With 3 young kids in our house, we have an extensive Disney movie collection, including both Toy Story and Toy Story 2. So when Toy Story 3 came out it was put on our family movie list.
We don’t get out to the theatre that often. With the five of us, plus popcorn (you can’t watch a movie without popcorn) a night at the movie isn’t a cheap form of entertainment. But some movies you just need to see on the big screen and according to our kids Toy Story 3 is one such movie.
In case you’re not familiar with the movie, a quick synopsis from Disney’s site:
‘Toy Story 3 welcomes Woody (voice of Tom Hanks), Buzz (Voice of Tim Allen) and the whole gang back to the big screen as Andy prepared to depart for collage and his lyal toys find themselves in…day care! These untamed tots with their sticky little fingers do not play nice, so it’s all for one and one for all as plans for the great escape get underway.”
Before heading out to see the film I heard many people describe the film as sad in parts, like when Andy goes away to collage, or scary, like when the toys end up at the garbage dump. I’ll admit I had doubts that the movie would affect me that way. My kids are young and the thought of them heading off to college is far from my mind (though I did get unexpectedly teary during my son’s Kindergarten graduation).
I also wasn’t sure if the third movie in the series would live up to its predecessors. I loved the original Toy Story movie and Toy Story 2 was good but not nearly as good as the first so where would Toy Story 3 fall in the spectrum of the family of films.
Well I have to say it didn’t fall but rather jumped beyond my expectations. Toy Story 3 was just as enjoyable to me as the original movie, maybe even a little better. I loved the whole notion of the toys’ perspective on being donated or tossed; we’ve done the toy room purge many times in our house, usually donating to local charities where the toys will be played with (just like in the movie). But the idea of a toy gone bad from being lost or forgotten is an interesting twist. Though I have to admit I’ll be looking at the toys in the playroom in a different light now; handling our purging a little different I think.
Like the first Toy Story movies, there was a lot of tension and action and adventure created with the toys trying to escape from the day care.The movie evoked a lot of emotions in both my husband and I and the kids. The one thing I love about Toy Story 3 and most of Disney’s animated films, is that it appeals to both parents and kids making it a great family film. As a parent you don’t feel like you’re watching something for the sake of the kids; my husband and I enjoyed ourselves just as much as they did. Now there are some scenes younger kids might find frightening. My 6 and 8-year-old were fine but my 3-year-old said the fuzzy bear who turned evil kind of scared her. Also the scene at the garbage dump with the chopper and incinerator might be a little scary to some though I felt this wasn’t as scary as the mutilated toy scene in the original Toy Story film. My 6-year-old son got right into the film, yelling at the screen and warning the friends (good thing the theatre wasn’t too full).
I’ll admit it I cried. I was surprised I did. It wasn’t so much at the idea of Andy going away and thinking of my own kids. The part that made me sad, and there were a few parts, was the whole idea of change and moving on, of being forgotten but also the feeling of true friendship. Not all tears are sad tears.
We opted for the 3D version of the film but honestly the regular film would have been just fine (and cost less). Disney does an amazing job with 3D but the affects seemed to be subtle in this film and lost on the kids I think. The kids were also thrilled to see the Toy Story 3 snack pack (yes I’m a sucker for packaging and marketing gimmicks). Sadly the theatre we were attending didn’t have the Toy Story 3 drink toppers, which was kind of a disappointment.
Bottom line, Toy Story 3 lived up to the high expectations that the original film has set. It was entertaining right to the end. We’re all glad we saw the film on the big screen but you can believe me that we’ll be owning it on DVD when it comes out too.
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