Review: Toy Story 3

[Editor's note] Toy Story 3 is everything a die hard fan wanted it to be and then some. From the old wagon toy chest to the final shot of clouds in the sky that resembled the cloud wallpaper in Andy's first room, the film builds a future on the past we all shared.

As the final installment, this film picks up 11 years after Toy Story 2 with Andy packing up his room and moving away to college. In the packing process, he's made to confront the last remnants of his childhood-- namely, Woody and the gang. Having no real need for them anymore but hesitant to get rid of them altogether, he decides to put them in a trash bag and store them in the attic. In a freak film-plot fluke, the toys are confused for garbage and put outside for pickup. From that point on, Woody (who was not put away) embarks on an epic rescue mission to save his friends from garbage trucks, crazed toddler's at a daycare, maniacal toys, and a trip to the city dump.
 

Yet for all its thrilling action and edge-of-your-seat suspense, what permeates most with the audience of would-be Andy's is the theme of loss. In a way, the film subtly captures the precise moment when a kid transitions away from being a kid. It is a transition that renders toys and the imaginations that propelled them to life into something impractical, something useless. More dangerous than the threat of a new toy or getting lost, this uselessness is perhaps the hardest thing they've had face.

Ultimately, Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the toys find redemption in the hands of a caring little girl and there's a happy ending as only Disney can do. Still, I can't begin tell you how deeply affected I was after seeing Toy Story 3. More affected than most, no doubt. I was sad for Andy. I was sad for our once-cherished toys who found themselves on dire straits. I was sad for the other toys who weren't lucky enough to ever be cherished. I was sad at what the years had done to Andy's dog, Buster. And I was sad for Andy's mom.
 

But more than anything else, I was sad to realize that no matter how hard I can try, I'll never love anything the way I loved my toys.