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| On Rotten Tomatoes I gave this film a "100% Fresh." |
I grew up with Toy Story. Pixar's first big hit came out when I was five in 1996. It articulated what a younger me with a vivid imagination had always secretly believed - my toys magically came to life when I wasn't looking. When the movie came out I then had Woody, Buzz, Mr. Potato Head and other toys from the movie - just like Andy.
When I reached Andy's current age, I almost didn't want to see "Toy Story 3" when it came out. I felt "Toy Story 2," although OK, hadn't lived up to "Toy Story." I thought "Toy Story 3" was going to be a safe gimmick to make a quick buck. I thought I would be too old for a "kids movie." Yet, I finally saw it and I was blown away. My low expectations were completely unfounded. Fortunate for me, it seems in trilogies, the second movie usually ends up the weakest link.
I didn't cry in the scene when Woody and his friends were almost destroyed in the landfill's incinerator. I was on pins and needles! I knew the series was ending; I honestly thought they were all going to "die." Like the characters, I almost resigned myself to their fate. In the film and the "Toy Story" films before it, the toys had simply escaped too many close scrapes. They simply weren't going to making it out of this one this time; they'd reached the end of the line. Watching an epic scene fueled by a powerful score, I almost accepted this was the last I'd see of those beloved plastic characters.
But it's a good thing the toys themselves accepted their fate - if they hadn't been holding hands, "the claw" that reached down to save them wouldn't have been able to pick up all of them at the same time, just in the nick of time. Also if they had still been trying to fight their way back up to the top, the claw might have missed them and they would have all gone back down into the flames. When they were saved I was so happy. "Toy Story 3" employed a powerful plot device that I have definitely seen before, to favorable effect.
The fiery incinerator reminded me of the pits of hell or rather the depths of Mount Doom in "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King." After Frodo destroys the One Ring, a similar acceptance of fate occurs when Sam and Frodo sit outside an exploding Mount Doom as lava flows down all around them. And just when they'd given up, Gandalf and the eagles come to save them. I call this the Abraham effect - where being willing to sacrifice the very thing you love most or even your life makes you worthy enough to keep the very thing you were about to give up.
A similar moving scene also occurred at the climax of Pixar's "Finding Nemo." Although this is not the case of the Abraham effect - the characters in question did not give up or accept their fate - Nemo, Dory and the other tuna decide to all stick together and "just keep swimming" in order to cause the fishing boat's net that has just captured them to snap, setting them all free.
"Toy Story 3" is a generational classic. It is a fitting addition to Pixar's legacy of amazing films. While watching "Toy Story 3," I was reminded favorably of not just "Toy Story" and "Finding Nemo," but other greats of my time like "A Bug's Life," "Monster's Inc." and "Up." Pixar's animation seems to be just getting better and better. The caliber of all of Pixar's films is unmatched (I think the only exceptions are "Cars" and "Cars 2").
"Toy Story 3" also makes a shout-out to another great animation tradition - the films of Miyazaki. Woody's new owner has a Totoro doll but the adventure and gorgeous beauty of "Toy Story 3" reminds me more of Miyazaki's opus "Spirited Away." I feel Pixar took some cues from that breakthrough film which in turn helped make "Toy Story 3" all the more amazing - especially the final scene with Andy handing off his toys to the next generation.
And of course "Toy Story 3" did this all while being it's usual funny self. There were great jokes as always involving the new Ken and Barbie and old timers like Mr. Potato Head. The new characters were all fleshed out and our old stalwarts still had their staple voices - for example, Tim Allen was back as Buzz and Tom Hanks was back as Woody. I also liked The Gypsy Kings' rendition of "You Got a Friend in Me."
So all-in-all a perfect movie, the best Western animation film I've ever seen. I'd wish for more but I know the series has ended at least for my generation. The ending of the "Toy Story" trilogy is so much like the ending of another powerful film phenomenon of my generation, the Harry Potter series. Perhaps they will reprise the story for future generations? I hope they will because these are the kind of stories that last a lifetime.
- Ryu
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