Director: Lee Unkrich
Starring (voices of): Tom Hanks, Tim Allen & Joan Cusack
Over a decade after Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3 arrives and manages to maintain the level of quality we’ve come to expect from Pixar with an entertaining sequel that brings the characters’ stories to their natural conclusion.
Having risen to success in 1995 on the back of the first Toy Story film that not only marked Pixar as a major studio but also revolutionized animation and animated movies, the first Toy Story is still considered one of, if not thee, best Pixar films in a 15 year history that has resulted in the finest animated films produced. Toy Story 2 came in 1999 and not only maintained the quality of the first film but also expanded the cast of characters and range of jokes for children and adults alike. Following success after success including Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Wall-E and Up, Pixar return to the Toy Story characters almost a decade later with Toy Story 3. With the pressure of not only having to live up to the quality of the first two films but also Pixar’s other films and those of competing studios, Pixar needed Toy Story 3 to be a success both commercially but critically. Fortunately Toy Story 3 is a very enjoyable film that pays respect to the earlier films, their characters and their audience and, while not pushing the franchise to greater heights, is at least the equal of those earlier films in terms of quality.
After years as Andy’s toys, the day they all knew would come has arrived as Andy prepares to leave for college. Facing an uncertain future that could mean life stored in the attic, being sold or even thrown away, Andy’s toys led by cowboy Woody (Hanks), space ranger Buzz (Allen) and cowgirl Jessie (Cusack) amongst others decide what to do next. However, when Andy’s mother makes the mistake of throwing away all but Woody, the toys escape and donates themselves to Sunnyside daycare despite the assurances of Woody that they are still wanted by Andy. Life at Sunnyside, where children play with toys every day, seems ideal at first but the chief toy there, Lotso the bear (Ned Beatty) turns out to be not as warm and friendly as the toys think and the process the toys go through to get to the best play rooms means facing destruction at the hands of children to young to play with properly. As the toys plan their escape from Sunnyside, Woody also plots to rescue them but even if they succeed, what future will they have with Andy gone to college anyway?
Under a lot of pressure to not only live up to the expectations of audiences who have loved the first two Toy Story films but also to live up to the quality set by those films and every subsequent Pixar production, Toy Story 3 had to succeed. Fortunately it does. While the general framework of the story does cover similar ground as the first two films with its central characters questioning their worth and the plot going from misunderstanding, leading to a new location, new characters, a new life then escape, reunion and battle with a villain, Toy Story 3 nevertheless builds upon this familiar plot in a way that makes it feel natural. Having posed the question 11 years before in Toy Story 2 over what will happen when Andy, the toys owner, grows too old for them, Toy Story 3 feels like the natural progression of the character’s story and also justifies the time that has passed between movies for the audiences. For audiences that were there for the first two films on their release, they too have grown up and while they look back on those early films with fondness, there is the question as to whether they too are too old for these characters now. Fortunately the key to making the story engaging to adults is that the characters themselves feel like adults an in a sense like parents seeing their child grow up and leave home while they look forward to possible retirement. Toy Story 3, like its predecessors, has a lot of heart and while some comes heavy so as to be understood by younger audiences, it still feels genuine. Toy Story 3 however, still has much to offer kids with many new toy characters, action set pieces and gags including several alterations to Buzz’ programming that leads, amusingly, to his original persona returning and then that of a Spanish alter-ego and also a transformation for Mr. Potato Head that are particularly memorable. Not all of the new characters are as memorable as Jessie from Toy Story 2, but of the new characters, the introduction of Ken as a love interest for Barbie is a highlight.
Most of the original cast return including Hanks as Woody, Allen as Buzz, Cusack as Jessie as well as Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, Don Rickles and Estelle Harris as Hamm, Rex and Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head respectively. The cast all perform enjoyably with each still able to slip into these characters with ease even after 11 years. Of the new characters and voice talent, Michael Keaton stands out as the voice of Ken with the character’s assertion that he isn’t a girl’s toy leading to an amusing performance by Keaton who ably conveys the character’s attempts to act tough when he’s really soft. Ned Beatty gives an enjoyable performance as Lotso, but his character is somewhat too similar to Kelsey Grammer’s the Prospector in Toy Story 2 with Beatty’s performance not comparing quite as well. Timothy Dalton, Jeff Garlin and Bonnie Hunt are good in smaller roles and John Morris, the original voice for the young Andy in previous films, returns to voice the older Andy and gives a warm performance too.
Toy Story 3 doesn’t really break from the formula of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 and doesn’t push CG animation forward as much either but it is certainly a worthy sequel to the those films progressing the story of the characters naturally whilst also offering enough humour and feeling to keep audiences happy.
Rating: 4/5
