Toy Story 3
It’s impossible for me to discuss Pixar’s latest without mentioning the short they created for the pre-show. It’s called “Day & Night,” and it’s one of the best things they’ve ever done. It’s all imagination, and a creative combination of cel animation and CG as two people revel in what the other has to offer.
And now, the film. Admittedly, there’s more than a little repetition in the dramatic beats of the story (the toys don’t believe Woody? really?), and the darkness in the story mutes the pleasure…
But there is a lot of pleasure to be had (and it has one of the best and most emotional endings Pixar’s come up with…and that’s saying something). Coming off the triple landmarks of “Ratatouille,” “Wall-E,” and “Up,” it has the feel of second-tier Pixar (think “A Bug’s Life” and “Monsters Inc.”), but you’ll be hard pressed to not admit that it’s great seeing these characters again…especially after most of what we’ve been through this summer.
Andy’s heading off to college, and his toys feel more than a little neglected. After an exciting opening that riffs on Keaton’s “The General” while also paying homage to the opening of the first “Toy Story,” we get an update on the past 11 years. Through an entertaining and innovative montage of old home videos, we see Andy get older, and the toys get left behind. Everybody’s worried about what that means, especially when Andy’s mom mistakes the trash bag most of them get thrown in for trash.
Woody saves his friends in time, but they end up in a donation box that goes to Sunnyside Day Care, which seems like a great deal for them…at least that’s how it’s sold by Lotso (a wonderfully full of surprises Ned Beatty), the seemingly-wise huggy bear who runs the toys at Sunnyside. It works out for Barbie (Jodi Benson, Ariel from “The Little Mermaid”) at least, as she finds her Ken (Michael Keaton, all plastic smarm and hilarity) and the house of her dreams. But as Woody (Tom Hanks) finds out when he’s trying to get back to Andy (who elected to take him to college), day care can be rough for a toy.
Lee Unkrich (in his first main directing effort on his own after 15 years of editing and co-directing) and writer Michael Arndt (the “Little Miss Sunshine” Oscar winner who brings his subversive wit to the story by Unkrich, Andrew Stanton, and John Lasseter) keep the film’s focus on getting these toys back to Andy, as is always the case. These toys live to be there for Andy. But what happens when he doesn’t need them anymore? It’s an idea already been touched on in the classic sequence in “Toy Story 2” when Jessie (Joan Cusack) relays her story to Woody, but here it’s given full dramatic weight for the film’s 100 minutes. The result is pretty dark as previously mentioned, but Unkrich and Arndt have an unbeatable cast to play with (so many great names to mention, so little time), and a lot of great ideas that up the entertainment level (this time, Buzz (Tim Allen) has a lot of crazy when he’s put in “demo” mode, and don’t even get me started on his Spanish mode).
But what I really want to talk about is the ending. After the emotional maturity and visual landmarks of “Wall-E” and “Up,” “Toy Story 3” has a hard time keeping up. But when it gets to the ending, all the memories of these characters catch up with the movie, and the result, well, had me balling like a baby, which is something Pixar’s gotten really darn good at over the years. I wouldn’t dare ruin it for you, except to say both Andy and his toys live up to that promise they made to one another, even if life will go on afterwards. At this moment, the film achieves that Pixar perfection, making everything we see before worthwhile, even if it can’t match up with the greatness of its’ predecessors.
