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"Authority should derive from the consent of the governed, not from the threat of force!"    
 
the plot

Andy is eighteen years old and is on his way to his college dorm this Friday.  Today his mom is pushing him to make up his mind on what goes into attic storage, what goes with him to college and what gets thrown out.  His toy box has been untouched for a while now, and his toys are somewhat nervous about their fate, in fact the remaining three army men  had flown the coop before Andy could make any decision.   Andy decided to bring Woody to college, and store his few toys left in the attic.  He placed them in a garbage bag and pulled the string that descended the stairs.  His little sister Molly had distracted him and he left the bag for his mom to pick it up and think it was garbage.  She placed it outside, and the toys almost were tossed out if it weren't for some quick thinking.  

Buzz Lightyear and the rest of Andy's toys decided to stow away in Molly's box of toys that were being donated to the Sunnyside Daycare Center, and Woody went along with them to try and convince them that Andy did not try to throw them away, but to store them in the attic.  They didn't believe Woody, so they parted ways.  Woody escaped in the backpack of Bonnie, the daycare owner's daughter while the others chose to stay.  The toys were welcomed by the other toys from the Butterfly Room by Lots-o Huggin' Bear, "Lotso" for short.  He showed these new toys to where they will stay, the Caterpillar Room.  The toys witnessed how well the children played with Lotso and the other toys so they were looking forward to playing with their group of children in the Caterpillar Room.  They were surprised to find that their group of kids was all Pre-K.  The Pre-K children abused the toys with force, spittle, food, crayons, paint, and glue, not to mention twisting and losing parts.      

When Buzz went to complain to Lotso for sticking them in the Caterpillar Room, Lotso and his toy mafia had Buzz reprogrammed to keep watch over his former friends so as they never try and escape.  Woody learns from Bonnie's toys that his friends may be in serious trouble, so he heads back to the daycare to try his best to rescue them instead of heading back to Andy's house.  Can Woody help his friends escape from Lotso and his mafia featuring Ken doll?  Even if Woody is successful, where will they go?  Is this really the end for the Toy Story story?  Find out when you see Toy Story 3!.


 
the breakdown

It is almost necessary to go into this motion picture being familiar with the first two as some references without explanation were made throughout the film, but in the end it seemed to stand on its own.  I expected the best from Pixar's final (?) installment of Toy Story and I'm happy to say that I was not disappointed.  The first two films were brilliant as far as story, the characters and music.  3 was a bit light in the music department (as Randy Newman offers only one new track really plus a rehash of some old favorites), yet at the same time the feel was that there were more layers to it.  They effectively squeezed in a few back-stories in addition to the key adventure of Andy's escape from Lotso's daycare dictatorship.  We learn about Lotso's history as well as the tale of another toy over at Bonnie's house, which adds to the vast depth that 3 owns. 

When the film starts, we learn that only a handful of Andy's toy collection have survived over the years.  The group now consists of Woody, Buzz, Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head, Hamm, Slink, Rex, Bulls eye and Jessie the Cowgirl.  This is the team that are usually involved in the adventure while the other toys stay at home anyway, and it's nice to observe this sort of progression of this series.  Anyway, the point is that the movie as a whole possesses a gloomy ambiance pretty much from start to finish.  The day that all the toys "knew was coming" had finally arrived and there were going to be some very severe changes that needed to take place.  It almost feels like a death, or it may as well be Andy's death, as the toys will never see him again.  Or if you don't mind getting a little more philosophical, it could be likened to the death of the toys and they are headed for an unsure and unknown afterlife.  Perhaps when they get to Sunnyside, they have found that hell awaits?   

Needless to say, the adventure is more dangerous this time around.  Escaping from Sid's room and/or Al's Toy Barn is child's play compared to escaping from Lotso's daycare and it doesn't stop there either.  There are some visually frightening scenes that were borderline shocking to me, yet having said that, my eight-year-old son wasn't too shaken up by the scenes.  I imagine that smaller children around four to six years old will feel differently and be affected much more.  As an adult, these scenes are what drew me in even deeper to the film.  In one of the most confrontational scenes of the film, it was Lotso and his gang vs Andy's toys.  Lotso's philosophy was that someone has to play with the destructive pre-K kids so that others can live it up in The Butterfly Room.  I do not know about how much of today's politics were in the consciousness of the three writers, but it mirrors the Marxist belief that there should be most of the global populous working for the"greater good" or the "collective good."  We can easily see the metaphor that is perhaps captured here of what the dangers can be if individual rights are taken away from some and given to others.  The oppression of slavery to Andy's toys and the very powerful Lotso who leans more toward dictator with each toy he oppresses.  So, Barbie delivers the best quote of the movie,  "Authority should derive from the consent of the governed, not from the threat of force!"  To my ears, this Barbie doll sounds like she is a part of the Tea Party movement, doesn't she?  I cheered in my seat. 

I hate it when sequels are made without the actors from the original films, don't you?  Not to worry here as we have the irreplaceable cast right where they should be, in character.  Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim allen as Buzz, Don Rickles as Potato Head and so on.  Jodi Benson who gave a voice to Barbie in 2 is back and with many more lines.  Jodi is the classic Disney veteran who also was the talking and singing voice for The Little Mermaid, so for us Disney-nuts out there, it is a real treat.  Jim Varney who voiced Slinky Dog had passed away in 2000, but they decided to bring back his character and happily actor Blake Clark (the guy from all those Adam Sandler movies) is a dead ringer (no pun intended) for Varney. 

The movie is rated G, although there were some frightening images, and some sexual innuendos like ‘F.A.O. my Schwartz', which will hopefully go over your kids' heads.  This film has a lot of ideas to digest, so it may take some of the slower people out there to decide that they loved this move the best of the three.  In the meantime, it will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and it may even make you cheer.  Recommended for anybody and everybody to see.  Go now!


Toy Story 3
Directed by: Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc)
Written by: John Lassiter (Cars, Toy Story) Andrew Stanton (WALL-E, Toy Story 2) Lee Unkrich (debut)  Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine)
Starring:  Tom Hanks (The Polar Express, The Terminal) Tim Allen (Santa Clause 3, Cars) Joan Cusack (My Sister's Keeper, Where the Heart Is), Ned Beatty (Superman, He Got Game)
Length:  103 minutes
Released: 06/18/2010
Rated: G 
Rating: 5 stars
 
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Recommended: Yes

Movie Mood: Family Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing