After I completed Toy Story 2 (1999) I thought, why not finish the series?  Toy Story 3 (2010) cannot be that bad, right?  In my review of Toy Story 2, I commented on how I could not tell how it was any different than the original film.  In the first, the group of eponymous items have to rescue newcomer and space ranger Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen).  In the second, this time they have to track down vintage cowboy toy Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks).  They have to accomplish these tasks all before Andy (voiced by John Morris) notices that his trinkets have a life of their own.  They do so because they are dedicated to their owner, which is admirable, and are emotionally fed by the love he gives them. Again, I appreciate the sentiment.  Though Andy is older and about to go to college in Toy Story 3, there is the same message about loyalty and, at the same time, moving on with one’s life.  As always, there is added to this the inevitable need to get back to Andy.  From what I recall of Toy Story 4 (2019), it is basically the same premise, even if the toys have a new owner.  Either way, I will now describe to you Toy Story 3.

We start Toy Story 3 with a farce featuring all of Andy’s toys being used for a make-believe scenario.  Basically, it is Woody saving a train from the evil Mr. Potato Head (voiced by Don Rickles) and his wife, Mrs. Potato Head (voiced by Estelle Harris).  This is when Andy is still a child.  In other words, it is flashback because our story is set in the days immediately preceding his departure for college.  His room is being packed up, and it has been years since he has played with any of the items with which we are familiar.  The toys understand what is going on, and are preparing to be moved to the attic, hopeful that Andy will eventually come back for them and perhaps pass them on to any children he might have one day.  The one exception is Woody, whom Andy plans on bringing with him to school.  The others are nervous that they are going to be thrown away to end up in a landfill, but Woody assures them that they will be stored above the ceiling.  Two things happen in immediate succession to make them more nervous that this might not happen.  First, Andy puts them in a trash bag, though from Woody’s vantage point it is obvious that they are intended for the attic.  Before they can be placed there, Andy’s mom (voiced by Laurie Metcalf) notices the black garbage receptacle and takes it to the curb to be picked up by the dumpster.  Woody springs into action, managing to get them out without being noticed, and into Andy’s mom’s car.  Inside the vehicle is a box labeled “Donate,” and they are taken to the Sunnyside Day Care Center.  Once they are in the playroom, Woody is insistent that they effect their escape and return to Andy.  The others, though, are impressed with what they see around them.  Since it looks as if they are unwanted by Andy, they are eager to stay with these kids who will actually play with them instead of stuffing them into a bin for days on end.  Because of Woody’s place with Andy at college, it gives him the reason to say goodbye.  However, his escape from the facility only leads him into the arms of Bonnie (voiced by Emily Hahn).  She is the child of a friend of Andy’s mother, but appreciative of having a new cowboy for her collection.  Once he is able to communicate with the toys she already has, he is able to learn that he is not far from Andy’s house.  This is also when he learns the truth about Sunnyside.  We already know it because after Woody’s departure, the others are greeted by their leader, a strawberry smelling, pink teddy bear named Lotso (voiced by Ned Beatty).  He seems inviting at first, but he settles Andy’s group in the room with the toddlers.  What follows is a brutal sequence with the tots abusing the toys as only little ones of their age can do.  Once everything dies down, Buzz is sent to Lotso to see if they can make arrangements to switch rooms.  Lotso tells Buzz that only the space ranger can come.  When Buzz refuses, Lotso has his cronies switch Buzz back to his factory settings, wiping away the soldier’s memory and doing the bidding of Lotso.  It looks like they are doomed to an eternity of being mauled by toddlers.  As should be expected, this is when Woody intervenes.  Having learned about Lotso from another toy that had once known the stuffed animal, Woody decides that he must save his friends before going back to Andy.  What follows is the most intricate escape plan ever devised for a children’s movie.  It involves getting to the trash compactor, which looks like the only viable escape route.  Unsurprisingly, Lotso is waiting there for them.  It takes Woody reminding Lotso about the teddy’s former owner for the toys to turn against him.  It takes time, though, and Lotso gets thrown into the trash truck along with Andy’s toys.  It leads to them all ending up in the incinerator, with Lotso refusing to help despite Woody saving Lotso’s life.  What prevents them from being burned alive is a giant trash claw being operated by the aliens (voiced by Jeff Pidgeon).  From there, as usual, they are able to make to Andy’s before he finally leaves for college.  Finding the toys once more, he decides to take them to Bonnie, and the final shot is of them watching Andy’s car drive off down the road.

Okay, even I will admit to the final shot of Toy Story 3 being poignant.  I did not cry, though, as so many swore I would if I ever saw it.  I believe I did at the end of Toy Story 4, but let us leave this moment alone.  Instead, Toy Story 3’s ending is a powerful one because it marks the passage of one person from childhood into adulthood.  A lot is made in Christianity of 1 Corinthians 13:11, which talks about this very transition.  To put it succinctly, there is a time and place for everything: to be a child and to be an adult.  At the same time, there is nothing that can be done about the past.  The toys have to learn this lesson as they try to hold onto what they have, probably for too long, as seen in their desire to continue to be played with by children.  Only the right little ones, remember.  I believe it can also be said with some certainty that they did not expect to be given to Bonnie.  If you had asked them at the beginning, they would have said there is no way they could ever countenance being apart from Andy or his family.  Yet, Andy gave them all the example they needed when he gives the box of his toys to Bonnie.  Unlike the characters in the film, we have a more definite end.  Since they are not real people, they can theoretically live much longer.  Much of life is, then, about putting away childish notions of how life should be instead of looking at how it is and being prepared for it.  This life is simply meant to be a way station to get ready for the next.  In this sense, the toy’s god is replaced with Bonnie, which is a terrible metaphor on a number of levels.  Nonetheless, there is a life beyond this one if we are ready for it as God desires.

Thankfully, Toy Story 3 is the last of these films about anthropomorphic toys that I needed to see . . . until the fifth installment comes out.  Sigh.  These movies make countless millions of dollars for the Mouse, so you can see why they would be eager to repeat this success.  I will do my best to avoid it at that time.  Until then, I cannot object to you watching it outside of it being a silly film.