Toy Story 3 - Submitted by Ben Gardner

Toy Story 3
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Allen
Director: Lee Unkrich
Rating: 5 (out of 5)

It struck me when waiting to see Pixar latest masterpiece that the majority of people in the queue with me were not even born when the original ‘game changing’ Toy Story was first released. I use the term game changing because it is one we have heard a lot recently thanks to the release of another 3D, CGI epic that took all the headlines earlier this year, a film years in the making which apparently broke new boundaries in terms of what was possible with cinema and CGI. Don't get me wrong, I was just as amazed at what James Cameron achieved with Avatar as most of the audience, I'd just like to point out that John Lasseter and his team at Pixar were doing this fifteen years ago, and doing it with much more heart. Will the vast world of Pandora and its many inhabitants still capture an audiences imagination, take away their collective breaths, and tug on their heart strings as much as the bedroom of one Andy Davis and its two dozen or so plastic residents in fifteen years time?

Toy Story 3 opens with a scene that immediately reminds us why we were so hooked when watching the first film all those years ago. The writers have managed to include so many cues to the previous adventures in the franchise without at any time feeling like a rehash of old ideas. Hence we are reintroduced to Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) et al in a sequence that perfectly recalls the time we first met the characters though really ups the ante on what we have seen before. It is probably the biggest set piece in the film, though the rest of the adventure never feels like it lacks because of this.

After the epic opening we learn that Andy (as still played by the original film’s John Morris) is now 18 years old and is about to go to college, moving out of the bedroom that we are reminded was the setting for so many adventures played out between Woody, Buzz and the rest of the toys, in and outside of Andy's imagination.Andy needs to make a decision about what he is going to do with his toys, and thanks to a collection of mistakes, mishaps and misunderstanding, the toys are eventually off to the new pastures of Sunnyside Day Care Centre and its new cast of play mates, feeling neglected by their old owner and desperate to find new children to be played with. It's here we meet the apparently benevolent Lotso (the fantastic Ned Beatty), the vain and emasculated Ken (Michael Keaton) and the surprisingly scary Big Baby amongst others. Ken in particular is an hilarious addition to the cast, and his fledgling relationship with Barbie is a highlight of an already fantastic ensemble. It is as the toys realise that the grass is definitely not greener, forcing Woody to the rescue that our story develops.

I should now mention the rest of the note perfect cast; the subtle yet oh so effective use of 3D; and the as ever incredible visuals, though these are only co-stars to what is at the real soul of the film. Pixar have an amazing knack for creating stories that work on so many different levels: for adults and children; for boys and girls; fathers and sons and mothers and daughters. Unlike the Shark Tales, Madagascars and Ice Ages of the world, Toy Story manages to appeal to every member of its audience consistently, and it does so without alienating anybody in the process.

In Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich and his team have created the perfect send off to a group of characters much beloved by audiences, and one that the different members of this audience will enjoy in so many ways. The children will love the spectacle, the humour, the beautifully drawn characters and (rare) fart and poo jokes. Adults will love all this but also will identify with the very human themes of love, loss, neglect and hope that are so important throughout. I will put my neck out and say that at around fifteen minutes from the end we are treated to possibly one of the most beautiful moments I have seen in any movie, animated or not. This is the difference between Toy Story 3 and its counterparts: it is much more than simply a cartoon. In years to come when the kids that are now enjoying these stories for the first time are taking their own children to the cinema, it will be this film that has had more influence on what they are watching rather than Avatar, at least I hope that this is the case.

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