There are a million reasons to go to the movies. The most common reason thrown about is the need for entertainment, which most of the time amounts to little more than a diversion, something that fills two hours and is forgotten. What Pixar movies usually have to offer is something more human than entertainment, they attempt to offer pure enjoyment. Obviously entertainment is a factor, but they somehow manage to incorporate perfectly played sentimental notes at the exact right moments, fresh and challenging ideas that are broad enough for children but interesting for all. There are also always elements of danger, not Disney danger, but an honest subtle danger. Toy Story 3 is, of course, no exception. It begins with the remains of Andy's toys from the first two films speaking about how their numbers have been thinned out over the years (taking a minute of remembrance for the loss of Bo Peep), and devising elaborate schemes to get Andy to play with them again. Andy has grown up (his character has aged in real time), and has to make a decision about what to do with these last remnants of his childhood before he goes off to university. Through a series of misunderstandings the toys are donated to a local daycare where nothing is as it seems, and only Woody holds out enough faith in Andy to attempt to get the gang back to him before he leaves.
This outline opens the movie up for countless moments of tugging on our heart strings, and of course it uses every one of them. Somehow though, they all seem to work in a genuine unforced manner. There is a scene of Andy and his mother alone in his room after his things have been packed, and his mother begins to cry because her boy has grown and is leaving home. Andy doesn't seem to realize what it means to her because he is still a child in many ways. The toys are going through the same set of emotions, they feel as thought they are being abandoned and they have to learn to understand that it is just time to move on. Having just written those words, I can't believe that the scene comes of as effortlessly as it does because it sounds so hackneyed. By all rights this movie has no place being as effective as it actually is. Therein lays the ever present trap for Pixar movies to fall into; losing your audience through incredulity. It happened with Cars, and it will certainly happen again, as it has to when you walk the thin line between an instantly relatable flight of fancy, and well, Cars. I am actually kind of excited for Cars II, so they can get their bad movie cycle over with.
The look of the movie presents a beautiful updating of the character and environment models from the first film (I haven't seen the second), maintaining the look and feel, while streamlining it to suit our eyes now accustomed to computer generated worlds. Also the design of the characters, and especially the daycare was very fun, incorporating toy designs that anyone of my generation would be able to place instantly. Many effective sight gags surround a Masters of the Universe style action figure, a Ken doll, and an old timer subversive in the form of a haggard, and world weary Fisher Price telephone.
Bottom Line: See this movie. It really does have something to please everyone, and not in a Heartland Truly Moving Picture Award* kind of way, in a "you should like this if you have human feelings" kind of way. This is a film that finds universally relatable material in surprising places, even though (and maybe because) it is in constant danger of being horribly cliched. It is amazingly fresh for the third film in a series, and shows us new things about these characters and their world. As always, another great thing about Pixar films in general, is that they are children's films that treat their audiences (of any age) with respect.
*Toy Story 3 has actually won a Heartland Truly Moving Picture award, but my point still stands (I guess).
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