Toy Story 3

I saw this on the plane back from Dubai. On the way to Dubai, I saw The Shawshank Redemption and Casablanca, but I'd seen both of those beforehand. Toy Story 3 was new.

I saw the original when I was young and have not seen the second one. It's amazing how the basic story had stuck in my head. This shows that what an effective film it was. It was nice to pretend that your toys had personalities, sensitivities, goals, etc.

This pulls at the heartstrings by showing the toys' being neglected. Andy must decide what to do with them, now that he's going to university. He decides to put them in the attic, but his mum accidentally throws them out. They escape and end up in a daycare centre, where the toys are ruled by a dictator named Lotso. He is the only entirely bad character in the film. There are others who work for him at times, but see the errors of their ways eventually.

It's fast-paced and has a number of twists. There are a few times when it seems as if the toys are either sentenced to a life of misery or to destruction, but it all ends well. I noticed one or two references for adults and/or film buffs to notice. The part when Big Baby throws Lotso in the bin is reminiscent of when Darf Vader throws the Emperor off the bridge. Barbie is given an intelligent line.

Judged by an IMDB discussion, a lot of adults cried towards the end of this film: perhaps more adults cried than children. That is probably a result of the film's message that things we once loved get forgotten about and neglected. Everything changes in this world and loyalty must be rationed. Time goes by and we don't have enough time in our lives to keep hold of everything we've ever loved.

This gets 9/10 from me. It's not often that a kids' film can keep adults entertained as well. It is a well-crafted film that makes you pay attention and care about the outcome.