MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

Toy Story 3 Rated G

Directed by Lee Unkrich. Animated Feature

Photo © Warner Brothers Pictures/Pixair Animiation
Movie Review by Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

When our sons went off for college, my wife and I (with their guidance) set aside all of the toys and videotapes that they wanted to keep for later years when they would be parents and could use the toys again.  Those boxes are now in the basement (it’s cooler) and they are still waiting to be liberated one day. 

Toy Story 3 begins at the same place.  Andy, the little boy in the 1995 film Toy Story, is a young man and getting ready to go out of town to college.  His mom tells him he has to pack up his bedroom (Note: This is a fallacy; college students always keep their bedrooms the same.).  Andy (voiced by John Morris) decides to take Woody (Tom Hanks), his first special toy, to college with him; the other toys (including Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head (Don Rickles and Estelle Harris), Jessie (Joan Cusack) and Rex the dinosaur (Wallace Shawn) will go up to the attic. 

Things do not go off as planned.  Woody doesn’t make it with Andy to college and, through a series of miscommunications, the other toys end up at a daycare center, where another toy, Lotso Bear (Ned Beatty) is in charge. 

The little kids play rougher and the other toys don’t quite play fair.  Andy’s toys will be forced to make new friends and stand together under the challenging circumstances that come to all toys that are given away. 

Toy Story 3 is a great film for all ages, but it especially resonates with college students who saw the first film when they were children. 

The action gets very scary in the last third of the movie, which shouldn’t be a problem if children have seen the first two films; the bond with the characters should allay most fears.  But I wouldn’t recommend this one to preschool kids; stick to the first Toy Story with them. 

Once again, Pixar Animation delivers a film with great characters and an exciting storyline.  And let’s hear it for Chagrin Falls, Ohio’s Lee Unkrich for directing this wonderful computer animated film! 

The film begins and ends with scenes of children playing with toys, reminding us that God gives us imaginations that require years of play before going off to accomplish great things.

Pitchfork/Halo Ratings:

Four halos. The Toy Story series reaches a satisfying conclusion, filled with laughs, adventure, and reflections about friendship and love.
One picthfork. For scary moments and a couple of adult-type in-jokes.

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