Toy Story remains one of those magical stories that a young immediately child understands. Toys are a special thing in our lives. They provided hours of endless fun and sparked my imagination. Toy Story is such a genius idea because of that special relationship each one of us had with our toys when we were young.
They were the actors in my little make believe world, often time switching between the good guys and bad guys to fulfill a role for a toy I didn't have. Growing up with a lot of television programs that weren't of the Saturday morning variety meant that when the afternoon hits, I had little to do besides watching television. Often times, I'd pick up my Optimus Primal action figure and replay episodes of Beasties or start to come up with new adventures for my toys to go on. It's a rinse/repeat strategy that really worked for me, buy the action figures, re-enact the episodes and once you're bored with that, make up a new one.
Something about the toys that I had made me treat them like they were real beings. Call it an overactive imagination of a small child, toys were my best friends for a large part of my young life. The idea that Toys had a life of their own was not a distant idea for my young counterpart. The toys I had were in many ways, real to me. They were more than just toys, they were friends.
Now, almost 15 years since the first Toy Story came out, Pixar releases yet another Toy Story. Considering Hollywood's track record with the third film in any film franchise (T3, Alien Ressurection, Episode VI, and the much maligned Spider-man 3 which I actually liked), Pixar has a lot of live up to.
The story takes place eleven years after the second film, Andy's grown up and is about to go to college. The toys have been feeling a little bit neglected by their favourite owner. They haven't been played in years and the closest thing to interaction they have is an elaborate scheme to call Andy's cellphone to just hear his voice. After Andy's mom gives him an ultimatum to either put the toys in the attic or donate them, Andy takes out the garbage bad and stuffs his old toys in it but decides to keep his favourite, Woody. The toys of course believe that they're being thrown away but are actually being put in the attic.
Figuring out that they're being trashed, the toys decide that that the next best thing is to be donated to a Daycare. Woody, being the patriarch of the group and being the only one who knows the truth about Andy's intentions, tries to convince the rest of the gang that they weren't being thrown away, but in the process, ends up being transported to the Day Care himself. Once there, the toys discover that Sunnyside Day care is everything they wanted and more, once kids grow up, a new batch comes in and they always get new kids to play.
The toys deal with issues of abandonment but Woody, being the loyal toy that he is, refuses to believe there is any life outside of being Andy's toys. The film explores many themes of growing up, it's truly a film that everyone can appreciate.
What can I say about this film? It's pitch perfect. There's emotional resonance, it studies the pain of growing apart, growing up and finding a new life as you leave the old one behind. The characters knew that the day was coming when their owner out grows them, they accepted that fact in the second movie. But now, eleven years later, things turned out to be different. Perhaps they're not as prepared as they thought they were.
Now I did feel that the story does retread some of the same old ground that the previous films did, such as buzz being crazy as well as the idea of being trapped in a place they didn't want to be in and have to escape to reach back to Andy. I also felt that the film at times were too loaded with too many characters, we don't spend ample time with each of the side characters to get a true sense of who they are (though I only say this because I wanted to see more of them, didn't want the film to end). Ken is an instant favourite new addition to the Toy Story family and he is hilariously voiced by Micheal Keaton.
What Pixar does so well with every movie that they make is that they're fearless storytellers. Unlike many of Hollywood's studios, Pixar spends a huge amount of time concentrating on the story and the characters before moving into the productions. Story comes first and time and time again, they have come out on top and have consistently become one of Hollywood's most critically and commercially successful studios.
It's a film about growing up and letting go of the days of youth, it's about realizing that you can't hold on to those things that you hold dear to your heart, and that a part of growing up is the painful acknowledgement of moving one.
And now, I finally have the honour to say that Pixar has the dubious honur of producing the second film in which I have cried.
5/5
*****
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