Cut to the chase: Toy Story 3 delivers on all fronts as only Disney/Pixar can. With a solid plot, great characters, and a good amount of heart, this is the best film of the summer thus far and possibly one of the best films of the year.
I – like most everyone in this “Facebook Generation” – spent my childhood with the classic VHS Walt Disney movies – Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Aladdin, and many more. Regardless of how many times I had watched them, each story always promised to sweep me far away, taking me on amazing adventures that were only limited by my own imagination. Along the way, they would introduce a cast of memorable characters to share the journey along with me. In turn, the Disney characters that I grew up with were as real as any friends at school.
But throughout the years, I inevitably grew up. And somewhere along the way, those Disney movies that had made such an impact in my childhood began to lose the shine that once seemed so irresistible. Invariably, my attention turned to other things and those characters – those friends – that I had grown up with slowly faded from my life.
Toy Story 3, the latest masterpiece from Disney/Pixar studios, admittedly reflects not only my own feelings, but arguably the feelings of an entire generation of kids. Just as Disney first tapped into my childhood all those years ago, it has also evolved as time went on. When the first Toy Story came out in 1995, Andy was at an age similar to my own. In essence, his story was my own – kids growing up alongside our very own Disney friends. So it’s no surprise that Toy Story 3, the final entry in the franchise, caps off this toy-story with Andy now leaving for college, saying goodbye to his old friends, and venturing onto a new chapter of his life just as an entire generation of kids are inevitably doing the same.
Like only Disney and Pixar could offer, Toy Story 3 brings everything you’ve ever loved about Disney stories – laughs, suspense, adventure, imagination, even tears – and then offers even more on top of that. Most of the classic toy-gang is back for the latest adventure: Woody, Buzz, Rex, the Potato-Heads, and more. But this time around, there’s also a whole new gang of toys, including Barbie & Ken, dinosaurs, insects, unicorns, robots, a surprisingly disturbing lazy-eyed baby doll, and the mysterious Day Care chief, Lots-o-Hugs Bear a.k.a. Lotso.
For such a large cast, each character gets a pretty solid billing. The Potato-heads bicker and complain like the married couple they are (the tortilla-head bit was awesome IMO). Jesse brings some cool tough-girl sass. Barbie and her arm-accessory, Ken, spew just about as much sexual tension and innuendo as a G-rated movie can. Even the martians have their moment to shine with “the claaaaawwww.” But the token “Scene-Stealer” award for Toy Story 3 may have to go to none other than Senor Buzz Lightyear himself (although Ken’s probably a close second). After being captured, Buzz is switched to demo settings. But in a desperate attempt to get their old friend back, Woody and the gang reset Buzz to his original factory settings… only this time, in Spanish. What ensues could only be experienced on your own so I won’t ruin it here. Suffice it to say, there were plenty of genuine laugh-out-loud moments throughout.
Overall, Toy Story 3 is yet another shining example of Disney/Pixar’s storytelling potential. Beneath the glitz and glamour of the impeccable animation – besides all the eye-candy special effects – this story still revolves around universal human emotions. There’s love. There’s laughter. There’s loss. Everyone grows up. Everyone moves on. How do we let go of our childhoods? Our memories together? Our friends?
As I watched Andy leave for college at the end of film, I couldn’t help but see the movie reflecting on my own childhood. “Thank you,” Andy whispered to his old friends as he closed one chapter of his life and began a new one. Hidden beneath all of Disney’s wild adventures and colorful characters throughout the years, I slowly realized the culmination of all those stories sat in this one film. Thank you Disney. I can only hope the next chapter of our adventure together will be as memorable as our last.
