"TOY STORY 3" ☆☆☆☆
A gloriously bittersweet end to our beloved films, where kid Andy, now grown-up, says farewell to his steadfast and plucky toys, cowboy Woody, spaceman Buzz Lightyear, cowgirl Jesse, Rex the dinosaur, piggy bank Hamm, Mr and Mrs. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, and Barbie. And he says goodbye to those he just meet, breezy Buttercup (plush toy Unicorn), hammy thespian Mr. Pricklepants (stuffed porcupine in Robin Hood get-up), happy go-lucky Trixie (simple plastic triceratops), and more levelheaded Dolly (a, um, doll). There is also "Girl Toy" Ken (Finally!, with Michael Keaton doing a sassy impression), and some wicked toys, though we're more happy to see them enter a sort-of toy quietus, with Lotso' Huggin' Bear (a great Ned Beatty) stealing it all as a bitter strawberry stuffed teddy bear holding a hurt that seeped too deep and a menace that will never stop, and pushing his comrades to the edge, including his accomplice, quiet, terrorizing Big Baby, who has also shared the pain with him. (Lotso' is another great Pixar villain, with the menace to match, having our heros watch their back to the hindmost brink of peril.)
Andy says goodbye to them all, and we say goodbye, too. After growing up with these toys as much as Andy did - I saw the original "Toy Story" in a packed theater, on a foldout chair, when I was nine years old - it's just as hard for me, and maybe you, to let them go. In "Toy Story 3's" last achingly tearful scene, we can't help but feel that we are Andy, slowly and painfully releasing the memories we have cherished for so many years. It's a heartbreaking ending, and a grand coda, including an exciting, terrifying climax with Andy's toys fighting for their lives in a trash incinerator. As much a climatic finale as the other two "Toy Story's," (after Buzz and Woody magically "falling with style," and Woody and Jesse adventurously escaping a plane before it goes airborne!). And this "Toy Story" ups the stakes and the resolve, and it paid off tremendously! Pixar knows how to go off on a high-note. And they should anyway. They're Pixar. Is it that much of a surprise?
So, as a loyal fan and devotee to Andy's Room, "Toy Story 3" gets my humble applause once again for the Pixar folk. To you, pals! Once again!....
(SPOILER ALERT!; Talking of great "Toy Story" cliffhangers, my favorite moment in the incinerator is all the toys, holding hands, exchanging quiet, terrified looks in beaten resignation, as they wait for their imminent doom, with Randy Newman's score beating down dangerously. Oh, was I on the edge of my seat! And I would have held someone's hand, too, if I thought it wouldn't have felt too weird)
Two months ago, I went to a screening for "Toy Story 3," where Disney did a promotional thing to have only college kids in selected cities, at selected schools (boy, was I lucky), go and watch the first seventy minutes of the movie. To my surprise, in that initial screening, I didn't think much of it. Yeah, I know. At the time, it just wasn't as exciting, or witty, or emotional. I felt it didn't have the same spark like the other two "Toy Story" films (Lee Unkrich took over for John Lasseter as director). Of course, there was something missing. How I wish I could have seen the ending then! The screening was cut short (because it was a "Cliffhanger Screening"). I, nor the rest of the audience, got to see what happened in the third act. I felt cheated, and not being impressed with the first 2/3 of the movie that I saw, was ready to submit "Toy Story 3" as the first Pixar stinker. Almost.
Now, having watched all of it, that last third of "TY3" made it up for me. It was just as exciting and emotional as I dreamed it would be. And having that special relationship with Woody, Buzz, Jesse, and the rest, since I was nine in the back of that theater on a cold foldout chair, that exhilarating climax and tearjerking resolution hit harder than I would have ever imagined. It made it up for the deflated other two-thirds. However, I wouldn't say that now. The whole experience of "Toy Story 3," with that great last half, brought back the witty gags, the tender conflicts, the dark tyranny of Lotso', that Acts 1 & 2 seemed to miss in that initial screening, and all of Andy's toys, given equal share of screen-time, putting out their spunk, daring and spirit! And not to mention, diluted Buzz is back!, as a romantic Senor in Spanish mode! (And doing a toe-tapping cha-cha-cha with Jesse to a Spanish rendition of "You've Got a Friend In Me" for the end credits!)
Pixar's "Toy Story 3" is such a charming and delightful entertainment, and as beguiling as the toys that we have grown to love forever, that I don't think that as a kid, or an adult, you could ignore the first-class storytelling, humor and grand sentiment that Pixar has been at the forefront of and continuously strives for, and raises the bar for, every time. Hurrah!
To Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Estelle Harris, Wally Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Laurie Metcalf, John Morris, John Lasseter, director Lee Unkrich, writer Michael Arndt, producer Darla K. Anderson, composer Randy Newman, and the rest of the great "Toy Story" team thats been just as loyal to Andy's Room as we have. Thanks for all the memories, guys.
And goodbye, Andy's Room.
