Review:
Toy Story 3

They said it couldn’t be done. They said it was impossible. But they – whoever ‘they’ are – forgot one important fact: Pixar studios only release gold-plated films and there was no way they would ever let such a great series as Toy Story go out with a whimper. This, then, is perhaps their most triumphant film yet and – considering their track record – that’s no small achievement.

Consigned to the toy box, Woody, Buzz, Slinky, Hamm, the Potato Heads, Jesse, Bullseye, Rex and the alien triplets are desperate to try and win their way back into Andy’s affections. One final attempt to win their former master over leads to the last heartbreak for the gang: Andy is grown up and going to college. He has no more need of his toys and they must accept this. Heartbreaks and mishaps pile up with quick succession and if you blink you’ll miss whole swathes of story. Needless to say, the toys end up getting themselves donated to the Sunnyside daycare centre, where they know they’ll be played with all day, every day.

But something sinister is afoot. The bright pastel colours of Sunnyside are a façade, hiding behind them a much more sinister truth about children and the toys they play with. Before long, the toys find themselves trapped in a new kind of prison, one they can’t just walk away from…

If the first Toy Story was about a man trying to retain his position at the top of the corporate ladder and the second was about a man forced to choose between the life he enjoys and the life he wants, then this third film is themed around a man finding new purpose at the end of his life. That makes it sound grimmer that it really is – Toy Story 3 is a tale of retirement and growing old, as seen by plastic action figures. It’s probably the closest a film can ever get to pleasing both adults and children alike, without ever alienating either audience, and in doing so, it’s a masterclass of story, character, warmth and humour, all at once.