Toy Story 3

What's the deal:  Remember when the first Toy Story came out?  Animated films before Toy Story weren't done on computers, and Tim Allen was still sort of an actual celebrity.  It seemed, initially, that Toy Story's defining characteristic was that new kind of crazy computer animation.  Who would have thought that the studio behind Toy Story would become an absolute behemoth and every single movie they make would make a gazillion dollars and be loved by everyone?  They come out with one movie every year, usually in the summer, which is warmly received by audiences and critics.  The films consistently balance really good, light comedy with emotional, often heavy, dramatic material. 

Toy Story 3 is no exception.  The main characters are the same ones that have made the other Toy Story movies great...Woody, Buzz, Slinky Dog, Piggy Bank, The T-Rex, The Potato-Heads, etc.  When the story picks up, Andy (the toys' owner) is going off to college and the toys are worried about what's going to happen to them.  Are they going to the attic?  To the trash?  To college?  Are they getting "donated?"  Will they stay together or be split apart?  The toys inadvertently get donated to Sunnyside Day Care, which is ruled with an iron fist by a seemingly lovable teddy bear named Lotso.

                                         

However, Woody, Buzz and the gang quickly realize that Lotso runs Sunnyside like a prison.  He keeps the new toys in cages at night, and during the day they are forced to be played with by the reckless, dangerous toddlers instead of the kids for whom they are "age appropriate."  The toys then hatch an escape scheme and much of the movie is devoted to this intricately planned escape.  It's really entertaining and actually pretty suspenseful in a lot of places.

Once the toys are out, they have to find their way back to Andy's house and more adventures ensue. 

What I like:

1.  References to other movies:  Especially prison movies.  Pay special attention to shout-outs to Cool Hand Luke (the box), Escape from Alcatraz and The Great Escape.  Also the first Mission Impossible is parodied briefly. 

2.  It's just plain funny.  In typical Pixar fashion, the movie contains a lot of laughs.  Often they are quick, subtle oddities happening among a thousand other things.  I'm thinking of when the toys are getting rambunctiously played with by the toddlers.  It's a rapid little montage of toddler after toddler abusing toy after toy.  The scene is very busy, but contains a lot of laughs.  The Barbie/Ken love story created some good laughs, too.

3.  It strikes the perfect emotional chord.  Also in typical Pixar fashion, the movie tugs on the ole heart strings.  It's not as emotional as "Up," (Melissa didn't cry quite as much...that's how I know) but Toy Story 3 does involve the characters saying several long, teary goodbyes.  It's clear that the moviemakers' objective was to force the audience members to think nostogically about the playful times of their own childhoods also to be a little bit sad that it's just not that simple any more.  It worked.

4.  It's actually a good sequel.  Sequels are usually pretty lame and seem thrown together at the last minute so the studio can release "something" and milk audiences who enjoyed the first installment of whatever out of a little more cash.  But this one is good.  I liked that. 

What I didn't like:

1.  It's a cartoon, but it's kind of heavy for kids.  I don't know why I feel the need to put this in here, because I don't think a single reader of this blog has a child at an age where they need to censor what he or she is seeing in the movies.  And even if they did, I hope they wouldn't turn to me as a final answer to that predicament.  (I mean, I recommended a movie called Zombieland).  But for some reason, because Toy Story 3 is a cartoon, I found myself thinking "wow, that was kind of a scary image for a little kid."

2.  The 3D.  I'm just pretty resistant to this whole fad altogether (at least I hope it's just a fad).  The glasses make me kind of nauseated (or is it nauseous?? what's the proper usage of those words?) and I just don't think it adds all that much to the moviegoing experience.  Except that it costs more.  hmph.