*Contains Spoilers*
Is it wrong for me to say that Toy Story 3 is a fair bit better than Toy Story 2?
That’s not to criticise the first sequel, of which I still think is excellent, but with a gap of eleven years between it and this latest instalment, the time has been used wisely to fashion a tale that not only holds the highest emotional stake of the entire series, but creates a fitting send off to the characters that we have fallen in love with over the last fifteen years.
In dealing with an element touched on in number 2, abandonment, Toy Story 3 has Andy going to college and the toys facing an uncertain future. Arriving at Sunnyside day-care centre, initial euphoria at being indefinitely played with turns to dismay when the toys, already fractured by Woody earnest loyalty to Andy, realise that not only are the younger kids much rougher at playing, but not everything is as it seems at Sunnyside.
Using the tried and tested method of telling a simple story very (very) well, Toy Story 3 manages the difficult task of feeling entirely necessary on the back of two of the strongest animated films ever made. It feels like these characters never left us despite their lengthy absence, and yet to finish on such a note as this film does, it almost breaks your heart.
At times, in true Toy Story fashion, it’s hysterical. Ken of Barbie and Ken fame shows up in metro-sexual mode yet has self esteem issues at being labelled a girl’s toy. Buzz going back to default mode, but this time in Spanish, had me busting a gut (the scene of his attempted wooing of Jesse by dancing is comic gold) and Mr Potato Head swapping his body for a tortilla for the purposes of their escape plan is reminiscent of the good old slapstick of the Laurel and Hardy days.
But whilst the humour is plentiful, the gold of Toy Story 3, as with all of Pixar’s works in fact, is the emotional heft of the narrative. Never shying away from adult material (just look at the opening ten minutes of Up), Toy Story 3 has no qualms about throwing peril at out heroes that could actually cost them their lives (well, for toys at least). In one particularly difficult moment, the core characters, facing imminent death by incineration, acknowledge their fate with tragic acceptance and join hands, safe in the knowledge that, while horrid, they’ll at least be together to the end. Despite knowing full well that they’ll end up safe, the emotional heft of that moment personifies the deepest bond these characters have not just with each other but also with those of us that have lived their world since 1995. It was gut wrenching and possibly one of the single strongest and mature moments of Pixar’s filmography.
The conclusion brings Woody and Buzz full circle and whilst there are some that didn’t make it (it is stated at the beginning that the likes of Etch and Bo-Peep have been lost in previous yard sales), the payoff, in which Andy donates his toys reluctantly but knowingly to a neighbour’s young daughter in order for them to be loved by another child, is truly fitting and not only has the toys bidding farewell to Andy but also has the audience bidding farewell to the series and these characters. It is a truly sad but sweet moment that brings sobs and cheers.
The Toy Story saga has come to its end and, I am happy to say, it ends with a truly excellent bang and not a whimper.
5/5
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