Review and Thoughts: Toy Story 3

Remember the year of 1995? I sure do. It was the year the first Toy Story film came out. It revolutionized animation and popularized the use of 3D in feature animated films. It, and its sequel, gave me a lot of laughs and memories to keep and cherish forever. But I knew that it couldn't end where it ended in Toy Story 2. When they announced the true sequel was going to be made, I couldn't contain myself. I had no idea what it would bring to the Toy Story universe. I only knew one thing. 2010 was too long of a wait.

I can't write enough about Toy Story 3 and how great it was, my words and text would never be able to do it any justice. The best thing to do is to watch it. But what I can do, is describe it for you.

It possesses every conceivable theme you can think of. (Friendship, hope, loyalty, betrayal, transition and moving on, loss and grieving, growth, imagination and creativity, justice, corruption, revenge and hatred, realisation and redemption and the list goes on.)

It possesses almost every aspect of a feature film. (Drama, excitement, thrilling, full of action, plenty of laughs, joy, sadness, emotionally involving etc.)

It is wonderfully animated and realized. To think that this was going to be a straight to DVD without all its wonderful stars (Tom Hanks, Tim Allen among MANY others) and its director, would have been extremely preposterous.

In short, it was perfect (3D or no 3D). Especially to those who have kept up and appreciated the series from day 1.

The only thing that I don't like about it personally, is the fact that it's the last major film in the series. The end of a saga. The end of Toy Story.

This is arguably the best trilogy series, maybe only LOTR giving competition. On that note, this is easily a 10/10

Verdict: GO AND WATCH IT ALREADY!

My Thoughts (Spoiler Warning):


Never have I been so emotional watching a film. To truly appreciate this movie, you must've watched the first two films over and over. There are a lot of references and inside jokes that really will hit something inside you. It's not a feeling you often experience. Nostalgia just doesn't describe it well enough, because it feels so much more than that. In addition to that, if you were a 90's kid like myself, you will love it 10 fold. This is our generations Star Wars Trilogy (The original one). This is our super trilogy.

As much as the whole series revolves around the toys and their loyalty to each other and their hard fought journey to return to Andy, I felt that this film really centered on Andy and Woody and their final moments together. In the end where Andy realized that he had grown up and had to make a tough choice on giving away his most treasured possessions was a situation any of us could relate to. That word, relate, that is something that was in my head the whole time. The truth is, as a kid of the 90's, as many of us are (referring to my friends), we grew up with that little guy. Sure we didn't get attached to toys as much as he did to his, but we feel for him. We know what he's going through. He's turning into an adult and he's on his way there by going to college and leaving his family to pursue his future; we all know how that feels. To some, it's not too big a deal, to the rest, well, it hits them more than others. I know it's still hitting me right now...growing up is TOUGH.

Although the Toys are what this movie basically revolves around, they can truly be seen as things that made us happy as children, things that simulated our imaginations and made us feel free and feel like we were in control of our own destiny. Toys..they seem so trivial and we take take them for granted and so the toys also represent things (in the case of the movie, youth and childhood and friendship) that are always around us that we don't fully appreciate or we may have appreciated them at first and later on forgot about those things. That is until we realize, such as Andy did in the end of the film, of how much joy, laughter and memories these things can give to us. Something we can never forget. That place will always remain in our hearts and in some cases, that is a place we never want to leave. But life is life, you have to move on when the time comes. And when the time comes, you have to make tough choices. The toughest choice is usually the right choice and is not something we are comfortable with at first. But we know, deep inside that what we did will be good for us and everyone surrounding us. It's a simple fact of life. Loss and transition (the gradual disappearance of Andy's old toys such as Bo-peep and Weezy, Andy giving away Toys, Lotso being replaced almost immediately by his original owner etc.)....one of the hardest things we can ever experience in our lives is so evident in this movie. The consequences, the effects and how individuals cope with loss; they are all brilliantly exhibited here.

This last entry into the Toy Story universe is the darkest and most serious of the trilogy, which I absolutely loved and enjoyed, all the while maintaining that imagination and fun that made the first two so endearing. The journey the toys make and as well as Andy and his family is just magnificent to witness and you can't help but feel the same things that these fictional characters feel.

I mean, Woody meant the world to Andy. He's been there for him since he got him and like Andy said "He never gives up on you" He made a tough choice by giving all his toys away, including Woody, to Bonnie a shy little girl with a big imagination, much like himself many years ago. Woody also made a tough choice, because although he was going to be with Andy, he did not want to leave his friends behind and also wanted to make another kid happy just as he did to Andy. I commend Andy (and also Woody for moving on) for such bravery and taking the final plunge to his first step as a man. He's grown up form a kid with a big imagination and a bunch of mismatched toys to a young man with a big heart. I just hope Bonnie plays with, takes care of and loves these toys as much as Andy did once upon a time. And when she reaches that stage Andy did in the film, I can only hope that she does the same thing. The right thing.


Live on Woody, Buzz and gang. To Infinity and beyond.

Alan