Toy Story 3 (2010) Review

‘Toy Story 3’ might be the first animated movie ever made to produce such a thunderous emotional reaction within myself. I will never be able to hear the phrase, “So long, partner” without instinctively reaching for the closest tissue box. Crafting an exceptional, standalone movie is quite difficult, let alone three films telling one distinctive story. Challenging to most, but not to John Lasseter.

Bravo, Pixar.

‘Toy Story 3’ is the epic conclusion of the animated trilogy directed by Lee Unkrich, co-writer of the first two Toy Story films. Unkrich was facing an uphill battle due to the tremendous amounts of pressure to complete one of the most treasured franchises of all time. The third installment of the series features a shift in tonality but for good reason. The toys’ identities are under question as their owner is moving off to college. This predicament leaves the door open for a story to go in several directions. Fortunately, the story exceeds expectations in a multitude of ways. Although ‘Toy Story 3’ is visually appealing and emotionally charged, it struggles at times to uphold that Toy Story charm that we have become well-acquainted with.

‘Toy Story 3’ begins with Andy’s old toys being mistakenly sent to a local day-care center against where Andy intended for them to go, the attic. Woody, having seen the whole travesty unfold, reunites with the toys and is unable to convince them that they were meant to be put in the attic. The kids at Sunnyside Day-care are not kind towards toys and it is up to Woody and the gang to escape this day-care to return home before Andy leaves for college.

The Toy Story series has been notorious for its visionary storytelling accompanied by an enthralling cast with exceptional comedic timing. While its creativity about story is prominent in ‘Toy Story 3’, humor takes a backseat for the first time in the trilogy.

That is not to say the movie itself is void of jokes. In fact, the 1st act is swarming of those simplistic punchlines that are reminiscent of the first two installments. It is just the 2nd and 3rd act is full of scenes that hold serious tones or jokes that simply do not land. Barbie saying “Nice ascot” followed by an awkward record scratch sound or Hamm mentioning that “I don’t think those were Lincoln Logs” were merely poor attempts at garnering laughs from kids. Pixar was so close to completing a trilogy without overt poop jokes, dammit!

Where the film may fall flat comedically, it shines thematically. ‘Toy Story 3’ plucks at heartstrings more efficiently than the rest of the franchise combined. It felt evil because of how beautifully written Lots-o’s character, the escape sequence, and the ending was. The premise of this film is the send-off between Andy and his toys, but Lasseter and Unkrich understand that it is far deeper than that. It is a world where toys come to life, yet we forget that this is a story of a mom saying goodbye to her child as well. The realistic themes in this movie leads us to reflect on our own lives.

Ned Beatty (voice of Lots-o’-Huggin Bear) exemplifies Pixar’s success in marrying the right voice actor with the proper character. His raspy voice and profound laughter fit the mold of a person that shields his inner demons well. It felt as if he embodied Sunnyside Day-care himself, warm and welcoming on the outside but full of dark and despair on the inside. I bought into Lots-o’s backstory and his motives were well-defined.

In fact, all Lots-o’s workers had great chemistry with each other. However, Ken (voiced by Michael Keaton) stood out to me for the wrong reasons. To no fault of Michael Keaton, his character seemed to always be amid an awkward editing choice. Whether it was a slow-motion scene or a montage, I felt as if there could have been a happy medium between Goofy Ken and Serious Ken.

The movie itself was surprisingly dark, which makes sense if they are trying to stick with a serious tone. I am fortunate that I did not see the wide-eyed monkey hissing or the battered baby doll’s head rotating 180 degrees as a kid. The musical score itself brought tension to those scenes as the music was more dominant, yet the music in those heavy emotional scenes felt poignant. It brought out every emotion that they set out to elicit.

From the opening sequence, Pixar was unashamedly puffing out their chest at how improved their animation capabilities have become in a decade. Nine years later and I still question how it could get any more realistic. The diligence when they enter the day-care for the first time alone is jaw-dropping. The scenes found outside are bright, colorful, and humans do not look like dollar store mannequins anymore in comparison to Toy Story 2! If Pixar can put its stamp on anything now, it is animation quality.

‘Toy Story 3’ does have its pacing issues at first. It is possible to question where the story plans to go during the first half of the film. However, after seeing the movie in its entirety, it makes sense why they took it slow. They do an incredible job showing what appears to be an insignificant joke until it becomes an important plot device later. The “you have saved our lives and we are eternally grateful” quote exemplifies the brilliance of Pixar’s writing.

‘Toy Story 3’ was more emotionally daunting now than it was a decade ago. While it is the final goodbye between Andy and his toys, the film touches on themes that all parents have had to deal with. ‘Toy Story 3’ successfully bolsters this movie franchise by delivering something that induces such raw, unfiltered emotions and gives our beloved characters a proper send-off. Despite its comedic flaws, those powerful moments of joy and sadness evoked by ‘Toy Story 3’ will forever put this animated trilogy into a league of its own.

Final Score: 8/10