Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3, 2010 - Lee Unkrich

So which is better, Inception or Toy Story 3?

It seems like a strange comparison to make just because both films were released within a couple of weeks of each other, and TS3 is a kid’s film...or is it.

Pixar films have always been kids’ films with enough subtle humour and references to entertain the parents. Since setting a new benchmark for animated films with the original Toy Story (way back in 1995, yikes!) each film Pixar make is better than the last one, to the point where, with TS3, they’ve reached a bit of a predicament; how far can you go to make a children’s film incredible and yet still make a film that is suitable for children?

When they wrote Buzz Lightyear’s catchphrase ‘To infinity, and beyond’, it was just something corny for him to say as part of his deluded space-hero character. This simple line has been over-interpreted over the years, even as far as being the basis of humanist interpretations of the plot of Toy Story. The people behind the TS series would, I’m sure, tell the world that the films are just stories about toys. Simple as that, although the toys have well defined and developed characters. Without worrying about including a deep message or statement (they used the animated short ‘Day & Night’ for that) Pixar have resorted to a simple method of making TS3 better than its predecessors; Peril.

Raising the steaks and putting the characters in jeopardy is how almost all films are structured, and the best films make the audience care about the characters so they are emotionally effected by the peril the characters go though. The Toy story films do this brilliantly, and the advantage of a successful franchise means that by the end of a third film, the audience are so attached to Woody and Buzz and the gang that when that final peril comes, the audience are deeply moved.

This is clearly where TS3 betters Inception. The big criticism of Nolan’s film is that the characters are not as important as the story. DiCaprio and the rest of the cast go through four layers of peril at the same time, but all the characterisation that has taken place in the first half of the film seems secondary to the plot itself. But Inception is original and ambitious and plays with the conventions of moviemaking itself, so I think it is the better film. Toy Story 3 doesn’t do anything that hasn’t been done before, it just does it better than it’s been done before (with the aforementioned advantage of being part of a series).

The quality of the TS series comes partially from the fact that no film has been made with a sequel in mind. They never set themselves up for the next chapter, each of the films reaches its own complete conclusion, although TS3 has a very clear sense of being the final chapter, and therein lies my only slight annoyance with the film.

* SPOILERS * START * HERE

You may have heard about how good TS3 is and how engaged the audience becomes, grown men have cried at TS3, and they can be forgiven. This film has a ‘moment’ in it. Almost every film aspires to create a third act climax that will move the audience, and in TS3 the peril is so great and the characters so beloved that you’ll need a heart of stone not to be upset by the sight of Wood et all finally accepting the fate that they have tried to avoid throughout the whole film. They have been thrown away, old toys that are not wanted anymore, and are stuck together in a huge pile of rubbish that is slowly being dragged into a huge furnace. There’s no escape and the characters all know it. They realise they are doomed and stop struggling. They solemnly hold hands and wait for death. This must be the saddest most traumatic scene ever in a children’s film. It’s ok to cry because the toys can’t shed a tear, it’s the final reminder that they are just toys after all, not people. I imagine some kids in the audience must be incredibly stressed out by this, it was a brave move by the writers and director and one that makes sense, it’s the only place left to go after three incredible films; ultimate peril followed by heart wrenching acceptance that, despite all their efforts, the end has finally come, followed by...miraculous rescue at the hands of the comic relief claw-machine aliens.

Of course they could never have killed all the toys, but I wish they had. It’s not that I’m evil and twisted or a sadist, but because TS3 takes the audience to the edge, like no kids film has before, and I so wanted to be pushed off. Making us care so much for these toys and then tearing them away for ever would have been incredible, it would have given a deeper meaning to the film; that sometimes the things that you love are taken away, no matter how hard you try. The villainous toy of the film could have still suffered a similar fate or worse in order to emphasise that evil never triumphs, but sometimes good doesn’t triumph either. That would have been a brave and refreshing message to the kids.

But that’s not what Toy Story is about. It’s about simple cinematic pleasures performed very well so children around the world can enjoy it. Oh yes...and merchandising.

Also, I wonder how they’ll handle ‘Spanish Buzz’ in the Spanish dub of the film.