TOY STORY 3
Lee Unkrich
Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
103 min.
Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, John Morris, Jodi Benson, Emily Hahn, Laurie Metcalf, Bud Lackey, Beatrice Miller, Javier Fernandez Pena, Timothy Dalton, Kristen Sschaal, Jeff Garlin, Bonnie Hunt, Whoopi Goldberg, R. Lee Ermey
G
It’s hard to believe that it’s been fifteen years since the original Toy Story marked Pixar’s destined entry into the vaunted halls of great animation houses. It’s even more strange to realize that it’s been eleven years since the sequel redefined what being a sequel was all about. As a new decade begins, the third film in the celebrated franchise makes its own mark and proves that the third film doesn’t have to be a step down in quality.
Toy Story 3 takes place as young Andy, who long ago abandoned his favorite toys, leaving them waiting in his toy chest, is preparing to head to college. Only Woody (Tom Hanks) is selected to go with him. The others, stowed in a trash bag are destined for the attic, but they don’t realize it and think they were headed to the curb. In a last effort to save themselves, Buzz (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack) and the rest stow themselves in a box of donated toys on its way to a daycare. Woody, attempting to convince them they were on their way to the attic is transported with them.
At the daycare, they encounter Lotso (Ned Beatty) a strawberry-scented, dirty, purple, plush bear who welcomes them to the daycare family and sets them off to their new homes in the hands of toddlers. Woody says farewell believing they are Andy’s alone and should be back home waiting for him and heads off to try to find his way home. Feeling abandoned, but excited about their future, the toys prepare for the kids coming in from their recess only to discover that being a toddler’s plaything is not a pleasing experience and their allocation to the toddler room is a way to avoid the “in-crowd” from having to take over the assignment.
One of the things you can always count on from Pixar is a simple story that appeals easily to children, but presents adults with plenty of rich imagery and emotional depth. They produce movies that can please everyone of every age without feeling like they are talking down to the audience or attempting to be outlandish just for the sake of it. Toy Story 3 carries on that tradition with no effort. It employs the oft-used great escape plot device but expands on it in new and inventive ways. Although you can easily guess many key events in the production, most of the mechanics of the various escape ploys are fresh and complex without being confusing.
Another element John Lasseter’s team excels at is creating gorgeous environments embellished with enough details that you there’s not a portion of the screen you can’t look at and find something to inspire or involve you, not that you want to take your eyes off the action for very long without missing some aspect of the key story. Toy Story 3, like all that have come before it, gives you enough visual stimuli that watching the film multiple times wouldn’t feel like a chore.
The vocal work, as usual, is top notch. Beatty is in fine form as one of the series’ newest characters. He manages to create all the devious depth Lotso requires and fits in tremendously well with the rest of the toys. It’s another element that Pixar and, Disney before it, was so great at. They don’t pick people with recognizable voices or box office names in an effort to draw audiences in. Instead, they pick people with acting talent who have the capability of capturing every necessary inflection to maximize the audience’s emotional response.
And when you experience those emotional responses, they will be strong. Much like the opening sequence of Up, the final scenes of Toy Story 3 are filled with touching music and scenes that could touch the heart of the Grinch himself. Matter of fact, if you don’t tear up or at least feel emotionally invested in those final moments, then I would have to wonder whether or not you even have a heart.
June 21, 2010
Toy Story 3
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