The thing I like best about these movies is how they stayed true to telling a good story, but still presented three related, but different thematic subtexts. They all deal with different parts of growing up. They all deal with loss, but at different levels of maturity.
Toy Story was about childhood and first losses, friends making new friends and the risks of growing apart.
Toy Story II was about becoming an adult and whether to risk a broken heart. Whether it is better to have loved and lost then to never have loved at all.
Toy Story III Was about being a parent and how that is a guarantee of a string of broken hearts. No matter what happens, that little baby that falls asleep on your chest one day will be gone, replaced by a little boy or girl who giggles and screams “Again, Daddy, Again!” as you spin them around, who will be replaced by another little boy or girl who you teach to ride a bike, and on and on until they leave to have their own hearts broken.
I’ll go through the whole thread later and give my extended thoughts, but right now…
My wife and I were discussing the possibility of another sequel. There’s no way to really say there’s no adventures left for these guys without killing them off, but I think their internal struggles have resolved. So what would be next?
I like the idea of a Muppet Babies-style TV show, featuring both the toys’ own adventures and them playing parts in the imaginations of children as they are played with. You could play with different animation methods, shuffling of heroes and villains and sidekicks, and infinite stories and worlds.
If you follow Strassia’s logic, which is pretty solid, then the next step in life is aging, the empty nest, and death. But that doesn’t really work for the toys - the toys seem to be ageless. And anyway, Toy Story 3 put them back at the beginning of the cycle.
The idea of having short little adventures with their new little girl is a good one because you don’t really need anything in a 5-minute short except some gags and visual treats. But if you tried another full length movie, you’re back at Square 1 in terms of the toys’ relationship with their owner, and that is the thematic heart of the films.
I don’t think another TS movie would work, for which reason I doubt they’ll do one. Toy Story 3 always made sense - I fully expected them to make one, although it sure took them long enough - because what happened to the gang when Andy grew up was a logical question to ask. There isn’t a next question. They’ve explored the toy life cycle pretty thoroughly.
My husband and I saw this last night, for our 22nd anniversary night out, and I definitely could have done without the creepy clown and the zombie baby doll. For a minute I thought it had been Sid’s doll. There were a couple of toddlers across the aisle clearly terrified at a few parts. I wasn’t impressed with Mr. Pricklepants, and was really hoping to like him, since I just got hedgehogs.
I liked it a lot. Lotso reminded me of the Wilford Brimley character from the movie The Firm, whose seeming friendliness masked deep scheming and evil. And the escape from the day care center reminded me of several Nazi prison escape films (like the bit with the kite reminded me of that plan to escape Colditz Castle using a glider).
But I thought that the movie would end with Andy going to the landfill to look for his toys in that mountain of garbage.
LOVED IT. So happy that this one was ACTUAL good, as opposed to the overhyped and fake good that Toy Story 2 & Up had. It’s so amazing to look at Toy Story 1 (which, especially by today’s standards, had HORRIBLE animation) and then look at 3 with it’s 1 million plastic monkeys, and the billion pieces of garbage scenes, and human characters who actually look sort of real. And I didn’t get emotional and teary (but then again, I’ve never been a parent or a toy) but I really liked the way the trilogy ended, with them escaping death for another 10 years and starting a new life. My favorite toy when I was a kid was my Nintendo. Even years after emulation had exceeded the abilities of the physical system, I still held onto mine and occasionally played it. I finally trashed it when I moved into a new apartment when I was 23, and it felt like an end of an era (although the child is still alive inside me.)
Another thing that I personally loved about the film is that this is totally NOT a kids movie. It felt like it was made for people like me who were young when the first one came out, but were now adults like Andy was becoming. I really think that most of the jokes and themes would totally go over the head of most children, and the action and horror sequences (cymbal monkey sees ALL!!!) were really pushing the limits of child-appropriate entertainment.
Saw it last night with my kids and thought it was the best possible ending to the series that could have been made. I’d been warned going in that TS3 was A Movie That Makes Grown Men Cry, and it didn’t disappoint. When Big Baby saw the Daisy Heart and heartbrokenly said “mama!” it choked me way up; when the toys all took each other’s hands and waited for the end in the incinerator scene I stared with horror with one hand clapped over my mouth (it would have been both hands, but Lil’ Miss Sous-Chef had the other one in a death-grip); and at the passing-the-torch playdate I just lost it and blubbered. And I’m not a bit ashamed and DON’T YOU JUDGE ME.
Non-tearjerking moments I loved included the opening sequence, showing what a play session with the toys looked like from the viewpoint of Andy’s imagination; Woody’s first play session in years with Bonnie and her toys; and the prison-escape sequence. Mr. Tortilla Head also cracked us all way up.
I saw it today. Good, solid entertainment with some great moments, but it pales in comparison to WALL-E, Up and Ratatouille and feels redundant after Toy Story 2 covered much of the same ground more effectively. “More of the same” is how I’d describe it, which is a step backwards for Pixar.
I heard this from a few people and it must have been groundbreaking from a 3D animation point of view. I saw it in 2D and it seemed very ho-hum and I was actually bored before it even finished.
I found myself teary all through the movie (not as much as Wall-E and (sob) Up, though). Big Baby and Super Creepy Cymbal Monkey (TM Dean Winchester) were… super creepy. I keep meaning to look up who did the voice for Lotso because it’s familiar but I can’t place it.
For some reason, my favorite scene was the scene with the two dinosaurs playing computer games, with Rex’s inability to reach the keys because his arms are too short.
I saw it in 3-D which was awfully pretty but I find wearing 3-D glasses over my own annoying and it takes a little bit of effort to get my eyes to focus properly.
I’d like to watch all three films again, now. I’m sure I’d bawl my way through them, since I’ve become quite the bawler in recent years.
The 3D enhanced it, but I found the concept and execution to both be excellent in general. The way the axe striking the tree provided the sounds for the fist-fight, for example, was incredibly inventive, IMHO.