It is always difficult to top a classic film like Toy Story, but when you have some of the most talented writers and illustrators at Pixar and some of the most familiar voices (i.e. Tom Hanks, Joan Cusack etc.) in the business, lots of things are possible.  I am on record as saying I would watch a movie about ice melting if Pixar made it, and of course I did watch Ice Age: The Meltdown.   Now that we have gotten Toy Story into 3-D mode, there is even more to enjoy.

The Toy Story franchise has been going now for 15 years, and the latest installment does indeed advance the story line considerably— Andy is going to college, and must decide what to do with his toys (donate them, throw them out, or pack them away in the attic, and a fourth option…. but I refuse to spoil the ending of the movie).  The story however, as usual, is about the toys’ stories and they turn out to be continually entertaining.  There is melodrama, hysteria, sadness,  joy, fun, play, and yes…..romance,  thanks mainly to two new additions to the storyline—- KEN and BARBIE (yes, that Ken and Barbie).  

Woody continues to be the true blue loyal toy who will never move on from being Andy’s toy.  But the rest appear ready to move on, since they are not getting played with. What they had not counted on was the play room from Hell at Sunnyside Day Care full of small children bent on abusing toys to the max.  And worst of all, since the new toys on the block are the low men on the totem pole, they have to take a licking and keep on ticking, because the toys at this place are run by one mean bear, 

We saw the movie on Father’s Day in 3D and there is plenty of visual stimulation in this film. Indeed the toys sometimes look so real and so touchable from where you are that one forgets this is computer generated animation.  What is interesting about watching a film about toys in 3D is it actually makes toys look better much than they often are— talk about an obvious marketing bonus. 

The film raises important questions about life and play such as: 1) when you grow up, do you out grow play, or just out grow toys?;  2)  How do you remain childlike in some important aspects of life without being naive or immature or childish?; 3) why do we turn objects like toys into important persons in our lives and invest so much energy and love and time in them?  Is this a good or a bad thing?  4)  When do you cross the line between fantasy and reality, and more to the point what do you do when you are a person whose fantasy life is far more important to you than your reality, and is just an escape from that reality?  Unfortunately for many children, especially in broken homes, this is true. 5) Why is a fantasy life so important for a child?    One of the things that you learn from watching this film is that even in the world of toys, there is good and evil, and childlike innocence is not enough to overcome the evil.

In some ways, I enjoyed the short subject (called Day and Night) which preceded the feature film itself.  How do you reconcile antinomies like dark and light?  It was endlessly creative and fun.  I would suspect that some parents will find some scenes in the feature film, especially the trip to the garbage dump a bit too intense, at least for small children. But then maybe I am thinking about my own childhood and what my parents protected me from.  

But for most, Toy Story III will be a worthy succesor to the previous two films.  Just don’t laugh too hard at the soap opera which is Ken and Barbie, or Buzz Light Year for that matter. Besides at only one hour and 49 minutes, counting even the final credits and with a G rating, this creative film is over far too quickly.  It may be the best movie of the summer of its sort.