Make no mistake, Toy Story 3 (in 3D natch) will vault to the top of the list, it’s a summer film designed to crack $200-million with little effort. Toy Story 3 is strictly for the toddlers because adults who don’t show signs of stunted growth will merely be bored.
Over the last few years Pixar has pounded out some dependable animated films that appealed to adults as much as kids, films like Wall-E (the first two-thirds anyhow) and Up. Toy Story 3 seems late to the dance, grounded in the last century. For instance, the human of Woody and Buzz, Andy packs his toys for college and yet none of his possessions show the slightest signs of computer games, or anything that a kid would’ve played with in the last ten years. If you met some teen going to college and he had a penchant for dolls instead of Wii, what would you think?
They got rid of Wheezy but they kept Slinky Dog. And why aren’t Woody and Jessie hooked up, it seems that they have common interests. What were the filmmakers thinking? Probably something along the lines of mass appeal that required no innovation.
Toy Story 3 revolves around Woody, Buzz and all the others being shipped off to a daycare center whose toys come to life at night. This sunny side retreat is lorded over by an at times benevolent and at other times pure conflicted evil Care Bear. As voiced by Ned Beatty, Lotso the strawberry scented stuffed bear, has the best character arc. That’s not much but in Toy Story 3 the expectations are low.
– Michael Bergeron
