Ryan McNeil
There’s a line I love in an R.E.M. song that says It’s easier to leave than to be left behind. It’s a quintessential truth in so many parts of life, and it’s what makes TOY STORY 3 work so well.
Very briefly, TOY STORY 3 brings us back into Andy’s room eleven years after we left. Young Andy is 17 now, and getting ready to go to college. Of course this means letting go of childhood tokens; namely his toys. While Woody, Buzz Lightyear, The Potatoheads, Rex, Hamm and the gang knew this day was coming, they’re still uneasy with the prospect of being put in the attic and not being played with.
Through a series of mishaps, they all end up at Sunnyside Daycare Centre where they meet enough friends to stock an F.A.O. Schwartz. Leading the pack is a teddy bear named Lots-O-Huggin. While he is at first very warm and iviting to Andy’s old brood, they soon understand that the daycare centre has a hierarchy, and they are at the wrong end of the class system.
Thus, they begin one more mission to put things right. They turn to each other to reclaim their place in Andy’s life. They do everything they can to avoid Lots-O’s tyrrany, to avoid the daycare children’s wrath, and to avoid being sent to the dumpster once and for all.
As time passes and things change, life causes unavoidable ripple effects. For Andy, his growing up and moving on is an inevitability – and an undeniably good one at that. Unfortunately, while he will move on to bigger and better things, his toys have to stay behind and figure out what to do with themselves. In many ways, they are like the boyfriend unceremoniously dumped by a girl he loves. One party goes on with their life, carrying with them an edge in confidence since they were the one in control of the decision. The other party is left to lick their wounds, pick up the pieces, and try to figure out what to do next.
This position of being the one standing on the platform and waving as the train pulls away, happens often in life. Lovers break up. Friends move away. Co-workers find other jobs. In some ways, the void and restlessness that we are left can leave us making some bad decisions, such as the fate of the toys. They have taken Andy’s figurative “It’s not you – it’s me” and decided that running with the first bad boy they can find is better than being home alone on a Friday with ice cream and THE NOTEBOOK on dvd.
Of course, as in life, it’s just the first domino, and that first bad decision eventually leads to a horrible situation. So what do they do then? These loyal spirits that never stopped caring about the one who left them behind? They do what we all do – they turn to the others still left standing and increase their faith and trust in one-another. By doing this, they avoid the fate of Lots-O. By leaning on each other and putting their efforts into moving forward, they stay positive. The world can be a lonely place, and sometimes it’s only with the help of your friends that one can avoid becoming jaded, lonely, and angry.
This is the theme that I latched on to the most with TOY STORY 3, though it’s nods to abandonment, loyalty, and friendship certainly worked to make it a stand-out movie as well. It’s true that some of these themes have been dealt with in the first two films, however it’s also very clear that these characters have learned from what they’ve already been though. Even though they seem to forget it at the beginning of the film, they know that they can only endure if they believe in one another. It’s a lesson in community, that I believe is a good one for children to learn.
The end of this film has been mentioned quite a bit. If you’re reading this far, I assume you know what it is, but just in case you don’t I will avoid specifics. As it has for many others, the end did indeed move me to tears. It wasn’t what we were witnessing exactly that was moving me, so much as it was the situation itself. We go through our lives interacting with so many people. Some might not care, but for the rest of us, the knowledge that we made a difference…left an impression…is tantamount. Hearing someone articulate just such an impression is always a beautiful thing, and I believe that inside of all of us is the wish to know that we had such an impression on even one person in life.
So yes. Take all of what I’ve just described; wrap it up in some beautiful animation, throw in some absurdity, some silliness, and some sweetness, and you’ll understand why I loved TOY STORY 3. It’s a movie, and a series, that wants to teach our children some very grown up lessons. It does so very well and very gracefully.
All of that alone is like getting an ice cream cone for being good. The fact that we get all of that with such enduring and charming characters is like spoiling us with whipped cream, a cherry and nuts.
Expertly written review. Very touching and funny 🙂