Toy Story 3

Unkrich, L., dir. (2010). Toy Story 3 (Animated Film). United States: Pixar.

Plot Summary:
This is the third animated film of the Toy Story movies from Pixar. It begins with Andy getting ready to leave for college. All his favorite old toys, such as Woody and Buzz Lightyear are starting to speculate about what that means for them. Andy intends to put all of the toys (except for his favorite, Woody) into the attic in a garbage bag, but his mom mistakenly donates them to a daycare instead. Upset about being cast off, the toys try to make the best out of their new home at the daycare, but Woody leaves determined to make it back to Andy. Things at the daycare end up being horrible, as the toys are all put into the youngest kids' room and practically destroyed. It turns out that the daycare toys are being controlled by an evil stuffed bear who locks up Andy's toys and forbids them from leaving. Woody eventually makes his way back to the daycare to rescue the other toys, there they use all of their resources to escape, but the toys haven't succeeded yet. They must encounter some additional obstacles before finding themselves safely home.

Review:
Oh man, this movie had me in tears. It really got me thinking about all of the stuffed animals I still have in garbage bags in my parent's garage. I love Pixar movies. They are a lot of fun for all ages, full of enough silly humor to entertain the youngest kids, but also full of witty dialog, which is nice for older viewers. The characters are all very well developed and each bring their own unique talents and humor to the film. Woody is a great role model, he is a strong character who loves and cares for his friends and doesn't ever give up. The animation is incredible, I even felt that Pixar had greater success in animating humans, something I thought was not as good in the first Toy Story movie. The story was very silly, but will strike a nerve in tweens who were ever attached to their stuffed animals. I think some will also see toys represented in the movie that they played with when they were younger, like Mr. Potato Head.

Genre:
animated film

Age Level:
rated G for general audience; all ages

Subjects/Themes:
growing up, loss

Awards:
Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song

Character Names/Descriptions:
Woody: cowboy toy of Andy's; only toy Andy is taking to college with him; gets separated from the rest of the toys and goes back to rescue them; unofficial leader of the toys
Buzz Lightyear: space invader toy of Andy's; is reprogrammed by Lots-O-Huggin Bear and the other evil toys; is reprogrammed again to only speak Spanish
Jessie: cowgirl toy of Andy's
Lots-O-Huggin Bear: evil stuffed bear; rules all the toys at the daycare; tries to prevent Andy's toys from leaving the daycare
Andy: owner of all of the toys; leaving for college; means to put his toys away in the attic; eventually donates them all to Bonnie
Bonnie: girl in daycare who eventually receives all of Andy's toys; plays well with her toys

Annotation:
As Andy prepares to leave for college, his old toys mistakenly are donated to a daycare. It is up to the toys to find their way back to Andy's room.