Toy Story 3 (2010)

Toy Story 3 (2010)

starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen 

directed by Lee Unkrich

103 minutes

Andy has graduated from high school and is getting ready to go to college. His mother insists that he clean up his room before he leaves. He has three options for his toys: take them with him, put them in the attic, or throw them away. There is a fourth option, donate them to Sunnyside Day Care Center.

Andy's toys almost get thrown out by Andy's mother but instead they wind up at Sunnyside. Woody isn't happy there he decides to leave but Andy's other toys decide to stay. Woody doesn't make it back to Andy he winds up with Bonnie, another child.

The other toys quickly learn that life at Sunnyside isn't quite as much fun as they thought it would be. They are assigned to the caterpillar room where the youngest kids play with them, very roughly. Lotso Hugs, a plush bear who smells like strawberries, is in charge. He has Buzz reset to factory mode and imprisons the other toys.

Woody learns from Bonnie's other toys about Lotso's past and what's he's really like. Woody sneaks back into Sunnyside and helps to engineer a prison break from Sunnyside for himself and his friends.

Thoughts

I bought this movie in 2019, along with Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999), when Toy Story 4 was in theaters. I saw the first two films in the theater when they were first released. I watched them again in 2019 soon after buying them. This is the first time I have watched Toy Story 3. I have yet to see Toy Story 4.

I enjoyed this movie very much. I love how it became a prison break film about halfway through. Towards the end it shifted from a prison break film to a disaster film of sorts. I could go into way more detail about this movie but I don't see the point. I have outlined the basic plot structure.

There is something about the way the movie romanticizes how a child plays with their toys, alone, that I find a little off-putting. It feels like it is going against the grain in a way that seems odd for such a mainstream film.

The only moment that really got me choked up was when it looked like the toys were about to get destroyed. This was during the part where the movie turned into a disaster film of sorts. I didn't think they were really going to destroy them but the way they played it got to me.

Andy had these toys for over 10 years. They are in remarkable shape considering that he played with them. He played with them less and less as he got older but still it seems unlikely that his toys wouldn't have been more battered and bruised than they were.

I liked the addition of the Barbie and Ken moments very much. I don't recall Barbie playing a role in the first two films but maybe she did. I have not seen the Barbie movie. This will have to do for now.

I'm not sure what to make of the final scene where Andy hands off his toys to Bonnie. It was meant as a bittersweet moment but I had trouble relating to it. I don't have any of my old toys from childhood but I don't recall ever giving them away or treasuring them quite as much as it turns out that Andy treasured his.