Toy Story 3... I still don't get it.

To be honest, I really liked TS3 a lot when it came out, but I feel like it's a film that loses a lot of its luster after the first viewing. It came out at the perfect time for most people in my generation, right in the transition period between high school and college, just like Andy. That's possiblt why it struck a chord with so many people—it represented perfectly for them moving on from their childhood yet not wanting to lose their inner child.

All this is something that sinks in well on the first viewing (especially if you saw it actually in the theater). After that? Well, let's say you watch it a good while later, say, once you're already through college and all. You don't totally need to learn the lessons imparted through the film anymore, so it doesn't quite have the same resonance anymore. Sure, it's entirely possible to still like it just as much as before, but something is going to be missing that was there on that first viewing, something nagging inside of you.

(And, on a purely nitpicking note, even when I first saw the movie, I always thought it had really weird pacing, with things alternating between being really stagnant for a while and moving way too quickly, sometimes even from scene to scene. And while I was glad about the rescue in the incinerator scene, I did feel a little bit miffed at how manipulative it was—they played it out way too long for it to have felt natural when the claaaaaw came in. But again, that might just be nitpicky to some people. It bothers me, but it might not bother others.)

For what it's worth, I've always enjoyed Toy Story 2 the most myself.

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I feel like I was a little too young for the third one when it came out, nor did I have enough emotional attachment to the series.

Looking for some stories?

How do you personally feel about the movie?

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I think it's pretty good, but I like the second one a lot more.

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The incinerator would have made a brave scene if they really did get melted down! And then they're like, "And that's the life cycle of a toy..." flash forward to toy story the next generation

Honestly, I knew they weren't gonna actually kill them off—it is still, after all, a family movie when it comes down to it, and killing off the entire main cast usually doesn't fly there—but that intense buildup followed by, when it comes right down to it, a bizarre rescue out of nowhere ended up feeling really cheap in the end.

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Well, that's fine, but it just didn't work for me. I'd much rather have just seen Buzz as Buzz, not some Spanish mode that wasn't him.

edited 27th Nov '14 1:33:41 AM by JMQwilleran

I've never been that crazy about the second movie. That's the one I'd easily mark as the weakest of the series.

I'm really pleased to see so many responses to this thread, and I'll answer some of your questions. :)

Even though I can understand why people like it - it's dark, intense, emotional, it came out when the kids who watched TS 1 and TS 2 had grown up - I still can't bring myself to really enjoy Toy Story 3 that much. In parts it's not too bad, but watching it in one go, I've always found difficult to do.

To me, the reason why Toy Story 1 and 2 are far superior to Toy Story 3 is because they managed to excellently balance out mood and colour. Sure, in the first film, it is pretty scary when you see those mutant toys as a kid. It did scare me as a child. However, now, as an adult, I can go back, watch it, and realise just how funny and colourfully weird Sid's room is. The events of Sid's house I find very amusing, with a lot of variety - and the escape plan at the end, where Sid is given a taste of his own medicine - is ingeniously twisted. Instead of simply having the toys escape, Buzz and Woody use Sid's mutant toys against him. Also, the general escape back to Andy's car is always gripping, funny and heartwarming. I can still watch it today and be on the edge of my seat. With Toy Story 2, the same can be said, but to me this film doesn't just get everything right, it still can't be beaten by anything. Every single scene in this movie is a joy for me. It has such perfect pacing, every joke works, every character feels genuine. Not a single moment feels incorrect. The film a vast amount of variety in what it does, with so much colour and detail.

However, with Toy Story 3, I've never really felt that it's truly gripped me. Because Sunnyside isn't a very enjoyable place and so many scenes that take place in it I find overly harsh, when I watch it I've never really felt moved. In Toy Story 2, the place where Woody gets trapped in at least had culture and colour to it, and the scenes that take place in it - Woody discovering his past, watching Woody's Roundup, Woody being repaired and cleaned, etc. I've always found to be highly amusing and warm.

Sunnyside on the other hand is constantly uncomfortable for me to watch, and so many of its attempts at being funny just come off as disturbing. Like when Mr. Potato Head has to use a floppy tortilla as a body and when Woody gets hit repeatedly by that screaming monkey's cymbals. And again, the scene where the toys get played roughly with by the toddlers, I found to be disgustingly wrongheaded. It's like saying that all toddlers are violent, and all daycares have toddlers like this. Is that one of the film's messages? Toddlers are bad? And did we really need to see a close-up of a little girl's drooling tongue or a kid stuff his mouth and nose with Mr. Potato Head's body parts? In the credits, we see Sunnyside has turned good again, but to be honestly, I'd have been happier if that toy hellhole got bulldozed in the credits and re-built with better staff so those little brats actually got supervision. Come on, Pixar.

And as for the incinerator scene, let me just go into further detail as to why I've never thought it's awesome. Okay, yes, it is clever that they had the toys hold hands and accept their fate. But... there was no fate. We know that they're not going to die, and yet the movie wants us to break down in tears. It's actually rather manipulative to me, as if the writers are saying "Look! These characters were in your childhood! You loved them! Do you still love them? They're dying! It's sad! Cry for them! Feel heartbroken! If you don't, you must hate them!" In TS 1 and TS 2, the big final scenes are faster, more detailed, and ultimately more heroic. I can still enjoy every little moment where Woody and Jessie are slowly exiting Al's plane, not knowing how they're going to get off it, quickly hatch a plan, and lasso to victory, and the same can be said for TS 1 - every detail of the big escape from Sid's garden is tense and gripping, in the same way that Marty Mc Fly's return to the future in Back To The Future makes us tense with excitement, even after seeing it so many times. But in the incinerator, we just have to watch them slowly move towards a fire, waiting for the inevitable moment when they get rescued. That's really all it comes down to.

Even Lotso's comeuppance doesn't seem satisfying enough. Sid gets the fright of his life, the Prospector finally gets to be owned by kid - but not the one he wanted (which makes for some really funny irony), and Lotso... gets put on the front of a garbage truck, which he can easily escape from? After what we saw Lotso do to the toys in the movie, I personally wanted to see him get a well-deserved death, like the death Syndrome gets in the Incredibles.

Almost every complaint you have about the movie being creepy, dark and sad are literally the only things I HAVE liked about this Franchise.

Sid's toys in the first film made the entire movie for me.

The creepiness of the baby doll in 3 was hilarious, likewise the monkey, since both are traditionally "cute" toys everyone else knows are freaky.

I also adored how horrific the toddlers were. It was a delightful perspective on the grossness of humans.

But still, Toy Story 3 is pure rainbows and sunshine compared to older children's films like The Never-ending Story, Brave Little Toaster or The Land Before Time. Those movies had real emotion, brutal truths about life packaged in fantasy.

What bothers me about Toy Story 3 is that it isn't dark ENOUGH for me.

edited 27th Nov '14 3:46:24 AM by scythemantis

bogleech.com for my writing, comics and cartoons.

I wouldn't call it exactly nostalgia as such, but I do think a big part of the film's success comes from the events happening to characters with buildup from previous movies you could care about a lot (plus, the good feelings you get when, for once, you run into a part 3 that DOESN'T SUCK, which is like a miracle in Hollywood). Had it been a first part with the same plot and execution, people likely wouldn't rank it too above of how they rank Toy Story 1 here.

edited 27th Nov '14 4:10:05 AM by NapoleonDeCheese

As someone who hasn't seen the first two films, I found it a well constructed movie funny jokes and a good villain. I didn't really get much of a sense of who all the myriad protagonists were, though; I assume it's because they're set up more in the previous movies. Maybe it's just me but I found the lesson less about growing up and more about how Fascism works, and why citizens should share privileges and responsibilities instead of having society ruled by a privileged elite.

Heh, they devoted the second half of the latest Disney On Ice to Toy Story 3. It occurred to me just now that another sequel will really have to reach for yet another reason to turn Buzz Lightyear back into a crazed antagonist yet again.

i wouldn't mind a toy story 4 if they focused on another group of toys...though if that was the case, it probably wouldn't be called toy story 4.

They already have a Buzz who has accepted Emperor Zurg as his father, and they might be on the loose even now. Just reuse them.

I still want to see more faces from the Buzz TV show.

Understandable. I think it works though, as it provides some comedic levity in what's pretty intense plot, and I didn't think it detracted from it. When things started to get really bleak, they brought back regular Buzz, so I think it all worked out in the end.

Oh God! Natural light!

I think Lotso was more or less sent to toy hell. Stinky Pete could find redemption eventually, since the scorn of children was what turned him bad in the first place. Lotso seems to be stuck in a sort of And I Must Scream situation, exposed to the brunt of the elements for a very long time until his body finally gives out on him, a fate that would make the incinerator merciful by comparison.

Ironically, Sid did not seem to change as much, since he's the one who put Lotso into that hell.

Is Toy Story 3 seriously considered THAT intense? I get that it's a bit darker than the previous two movies by virtue of actually having a genuinely malicious villain who wants to hurt the heroes, but that's a pretty low bar to set before you start crying out how bleak and depressing the whole thing is. Barring the climax at the trash conveyor belt, even the most intense moments of the movie are interspersed with some of the goofiest jokes of all three films, like the bad guys having something like a parody of a mobster meeting, Barbie getting Ken to pose in all his different outfits, the bookworm noticing her heels but not caring, Mr. Cucumber Head, Spanish Buzz, and so forth. Even the most supposedly scary and dark stuff, like the monkey, or the appearance of Chuckles the Clown strike me as being played with a bit of knowing irony that prevent it from getting too negative.

It's not that uncommon to see in Pixar movies, when there is a dire scenario, for their some comedy. A Bug's Life nearing the climax when Flik and the Blueberries were getting to/piloting the bird, we got funny moments from the circus bugs...who were trying to prevent regicide from happening at the time. Plus, In Incredibles, when the Omnidroid was attacking Metrovillw, we got the "WHERE IS MY SUPER SUIT?!?!?!?" line.

You know, I have to wonder why Pit is obsessed with this site. It’s gonna ruin his life!

It was a different garbage truck guy who tied Lotso to his truck. His voice was much deeper.

I was admittedly underwhelmed by the third movie, if perhaps because after hearing about the fan reception of the movie first, I was expecting it to be extremely dark and unsettling. Watching it, it didn't seem that bad. I mean it had mood and climax like the other Pixar films, but it wasn't that risky. Lotso was a sadist, but still a rather buffoonish weasel ultimately, and most of the toy's torment were treated as Amusing Injuries. It had a nice closing to the story throughout the trilogy, but it wasn't this work of art fans made it out to be, just a rare good sequel.

There were some holes that bugged me, Lotso's henchmen got Easily Forgiven (there wasn't enough elaboration they were Just Following Orders, even if they were they seemed to enjoy it, maybe if they tried to save Woody afterwards or even if one of them took the heroes' relieved line "He's gone..." would be something but nothing). I admit I was also a bit put off by Chuckles' line before Lotso snapped "She only replaced you", it was like he was intending to just leave Lotso alone to his fate if he hadn't turned on him, you could almost understand why the latter broke down following that, it sided with his theory that a toy is just disposable trash without an owner.

edited 29th Nov '14 5:37:15 PM by Psi001

You should know from this very site that one person's "eh, really?" is another's unabashed Nightmare Fuel.

(not that i agree with a great many of the things that get such a designation).

edited 29th Nov '14 5:36:20 PM by Ogodei

You see, I don't like the "This scene was manipulative" argument because really, all movies are intended to invoke some type of emotion out of it's viewer. Now if it falls flat with you, yeah that certainly is a flaw, but I found Toy Story 3 no more manipulative than any other film that Pixar or any other studio has made.

edited 29th Nov '14 6:02:05 PM by Lionheart0

Some movies are transparently manipulative, though, and that's what they probably mean.

When done well, the film manipulates you carefully and gently; when done badly, it smashes you against the wall repeatedly.

Like you said, though, it's not that bad.

edited 29th Nov '14 6:07:46 PM by Aldo930

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."

I mean yeah, realistically you wouldn't expect an 18 year-old to reflect on his toys the way Andy did but considering this was him being written out of the franchise, I can let that slide.