The Toy Story franchise is one of Disney’s best properties. Great characters backed by heavyweight voice talent, answer one of the more imaginative childhood questions about what if our toys came to life. After the initial Toy Story, the subsequent entries revealed a more fully fleshed out toy world with a hint of societal structure, heroes and villains, and hopes and dreams. Admittedly, however, I never formed a bond with the sequels and have yet to see Toy Story 5. The original is that first look behind the curtain to set up and reveal this wonderful world that exists and turns behind our backs. Regardless of some of the rough animation and overall dated look of Toy Story, its charm blunts the years. (You can read more of my thoughts on Toy Story here.) As for Toy Story 2-4, they are fine entries, each with their own enjoyable story and unique contribution to the franchise; I simply never felt compelled to watch them multiple times. Recently, however, after catching some of Toy Story 2 on TV, I felt motivated to do a little binge and fired up Toy Story 3. I remember the film stirred its share of emotions, but it was not until this last viewing that I realized how brutal of a film it is and how the Toy Story films are more than toys getting into mischief and landing in the toy box of the next worthy child.
Before getting into the grit, it is worth noting that Toy Story 3 improves upon the animations and visual fidelity of its predecessors, which one would expect from advancing technology and a decade-plus gap from the original. The world’s textures are, well, fully present. There is a visual sense that everything existing in the world connects and interacts with everything else. Additionally, Pixar’s early work struggled to present human animations that felt fluid and fully jointed. Their style worked perfectly for giving toys a believable movement style, but even in the first The Incredibles there is an unnatural gate to the characters that you have to get used to. In Toy Story 3, this all improved from humans to automobiles, and it continues improving to this day. This combines to make Toy Story 3 a sumptuous visual feast, which is always one of the draws of a Pixar film.
Okay, now for the grit. There are multiple villains at play in Toy Story 3. The obvious threat to Andy’s toys are other toys. There are strands of betrayal, misinformation, and even a worthy villain origin story, all masterfully combined to the point they create a significant plot twist. This leads to a darkness that hangs over the film and characters, almost surprising the audience that toys, toys who all face the same challenges, can be so cruel to one another. (Huh, it is almost like an allegory for society.) When this plot thread culminates with joined hands facing down potential demise in a furnace, it is hard to not feel a flicker of emotion, perhaps thinking back to our own toys and the fates they may have faced. If nothing else, the moment portends the potential end of a decade-long relationship with these characters and their journey. While a Disney movie is not going to create that level of trauma and end one of their most popular franchises in a literal blaze of glory, the moment is gripping and all-consuming.
The second villain, and ultimately a Toy Story theme that may pass by without much notice, is change brought about by the passage of time. And yes, this includes loss and sacrifice. It is this second villain, this bastard, that really tugs on the emotional threads. Andy, whom we have known since he was a young child, is now college-bound. His sister is now an adolescent, and his dog, the dog Andy receives at the end of Toy Story, is nearly at the end of his road. Toy Story 3 hangs the fear of abandonment and disinterest over the toys’ heads as Andy wrestles with his mom’s ultimatum to pack ‘em up or toss ‘em out. While I do not have an unbreakable bond with Woody and Buzz, I had my own special toys that I think about to this day, so I empathize with Andy’s conundrum. Where the audience really gets stabbed in the feels, however, is when Andy is choosing the best possible outcome and donating his toys to someone he knows will cherish them. In that moment, we can feel his hesitation and sudden emotional onslaught as years of wonderful memories come flooding forth, and Andy realizes the comfort of having those toys around, even if he no longer plays with them, is going away. Time remains undefeated in ending the day, but Toy Story 3 tries to show that a new dawn waits just beyond the horizon. I’m not crying…there’s something in my eye.
Toy Story 3 is a great movie, but dang, does it take the franchise into some dark depths. It is uncharacteristically heavy compared to its peers; heavy to the point I am not sure a child would enjoy the film as much as an adult. The density of Toy Story 3 cements that, even though it is good, this is not a film I can watch time and again. I will, however, always remember it for having one of the more emotionally taxing conclusions.
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