Toy Story 3

It's here! It's finally here! That's right, after more than a decade, the guys at Pixar Animation Studios have finally brought back everybody's favorite toys for another round of play time. Only this time around things aren't so hunky-dory ( and yes I just used the word "hunky-dory" ).

This film takes place many years after Toy Story 2 and brings us right back into the life of Andy and his toys. This time around, however, Andy has reached the ripe, young age of 17 and is now heading off to college and unfortunately this means that the toys must go to the attic. Of course there wouldn't be much of a story if something didn't go horribly wrong and lucky for us, something does; Woody and his pals are thrown to the curb after being mistaken for garbage. After an impromptu escape, the toys decide that Andy doesn't care for them anymore so they hop in a box filled with other toys that are to be donate to Sunnyside Daycare. Upon arrival Sunnyside seemed like the perfect place to the toys and according to Lots-O-Huggin' Bear, the head hancho at the daycare, they would never have to worry about being thrown out or forgotten by an owner ever again. The toys soon find out that Sunnyside Daycare isn't exactly heaven on earth.

I am not a huge fan of threequels for many reasons. One reason is that the characters can become unrecognizable due to senseless plotlines that never needed to exist in the first place ( or at least were not thought through well enough ). Another reason is that things can become too complex or even boring when a perfectly good character's storyline is dragged out through witless sequels. Pixar will have none of that. The animators at Pixar love their characters and it shows in all of their films, but perhaps none does a better job at doing this for Pixar than the Toy Story trilogy ( I mean there is a reason why Pixar finished this trilogy without even producing one sequel to any of their other works first ). Pixar does a fantastic job of remaing faithful to the little details that made us love Woody, Buzz and all the toys. And as far as being a "threequel" goes, Toy Story 3 has more everything: more action, more danger, meaner villians, more humor, more romance, and a higher level of pretty much everything without being dragged out to the point of being stupid or boring.

This 'Toy Story' is much deeper and has a much darker feel to it than any of its predecessors. Don't be frightened, this is only a natural occurrence caused by the harsh reality that the toys must face about Andy growing up and moving on. One of my favorite things about this trilogy is that it has always been about Woody and his loyalty to Andy, so when Andy finally starts to move on with his life, Woody must face the greatest conundrum of his life: Does he remain ever-loyal to his owner or does he continue a happy existence with his friends?

Pixar really does a nice job with their films and they take their time to make each one perfect and Toy Story 3 is nothing less than exactly that. This film is the best movie of the year so far and hopefully the academy does what's right by placing Toy Story 3 in one of the 10 nomination slots for best picture. Here's to you, Pixar, for giving us Toy Story and all its loveable characters. We will love them for infinity and beyond.

See this film!