iron fist and makes it a living hell for all toys becoming controling, ruthless, sadistic, conniving and self in the process. 

He establishes a class system where the elite and coperative toys enjoy the Butterfly room where older children treat them kindly but todlers need toys as well and Lotso provides them thus creating a class of mistreated toys who are usually the new arrivals.

A lot of parralels can be drawn between the way Lotso "runs" Sunnyside and dictators

In a lot of ways, Lotso is very much the antithesis to Woody. His resentment over being replaced and his extremely possessive feelings towards his owner, mirror Woody's arc in the first film. But unlike Woody, Lots-o was consumed by his jealousy and hatred.
Much like Woody, he's the leader of a "family", if you can call it that, of toys. But unlike Woody who won Andy's toys over through genuine love and friendship, Lotso only kept the toys of Sunnyside in line threats, coercion, bullying and even outright violence.
Whereas Woody wants nothing but the best for Andy at the end of the day. Lotso, on the other hand, has grown to despise children for their perceived mistreatment of toys. They've also faced the prospect of being replaced (Lotso with a replacement Lotso, Woody with Buzz), but whereas Woody and Buzz were able to sort out their differences and ultimately became friends, Lotso sank further and further into bitterness and maliciously and unjustly took his rejection issues out on the world around him.

A bunch of inspired newcomers to the trilogy are Bonnie's toys Mr. Pricklepants (Timothy Dalton), Trixie (Kristen Schaal), Buttercup (Jeff Garlin) & Dolly (Bonnie Hunt). Dalton, in particular, is hysterical playing Mr. Pricklepants, channeling his Classic English Gentleman persona into a stuffed hedgehog toy.

I also never thought I'd see the day when Michael Keaton plays a Ken doll of all things. But he voices one so well and brings so much humour and personality to this guy. Ken is such a funny character because he's notorious for being an accessory, really no different from a purse or a pair of shoes and how it makes him feel is very much played up as the source of a running gag throughout the film. He's very much a romantic

So long, partner, 5/5.

The Anonymous Critic