Toy Story 3

The original Toy Story was made 15 years ago. The many many CGI animations that have come and gone since that monumental first makes it seem like they've been around forever. I was just a teenager when I watched the first Toy Story and I remember being filled with wonder at the fact that it was all generated by computers. Some of that wonder has diminished over the years but what has not changed is the quality of the animation being produced by Pixar.

As the first pure CGI animation studio, inspiring many others to emerge, Pixar has always been at the forefront of the industry not only in terms of animation techniques but also in terms of storytelling and artistry. With Pixar, you get the feeling that these guys really love making animated movies and telling stories that mean something to them. The fact that it earns billions of dollars is just icing on the cake. There's never a sense of commercialization that pervades many other studios. Pixar has never made a movie that I didn't love. In recent years, they seem to be moving away from the very kid-friendly fare like Toy Story, A Bug's Life, and Cars to more artistic and obliquely adult fare beginning with Wall·E which dared to have a main character who does not speak for the first half hour of the movie. Last year's excellent Up is in my opinion the most artistic and emotional animation ever made by a Western company. It dared to explore such themes as death, miscarriage, the loneliness of a child, and how to realise what is truly important in life. It also had the cutest animated dog EVAH! Maybe I'll review it sometime. On with the matter at hand.

Some spoilers may follow.






Toy Story 3 returns Pixar to its roots as a producer of kid-friendly animation. Toy Story is the only one of its movies that Pixar has made sequels to. As the third and perhaps final installment of the series, Pixar pulls out all the stops to make a thrilling ride for the young and young-at-heart. After an elaborate action sequence which turns out to be Andy's imagination as he plays with his toys, the story begins with the toys stealing Andy's cellphone and calling it to make him notice them and play with them. The thing is, however, that Andy is now 17 years old and about to leave for college. Naturally, playtime ended for him a long time ago and the toys are upset since, being toys, what they want above all else is to be played with.

Having been told many times by his mom to either trash or store his old toys in the attic, Andy chooses the latter. After a wistful look at Woody, he decides to bring him along to college (I imagine that would go down really well with the seniors). Just before putting the other toys in the attic, Andy gets called away by his sister Molly and mom mistakenly thinks the toys are meant to be trashed (to be fair to mom, he did put them in a trash bag). The toys think that Andy has thrown them away, but Woody saw that Andy meant to put them in the attic. He tries to rescue them before they get crushed by the garbage truck compactor, but they manage to escape without his help anyway. Refusing to believe Woody, the other toys (Buzz, Jessie, Rex, Hamm, Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, the Aliens, and Bullseye) sneak into a box of Molly's old toys (including Barbie) bound for donation to the Sunnyside daycare centre. Woody tags along hoping to persuade them to return.

At the daycare centre, the toys think they have found paradise: a place where playtime is every day and kids are constantly replaced by new kids when they grow up. All this is presided over by a purple strawberry-scented bear named Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear a.k.a. Lotso. Woody, however, is still loyal to Andy and escapes the centre. Unfortunately, his bid to get home is cut short when he is found and taken by Bonnie, the daughter of Sunnyside's owner.

Back at Sunnyside, the toys are excited to have playtime once more and Barbie meets her soulmate in Ken, Lotso's right hand man. They soon find out, however, that things are not as rosy as they seem. As the new guys, the toys are placed with the toddlers who play rather abusively in contrast to the far more docile older children. When the toys try to leave, Lotso shows his true colours and puts them in 'jail'.

Meanwhile at Bonnie's place, Woody meets a few of her toys (including some really cute peas in a pod). He then learns the reason why Lotso is so mean and bitter. Fearing for his friends' safety, Woody smuggles himself back into Sunnyside and together the toys stage a daring (and hilarious) escape. Through many perils including almost getting ground up and incinerated, the toys eventually make it home to Andy. The movie ends on a very sweet note with Andy finally letting go of his childhood through a scene which is at once joyous, sad, and uplifting (I have to admit, I teared up a little).

The graphics in this third instalment really showcase how much the CG animation industry has progressed in the last 15 years when compared to the first one. The backgrounds are perfectly rendered and the toys are utterly believable. Pixar once again shows their great understanding of human nature and how to walk the fine line between manipulative and sweet. While lacking the emotional power of Up, Toy Story 3 still manages to illicit a range of emotions without being overly schmaltzy. Interestingly enough, this is the first Pixar film that shows humans in normal proportions drawn without being heavily stylized (as in The Incredibles). I would also like to note that the 3-D effects here are much more effectively used compared to Up (which probably would have looked better in 2-D).

One last thing: They totally need to make a real-life toy of the Peas-in-a-Pod (whose names are apparently Peatey, Peatrice, and Peanelope).