Blog Post 9: Toy Story 3 Review:

             Over the weekend I went back and watched a movie from a series that many of us in class grew up watching when we were kids. That movie was “Toy Story 3.” This is the third installment in the series that many of us have come to know and love. For the purpose of this blog I will attempt to give a review on the film and convey the message that I took away from the movie.

            In this film, we see the characters that we have all come to love trying to deal with a situation that was inevitable. The situation is that their owner Andy has grown up and is leaving for collage. The toys have no idea what will happen to them because of this situation and their hope is that no matter what they will trust Andy in making sure they will have a good home. Following this, the toys end up almost being mistakenly thrown away in the trash, but end up in a daycare facility where they think they are safe. But, this feeling would soon go away due to the fact that there is a toy that is running the show there and makes sure that the toys are dealt with in a way that the toy does not have to worry. Oblivious to this situation the toy that we have all come to love Woody is able to get out of the daycare and manages to get out and find his way to a little girl’s house where he would find out the truth as to what is going on there. Having found out, Woody gets back into the daycare where he proceeds to break the other toys out and try to get back to their owner Andy. Woody manages to free them and following this there are a series of events to follow where their demise seems to be almost certain. But the toys end up making it back to Andy’s house the day he is leaving for collage. Woody gets the toys all packed up as if they had never left and leaves a message to Andy. Andy reads the message, which happens to be the address of the little girl that Woody was carried home by. Andy ends up going to the little girl’s house and gives her the toys he loves and grew up with. But there is one that he does have a hard time letting go of that toy being Woody. Andy ends up trusting her with him and the other toys and ends up having one last playtime with them before he leaves for collage.

            This movie is downright one of my favorite movies of all time. In my opinion it was a great way to end the series that we have all come to love. This movie is the most polished and refined of the three using the evolutions in animation that have happened over the course of the 15-year period that these movies were produced. What I really enjoyed about this movie is that even though there were a few toys that had absolutely no affiliation with the other movies, they were able to give them all just enough back-story to make them seem like they belonged in the film. Following a quote that I read in the “New York Times” review, the action scenes have a look to them that you may see in a movie out of the “Bourne” series. Also one other thing that I have to agree with that the ‘New York Times” says about the film is that even though the movie is about a bunch of junky plastic that many of us never bat an eye towards now that we are adults it is a movie all about love. Love being the love that a boy found within these toys and the love that the toys gave back unknowing by the owner. I am sure that most of us had at one point in our lives a toy that we loved and didn’t want to let go, but this movie has a message to those of who did.

            The message is that it is ok to let these toys go and that they will be ok with someone that we can trust them with and they will be able to love them the same way that we did. The final scene is one that yes even though I am a grown man the kid in me cries every time I see it. The scene is the little girl who was trusted with the toys puts Woody’s lifeless arm up and waves to Andy. When Andy sees this it saddens him to know that this part of his life has come to a close, but he knows that he can trust the girl with them to be the owner that he once was. In conclusion, “Toy Story 3” is a ride that if you have not been on you need to go on. It was a great way to end the series that we all love and that even though I am giving this movie a great review it still does not do it justice. You have to see it to appreciate it.