Toy Story 3 (2010)

Directed by: Lee Unkrich

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, John Ratzenberger.

The third (and hopefully final) film of the Toy Story series sees everyone’s favourite Pixar characters, Woody and Buzz, coming to terms with the fact that their owner, Andy, no longer needs them. Andy, now all grown up and heading to college, boxes up his toys with the intention of storing them in the attic, but they are mistakenly sent to a day-care centre. Here, Woody tries to convince the gang that Andy still needs them, and sets upon a mission to get everyone home before Andy leaves.

The eleven year gap between this film and Toy Story 2 left audiences wondering whether a third film could live up to the success of its predecessors, but it does. To put it simply, this film is perfect; there are a few old characters that have ‘gone missing’ in the time between the films, and the new characters introduced in this film keep the plot interesting.

With the original Toy Story released fifteen years ago, Toy Story 3 was made with older audiences in mind; fans of the original would be around twenty years old now. This film, like all Pixar films, offers something for all ages; kids will love the adventure while the adults will appreciate the humour and the more serious subtexts of abandonment and notions of ‘retirement’.

The graphics are amazing, and the fact that the DVD does not seem to have a 3D option is a crime – I am generally not a fan of 3D movies, but since this film was made with 3D in mind, it really worked in its favour.