Oh, my God, did I love Toy Story 3. I saw it with Matt and Bernie last night and it was wonderful. You need to all go out and see it immediately, because it is at least as good as the first two and maybe even better. (CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD.)
Toy Story has always really appealed to me because I was one of those kids who was sure that her toys came to life when she wasn't looking. My favorite kind of toy was stuffed animals, and I had a ton of them that I assigned all different personalities to and though I had favorites, I tried to give equal attention to all of them so none of them would feel jealous or unloved. I recall that was one of the greater preoccupations of my early life. ;-) Most of my once enormous collection I donated over the years, though there are still a handful on the top shelf of my bedroom closet at home. I imagine I get their hopes up every time I visit and go into that closet for clothes.
It is amazingly tightly written. The writers of those comic book movies who pack their films full of recognizable characters they have no time to deal with should take a leaf out of this movie's book, which brilliantly managed and balanced the screen time of its enormous cast. None of our favorite characters were allowed to fall to the wayside, and it managed to incorporate a ton of new ones as well. It's also quite an impressive caper movie, with operations carried out with incredible precision and attention to detail; whoever planned out the various escapes and gambits in the film is a strategic as well as cinematic genius.
Also, did anyone else find "Mr. Tortilla Head" to be unspeakably creepy? Jesus. And I totally didn't pick up on the fact that Sid was the garbage man. Thanks to lightgamer for pointing that out to me.
I have always loved Pixar's villain characters. Sid wasn't deep but he was fun, though the primary antagonist through most of that movie was Buzz and the conflict between him and Woody provided the most interesting struggle. I loved the Prospector in the second movie, how he infected Woody with his insidious cynicism and the way he used a deceptively logical and sympathetic argument to convince Woody that Andy didn't need him any more, and that he'd be better off in a museum under glass. And then Lotso in the third movie, with his affable facade masking his bitterness and trying to protect himself against any further rejection or loss. I love that the Prospector and Lotso acted the way they did because they were hurt-- the former because no child had ever loved him, and Lotso because he thought he'd been special to a child and was then replaced.
Lotso's story I found shockingly familiar. There was one I had one since I was a baby, a Swiftheart Rabbit Care Bear stuffed animal that was my favorite. Then I left him at my aunt's house and she gave him away to charity. Saddened, I found a new Swiftheart on eBay, a nicer one in much better condition than mine was, and loved him instead. But I remember feeling slightly guilty about it; I was old enough by that point that I was no longer worried that my stuffed animals got sad or jealous, but the thought did occur to me-- would it hurt my old Swiftheart's feelings that I replaced him with a newer model? I am not nearly as disturbed as I acted for humor's sake, but it was pretty surprising to see that as a plot element in the movie. I wonder if that happens often. And I must not wonder if my poor lost Swiftheart became an embittered prison warden ruling other toys with an iron fist.
I have very few criticisms. I dislike how frequently the character of Buzz is lost by "resetting him" to his Space Ranger defaults or whatever. Spanish mode was funny, but I wanted to see a little bit more of the dynamic between Woody and Buzz, one of my favorite elements of the series. They didn't have as much interplay as I would have hoped. But besides that and a few other tiny details, I was incredibly pleased and greatly enjoyed the film.
Go out and see this movie. It really does complete the natural arc of the story. And It says something about this movie that a person like me who hates attachment to physical things can sympathize with it all so deeply. :-)
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