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Toy Story 3

It was nice to again see Woody, Buzz and the gang, and the ending was a classic, but this story was far from the heights of the first two.

Structure / Plot

The theme of abandonment was clear. One reaon why Pixar movies are consistently great is because of the attention paid to a theme that underlines and unites all the characters and action. The problem here was the execution. The first thirty minutes or so had too many steps and turns…let’s recap after the idea of abandonment and Andy going to college were established:

Andy put all of the toys except Woody in a garbage bag and, unbeknownst to them, wanted to place them in the attic; Woody saw the truth about the mother accidentally placing the bag out for the trash pick up; Woody tried to rescue them from the curb; the gang escaped on their own; instead of going back to the attic, they ended up at the daycare; Woody felt compelled to rescue them; they at first loved the daycare; Woody left the daycare nonetheless; the daycare was actually a nightmare as the younger kids were rough with the toys (hilarious stuff); now Buzz and the gang wanted to leave, but realized they were trapped by Lots-o and his cohorts; Woody ended up in a new home and learned the truth about Lots-o; Woody once again snuck into the daycare and helped his friends escape.

Look at TS and TS2 and see how much more simple and smooth they were. Here, it would’ve been more dramatic had Woody also been placed in the garbage bag, this way the feeling of abandonment would’ve been more pronouced since he’s the main character. Woody still could have believed that it was a mistake, that Andy never meant for them to be tossed in the garbage (and the audience could have seen this). This also would have been a nice contrast to Lots-o who turned evil after he felt abandoned years earlier.

Once at the daycare and before experiencing the horrors of the little kids, Woody could have felt abandoned by Buzz and the gang and that would have caused him to leave, still thinking that he belonged in Andy’s attic. But instead of making it out, he could have ended up on the good side of the daycare and started to enjoy it. When the rest of the gang discovered the horrors of the little kids, they could have seen Woody on the good side and felt that he was now abandoning them by not helping them move.

Okay, I know I’m getting into the nitty-gritty, but I get this way when a movie disappoints me. The other problem with the above is that Act 3 started way too soon. It felt like forty minutes in when Buzz and the gang were imprisoned and Woody returned to rescue them. That was the start of Act 3 and, from then on, the story offered no new developments. It was simply a detailed breakout with various obstacles on the way…though, yes, there were funny parts like Mr. Potato Head on the tortilla.

I didn’t like Buzz switching to Spanish mode. After Puss-in-Boots from Shrek, this felt unoriginal.

Ending

The very end with Andy giving the toys to the girl was a classic. However, it would have been even more dramatic and made more sense (based on the mother offering the toys to the daycare) had the girl’s family been poor. She already had so many toys and it was hard to imagine her giving these new ones the attention they needed.

Little thing

I had a bad feeling about the movie a few minutes in when Randy Newman’s song from TS2, You’ve Got a Friend in Me, was heard. What movie repeats a pivotal song?! A new, emotional tune was one of the expectations of this sequel.

Other

Shame on all involved for making this 3D (and, thus, being able to charge more per ticket) when there was absolutely nothing about it that felt 3D.

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