Many teens may look forward to college. Without their parents caring for them, they have total freedom finally! But what about things that need their tender loving care (TLC)? What about the toys they leave behind?
In the most anticipated summer movie of 2010, Toy Story 3, Andy, the 7-year-old imaginative boy we first met in the original Toy Story, has matured and is ready for college. He is no longer the inquisitive young boy who could not keep his hands off his favorite toys. Now he looks at his old toy chest indifferently…
Your family doesn’t outgrow you, or just appreciate and take care of you for a while, then they just throw you away. Toys are constantly outgrown by their owners who play with them. Have you ever wondered what if would be like to know what toys go through?
Toy Story 3 is a story of everyone’s favorite gang of toys owned by Andy: Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Bullseye, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads, Slinky the Dog, Rex, Hamm, and the three little aliens. Here we meet lots of intriguing new characters, many look sweet and innocent from the outside, but harbor dark nature inside, such as the huge plush strawberry-scented teddy bear called “Lots-o-Huggin,” his accomplice Ken, a girl’s toy who loves to dress up, Stretch (a purple octopus whose squishiness helps him get into tight places).
Andy’s toys end up in “Sunnyside Day Care,” a place where children in the butterfly room played happily with their toys, and never outgrew them because new kids come all the time. The toys are governed by Lots-o. The toys are transported to the “Caterpillar Room” but little do they know that this room houses a swarm of devious, lethal little imbeciles who enjoy butchering new toys by licking them, putting them up in the noses, smashing them, and dunking them in glue, glitter, and macaroni. Woody was separated from the gang, but managed to reconnect and lead them in an impossible adventure of their life!
One of my favorite first toys was a cloth tiger that I loved to chew on. My mom joked that it was the “dragon-tiger fight” since I was born in the year of the dragon. Of course the dragon always won. My current favorite toys are a plush blue penguin with red scarf and a pink bunny. They are so cute.
My mom, dad, and I often played catching the penguin and giggled a lot when we played. I sometimes sleep on my penguin for a pillow. When my dad gave away my toys for donation, I “hated” him because I became deeply attached to my toys.
My mom and I saw the first preview of Toy Story 3 in September 2009 at the Disney D23 Expo, where we attended the panel discussion by director Lee Unkrich and producer Darla Anderson. We also saw Toy Story 1 and Toy Story 2 in 3D there, awesome! I was looking forward to Toy Story 3 since then.
I give the movie 4.5 out of 5 starfish. It has more loss, action, drama and humor than the previous two films. One flaw: If the toddlers in the “Caterpillar Room” were mauling the toys all the time, wouldn’t their teachers intervene? Thinking back about my pre-school years, I would think so. Also, how could Lots-o pull Woody into the huge dumpster when he is not tall enough, and too fat to jump up high?
My favorite character is Woody: smart, kind, loyal, who will never give up on you. His motto is “No toy gets left behind.” What more could you ask for in a friend?
One of the funniest scenes is when Buzz was accidentally in his Spanish mode, he started to dance with Jessie the cowgirl and became infatuated with her. By far the funniest scene is when Mr. Potato head had to maneuver in a floppy tortilla!
Toy Story 3 is the best of the series with few flaws. It is about the connection between toys, their owners, and each other. It is also about friendship, loyalty, betrayal, and moving on with one’s life. One lesson learned is that the past can affect the future in a major way. The film is rated G. I urge everyone to see this “Perrific” movie!
You may leave your toys, but DO NOT leave behind the innocence and imagination of childhood!