Every so often a film comes along that is so utterly perfect it reminds me why I love cinema in the first place. Even when I don't particularly need reminding, it's a film so special that it transcends everything else and just inspires. Toy Story 3 is exactly one of those films. Arriving 11 years after the much-loved Toy Story 2 (John Lasseter, Ash Brannon, Lee Unkrich, 1999), the hype and critical praise surrounding this summers mega sequel had me hoping for the best. There's nothing worse than being built up just to be knocked back down... especially by a series I have my childhood invested in. So how, when I went in so aware and so expecting, did Toy Story 3 catch me off-guard and secure the coveted position of Film Of The Year? Lets start at the beginning...Well, to start at the beginning we'd need to discuss Day & Night (Teddy Newton), the new (and now customary) short that accompanies all of Pixar's features. This time two characters, animated personifications of day and night, attempt to get along against a black stage. They are classically animated whereas their insides (yes, they're see-through) are CG animated and reveal all the positive aspects of their cycles - a sunny day on the beach or a night in Vegas for respective examples. It's an odd little experiment that works surprisingly well - it lacks the humor of a short like Presto (Doug Sweetland, 2008) but makes up for it with invention and a strong message - no matter where you come from, colour or creed, we are all the same. It may be saccharine but if there's one studio that can pull it off with style, it's Pixar.
The main feature begins in the same vein as Toy Story 2 - a fake set-up action sequence. Mr & Mrs Potato Head (Don Rickles, Estelle Harris) are train robbers in the Old West, but Sheriff Woody (Tom Hanks) is hot on their trail! A fight between hero and villain ensues with Woody eventually being knocked off the high-speed locomotive - only to be caught by cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack) and loyal steed Bullseye. The evil potato heads blow up the bridge ahead and leave Woody to make a decision - apprehend the villains or save the train of orphans (trolls with multi-colour hairstyles). Woody boards the train and slams on the brakes but it's not enough as the train hurtles off the collapsed bridge. But it's Buzz (Tim Allen) to the rescue! He places the train back to safety and heads off, with Woody and Jessie in tow, to apprehend the bad guys. After a Slinky (Blake Clark)/Rex (Wallace Shawn) showdown a spaceship appears - but it's no ordinary spaceship. It's in the shape of a piggy bank and it's carrying the dastardly Pork Chop (Hamm, voiced by John Ratzenberger). A horde of monkeys are unleashed on the heroic trio and as they are trapped by the chimps we suddenly cut - to a home-video. It turns out this whole adventure is taking place in the imagination of a young Andy - the Andy we recognise from the first two films. This is the beginning of an opening credits sequence that takes us on a journey through Andy's childhood to his teenage years. He's now 17 and preparing for college. After a mix-up with some boxes (and an excellent action sequence recalling Woody accidentally being put out for the yard sale in Toy Story 2) the toys get sent off to a daycare center called Sunnyside.
This perfectly designed, brightly coloured playpen is split into two districts - Butterfly for the older kids and Caterpillar for the pre-schoolers. Our favorite toys are designated to the Caterpillar zone by residents Lotso (Ned Beatty, relishing his finest role in years) and Ken (Michael Keaton, also relishing the part). Woody wants to go home and, in a very affecting moment, leaves to be reunited with a college-bound Andy. To say any more about the plot would be to ruin laughs, excitement and drama but as you can probably tell from the trailer, the cuddly Lotso isn't all what he seems and the daycare may turn into a nightmare locale...
The locals of Sunnyside are not what they seem in Toy Story 3...
There are many things to tackle in the reviewing of Toy Story 3 and very little space in which to do it. Firstly the visuals. Pixar have always been masters of design - their attention to detail and focus on atmosphere has been staggeringly effective even in their weaker efforts and while they have yet to beat the first 40 minutes of Wall-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008) in this department (the echoing loneliness and desperation haunts me to this day) Toy Story 3 certainly comes in at a confident second. There is also something to be said for Unkrich's direction and the way he lets us absorb every location. The sweeping opening shot of the movie, which swoops over a high valley to focus on the train speeding through the canyons, is marvelous and the early shots of the beautifully lit (and incredibly detailed) Sunnyside are amazing to behold. The lighting is exceptional, the sense of space and the weight of the characters in their environment... Unkrich and his team have perfected the animation technique they brought to life with the original Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995) all those years ago. One scene sees Woody in the house of a child named Bonnie (Emily Hahn) - along with new toys Trixie (the wonderful Kristen Schaal) and Mr. Pricklepants (an underused Timothy Dalton). The young girl plays with the toys, sending them careering around the room on her own adventure - the toys are flung into the air and in slow motion, against an almost angelic lighting, fall with her onto a plush bed. As well as being beautifully cinematic it perfectly recalls the feelings of childhood innocence and, well... fun. The most visually impressive section of the film though is in the latter action sequences. I won't reveal the circumstances in which the toys come to be in danger by a giant melting pit but as they lunge over a fiery death pit (so wonderfully animated and lit you can literally feel the heat) they all join hands. Unkrich moves from close up to close up as well-worn hands come together in a union almost as heart-rendering as the ending itself. The metal underneath the toys shimmers, the bright light reflects off their anxious, fearful faces - the fire bubbles and the dark night projects its shadow into the pit. If I weren't so invested in the characters and their situation I would have had time to step back and look at this composition as a work of art - and that's about the highest compliment I can give.
The voice-acting is, as ever, top-notch. Hanks and Allen sound as youthful as the day they started, so perfectly cast, they nail every line. Cusack is also tremendous as ever and newcomers Beatty, Keaton and Dalton add new and totally believable flavor into the mix, bringing with them menace, comedy and drama. Even the young Hahn, who could easily warrant her own movie, is perfect. Of course their talents are given room to shine by the smart, funny and heartfelt screenplay by Michael Arndt (a masterful writer, the scribe behind 2006s Little Miss Sunshine, Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris). He balances the characters and situations perfectly, forming comedy out of drama and drama out of comedy, also setting-up a tremendous pace and some inventive set-pieces (the toys break-out of Sunnyside is brilliant).
A final shout must be given to the original music supplied by Randy Newman, who has gone some way to defining the tone and flavour of the Toy Story films. His music here goes from pulse-pounding (the opening and closing action scenes) to just plain lovely (the final goodbye). What can I say? Everything about the movie is crafted with total care and passion. Every frame holds a thousand wonders - watching it once simply isn't enough. I may hold a more personal connection than some - having grown up with Andy and recently having to throw away old toys of my own, the ending struck a particularly powerful chord. More than one tear was spilled and it would be a cold heart that felt nothing at all. Pixar have struck gold with perhaps their finest film yet (remember, it's only the first 40 minutes of Wall-E that count) and certainly, certainly the best film of the year. Honestly, it's about as perfect as cinema can get. To infinity and beyond indeed...
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