'Toy Story 3' : Joy, Sorrow, Family and Growing Up

We spent part of our father's day in toyland and came away with smiles and tears from Toy Story 3 without a doubt, so far, this year's finest film experience.

My wife and I took our son and met one of his pals and his mom (the other dad couldn't make it) at a local movie theater. It was packed, loads of families. Some teens, too.  It was even a matinee price.  And coming out of it nearly two hours later, we would've gladly paid double. 

We didn't go for the 3D release, but this is a see-more-than-once movie, so I'll be back soon with my boy, maybe even shooting for the IMAX immersion. But even without that effect, this is a wonderful film, a worthy successor to Toy Story and Toy Story 2.  Pixar's pulled hat trick, coming off the cautionary, yet charming Wall-E and endearing adventure of Up with this final (and it should be final, though as the story shows, playtime will always go on) tale of toys that now span a couple of generations. 

It's been 15 years since the first film and 11 years since the sequel.  Children who saw them are now young adults themselves and some of them may well have little ones of their own. We've gone from VHS and DVD to Blu-ray now and digital copies now. But Toy Story 3 isn't a cynical cash-in return, it's a loving farewell.  What sets Pixar apart from many animation studios beyond the quality of its CGI is what marvelous stories are told.  Here, we find Andy, the boy of the first films, now a teenager and packing up to go to college. What will become of his toys? Even early on, we can tell he still loves them. Still, it's time to put them away.

A mishap finds the toys ending up in a local day care center, Sunnyside. It's an ironic name -surely on purpose - for something sinister lurks inside.  All is not as it first appears.  This is "dark" film at times when things look dire. Yet it's balanced by the light and plenty of good humor. There are jokes and gags adults will get more thank kids, but not because they're grown-up bits, but because they may well remind them of times in their own childhood.


The friendship of cowboy Woody and spaceman Buzz Lightyear is an genuine as any buddy picture. Even more so.  And then there are the distinct personalities of the rest of the gang, now with us for so long: Ham the piggy bank, Rex the dinosaur, Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead, Barbie, Jesse the cowgirl, Slinky the wiry dog, that goofy trio of little aliens and let's not forget Bullseye, who still rides like the wind. To each other, they're family. And these characters have become part of our families, too.

Many of the new toys introduced are memorable as well, some friends some foes, including Lotso the Bear and finally, a Ken for Barbie. This is an ensemble piece as much as any film with actors on screen.  Tom Hanks' Woody and Tim Allen's Buzz continue to find new emotional ground matched by the animation and visa-versa.  The same goes for Don Rickle's Potatohead, John Ratzenberger's Ham, Wallace Shawn's Rex, Joan Cusack's Jessie and Jodi Benson's Barbie, plus "newcomers" Michael Keaton as Ken and Ned Beatty as the homespun-talking Lotso.  They own these roles surely as they've owned parts in other films or on television.

There were moments here that made us cry and I'm talking about the adults, not the kids.  The toys show such unity in one harrowing, frightening scene that only a clod without emotion would not be moved.  Then comes the ending - and you're never sure what's going to happen - where you'll nod, smile and shed another tear or two.  It's that kind of film. To call Toy Story 3 a "family film" almost does it a disservice as that implies some kind of pigeonhole. But much like Wall-E and Up were, it too is a film for all ages, a movie for the whole family.  But then, so were Mary Poppins and Sound of Music.  Toy Story 3 is about facing growing up, but is about not giving up that child of wonder and play still inside.  Despite all that you leave behind, it's what you take with you in cherished memories that counts. 

So it's time for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to step up and recognize greatness and that wonder wherever they find it. Too often, the Oscars celebrate films that are bleak and even offer little or no hope as though they are superior art. And that's a load of hoo-hah.  Back in the '90s, Beauty and the Beast was nominated for Best Picture, as was Up earlier this year.  Both are masterworks, one having already lasted longer in our collective memories than many other live-action winner from over the decades and the other likely to do the same in years to come. It's been more than 70 years since Walt Disney was presented with a special honorary Oscar and seven little statuettes for Snow White (by Shirley Temple, no less).  True, the film year 2010 is barely half-over, but the Academy, which prides itself on championing the art of film and the hearts and souls it moves around the globe, should celebrate a movie that does just that and so much more with a magic that tugs at your heart. And that movie is Toy Story 3.