Woody and his friends have not been played with for awhile, and the other toys are considering ditching Andy, but after what happened in the second film, Woody is convinced that he needs to be there for Andy when he needs him - he believes there is a reason he kept those particular toys. Andy is packing for college, getting ready to leave at the end of the week, and it seems he wants to take Woody with him and put the other toys in the attic. However, due to a mix-up, the other toys nearly get thrown away. Unwilling to let this happen, Woody goes out to rescue them, but the other toys took it harshly and donate themselves to Sunnyside Daycare, much to Woody's explanation as to what really happened. Among the donated toys is the Barbie doll.
At Sunnyside Daycare, a teddy bear named Lots'O-Huggin'-Bear (Lotso for short, voice of Ned Beatty) shows the gang the ropes of Sunnyside, and all sans Woody are sold that they want to stay there, enticed by the fact that they will be played with forever. Woody still believes that Andy wants them, so he decides to head back on his own, but is "adopted" by a young girl named Bonnie (Emily Hahn), who "introduces" Woody to her toys Trixie the Triceratops (Kristen Schaal), Mr. Pricklepants the porcupine (Timothy Dalton), Buttercup the unicorn (Jeff Garlin), a Totoro doll (from Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro), and Chuckles the Clown (Bud Luckey). Chuckles knows a little something about Sunnyside Daycare...
Back at Sunnyside, the toys are confined to the Caterpillar Room (for toddlers), and they're not exactly fond of it. They long for the Butterfly Room, for big kids. When Buzz sneaks out to seek entry into that room, he is caught by Lotso and his top toys Ken (Michael Keaton), Stretch the octopus (Whoopi Goldberg), and a plastic baby reset Buzz back to the way he was at the beginning of the first film - thinking he's a real space ranger. They convince him that the other toys are minions of the evil Emperor Zurg and he turns against them.
Back at Sunnyside, the toys are confined to the Caterpillar Room (for toddlers), and they're not exactly fond of it. They long for the Butterfly Room, for big kids. When Buzz sneaks out to seek entry into that room, he is caught by Lotso and his top toys Ken (Michael Keaton), Stretch the octopus (Whoopi Goldberg), and a plastic baby reset Buzz back to the way he was at the beginning of the first film - thinking he's a real space ranger. They convince him that the other toys are minions of the evil Emperor Zurg and he turns against them.
Will Woody make it back in time to rescue the toys and get them home before Andy leaves for college? What is the truth behind Lotso and the other toys are Sunnyside Daycare? What happened to Mrs. Potato Head's left eye, and is there something she knows? And how will the other toys fix Buzz?
Let me just start off my review by saying that... well, if you read my review for the first two films re-released in 3-D in October, you know how I feel about Toy Story. I remember when I was really young, and at the end of the "bloopers" in Toy Story 2, Pete mentioned something about getting some Barbie dolls "a part in Toy Story 3". Not knowing what that really meant, I believed it meant that Toy Story 3 was in production, and that the Barbie dolls would be in it. When I was old enough to understand what that really meant... it had come true. There really was a Toy Story 3 in production. In fact, several years ago, the film was going to have a different plot - Buzz Lightyear toys were to be deemed defective and be recalled, so the other toys travel to Taiwan to find him. This was scrapped because the other animation company withdrew from the project.
Seeing how amazing Pixar was with their films, including A Bug's Life (1997), Monsters, Inc. (2001), former animation box-office champ Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Cars (2006), Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008), and Best Picture Nominee Up (2009), I knew how original Pixar was with their stories. Each of these films (save for A Bug's Life because this award didn't exist yet) was a Best Animated Feature nominee and all save Monsters, Inc. and Cars won their awards (respectively, Shrek and Happy Feet walked home with them). Some were a little skeptical about a third Toy Story movie, and especially with the announcement of a second Cars and Monsters, Inc. movie and their cancellation of one of their original productions, Newt. They felt Pixar was losing their originality touch.
In 2006, starting with Chicken Little, Disney released their independent films in RealD 3-D, a cinema-going experience that involves wearing glasses to a movie so the picture looks real. After Disney's Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour (2008) took the record for the biggest per-theater average (even the opening overall champ, The Dark Knight, fell short of this record), Disney knew they had a money-maker on their hand. Thus, Up was the first Pixar film to be shown in 3-D. But later that year, when James Cameron's Avatar became the new "King of the World", so to speak, everyone started converting their films to 3-D. In fact, excluding Iron Man 2, the top four domestic films of the year (How to Train Your Dragon, Shrek Forever After, and the shoddily post-converted Alice in Wonderland and Clash of the Titans, though the former was announced to be in 3-D before Avatar came out) all had a 3-D ticket boost (Dragon and Shrek 4 had bumpy starts, but held very well). Luckily, Toy Story 3 was already announced to be in 3-D before Avatar was released, so we had higher hopes for it, especially seeing how the post-converted Toy Story 1 and 2 turned out to be.
In 2006, starting with Chicken Little, Disney released their independent films in RealD 3-D, a cinema-going experience that involves wearing glasses to a movie so the picture looks real. After Disney's Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour (2008) took the record for the biggest per-theater average (even the opening overall champ, The Dark Knight, fell short of this record), Disney knew they had a money-maker on their hand. Thus, Up was the first Pixar film to be shown in 3-D. But later that year, when James Cameron's Avatar became the new "King of the World", so to speak, everyone started converting their films to 3-D. In fact, excluding Iron Man 2, the top four domestic films of the year (How to Train Your Dragon, Shrek Forever After, and the shoddily post-converted Alice in Wonderland and Clash of the Titans, though the former was announced to be in 3-D before Avatar came out) all had a 3-D ticket boost (Dragon and Shrek 4 had bumpy starts, but held very well). Luckily, Toy Story 3 was already announced to be in 3-D before Avatar was released, so we had higher hopes for it, especially seeing how the post-converted Toy Story 1 and 2 turned out to be.
So, the big questions were: Were the 11 years of waiting worth it for Toy Story 3? Was the 3-D worth it? The answer to the former question: HELL YES! The latter? Well, that depends on what you're looking for in a 3-D film. I went to the midnight show of Toy Story 3 with an optimistic thought, and let me tell you, it exceeded my expectations. The film's flaws? The funny parts are in the trailer, some deus ex machinas seem a bit too convenient, it's another rescue mission (if you call that a bad thing, it does add excitement but we've had two already), and Buzz thinking he's a space ranger may seem overdone by now (though to me it seemed fresh because of the way they did it).
What's good about the film? Everything else! So what if the funny parts are in the trailer? The funny parts aren't what makes this film what it is. First off, the adding of the daycare center continues Pixar's tradition of creativity - the toys that come to life react how they really would react if toys could talk. And man, this film gets intense - it makes the first two films seem like a joke. I can't really go into it much, because I don't want to spoil it (and parts I'll sum up in the MPAA section), but oh man, I dare you not to want these toys to escape and get back to Andy! And I dare you not to feel something at the end! Sure, it may be a sequel, but Pixar's already come up with nine original ideas (ten soon with Brave). Why just let them sit on shelves and be merchandise? They should do something with them! Now I am psyched for Cars 2!
What's good about the film? Everything else! So what if the funny parts are in the trailer? The funny parts aren't what makes this film what it is. First off, the adding of the daycare center continues Pixar's tradition of creativity - the toys that come to life react how they really would react if toys could talk. And man, this film gets intense - it makes the first two films seem like a joke. I can't really go into it much, because I don't want to spoil it (and parts I'll sum up in the MPAA section), but oh man, I dare you not to want these toys to escape and get back to Andy! And I dare you not to feel something at the end! Sure, it may be a sequel, but Pixar's already come up with nine original ideas (ten soon with Brave). Why just let them sit on shelves and be merchandise? They should do something with them! Now I am psyched for Cars 2!
The film received a G rating, but it really pushes the limits - I bet if they weren't toys, it would have gotten a PG easily. As the film begins, we see Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head on a train kidnapping troll dolls, as the train heads for a break in the track above a cliff. Woody falls off the train, but Jessie riding Bullseye catches him and they all head after it. The train starts to fall off the cliff but Buzz comes by and rescues it. The "evil Dr. Porkchop" (Hamm) appears in a giant pig-shaped vehicle and hits a "Death By Monkeys" switch that creates a mushroom-cloud of toy monkeys (this is all a part of Andy's, and presumably the toys' imagination, though Molly destroys a Tinkertoy train track, and Andy just plays along). When the toys are in the bag at the curb, it seems they are crushed in a garbage truck (they're not). The toddlers handle the toys the way toddlers would - it's mostly in the trailer, but one girl bonks Buzz against another toy and sprinkles glitter all over Jessie. Woody uses a parasail to try to get over a wall but gets caught in a tree. Ken and Stretch tie up Buzz, then they nearly remove his batteries and reset him, and thinking he's a space ranger, he locks up all the toys in "cages", and attempts to fire his laser several times. Big Baby buries Mr. Potato Head in a sandbox, and he says "Nothing but sand and a couple of Linkin' Logs!" to which Hamm replies "I don't think those were Linkin' Logs!" I won't give too much away now - I'll save the rest of private talk. For sexual content, it's much nothing beyond Ken's "Love your leg warmers!" and Barbie's "Nice ascot!", though Ken tries on some sexually suggestive clothing and does a sexually suggestive dance. No real profanity, just name-calling and Lotso says "F-A-O Schwartz!" in an exclamatory manner that could be a reference to a swear word.
If you liked the first two Toy Story films, definitely see it! As for 3-D... well, if you want to be immersed in the world and see the foreground objects look like foreground objects, then see it in 3-D. If you want things popping out at you, skip the 3-D - it's not worth it save for a scene at the very beginning and one toward the end. But if you want to see it in 3-D, you better hurry - The Last Airbender (July 1) and Despicable Me (July 9) are up on the horizon, and either one of those could take over the 3-D screen!
(The film is also preceded by a short "Day & Night" - two shadow-beings walk around a world and one of them always has daytime where the other has night-time, and both beings become envious of each other. There's nothing really to object to, besides some bikini-clad girls in Day's shadow.)
