Captain Conroy's Pixar 40th Anniversary Marathon: Week 2

Written by Captain Conroy

Read Week 1 here.

One does have to wonder so, for how great Toy Story 2 was, how on Earth could the guys at Pixar possibly top that? Well, how about a prison break story featuring toys? No seriously. Come on guys, don’t look at me like that. Guys I’m serious! Ah for Pete’s sake, let’s get going shall we?!

Toy Story 3 features a main plot point which was teased previously in the second film, what does happen when Andy grows up? Well – in this movie he’s 17 and he’s about to embark on the next chapter of his life – college. Naturally the toys haven’t been played with in sometime and after a misunderstanding being mistaken for trash, Jessie decides being donated to a local day-care is the best thing for them only to wind up at Sunnyside which isn’t as sunny as it seems thanks to the tyrannical rule of Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear, so it’s up to Woody to save his friends and get them out of there.

This story went so hard. It didn’t have to but it did. It really shows how a child growing up can take its toll on a toy as there is now so many of the main cast left. In fact, what you see in the picture is pretty much all that’s left as well as three out of however many of the army men there were originally. Yes – that does even include Bo Peep having been gotten rid of, which clearly effected Woody (we’ll touch on that in the next movie), but even so the story has a big theme of family and everyone staying together and I love this aspect. Even if I do hate how the toys clearly haven’t learned from the first movie to listen to Woody as he tries to clear up the misunderstanding. The prison aspect of it is done well too and once again only the guys at Pixar can do it.

The animation. It keeps getting better, the end. O.K, I kid, there’s a lot more to it then that. Naturally as technology keeps getting better, so did the animation and it really shows the most here. The toys look updated, yet still enough like their original selves and Andy’s the best he’s ever looked, kid and teenage form. The movie takes full advantage of its colours and lighting, the scenes in the shadows look good but if there was anything the animation was building up to, oh boy it was that freaking climax at the dump! The usage of colours, the textures were so brilliant and that fiery blaze really makes feel the sheer terror the toys have landed in and we can’t help but feel so relieved for them once they make it out.

The climax was the best in any Toy Story movie and the animation helps so much with that, it’s times like this animation needs to be appreciated more and not seen as some silly kids’ genre. In fact, tell them Slim.

I animate! And animation, IS AN ART!

As far as the characters go, the sole survivors are as loveable as ever and it’s especially funny seeing Buzz in his Spanish form, that cracks me up every single time. It never stops being funny. Woody continues to be as selfless as ever as he puts the others’ needs above his own once again. Even with the prospect of Andy leaving – he still goes back to rescue his friends because he just cares that much. I also have to give quick prompts to Slinky’s new voice for doing a genuinely good job at sounding like the late great Jim Varney. You get a wide range of new characters too including the film’s villain, Lotso. To which… well…

Real mature of me I’m sure, and yes he’s the movie’s villain but god he’s such a turd! The way he takes over Sunnyside and leads it into dictatorship because he got replaced. I even found Stinky Pete more relatable and he’s Stinky Pete! But what really grinds my gears about this guy is what a backstabber he is – Woody selflessly helps him and this is the thanks he gets, to be backstabbed at the first available opportunity. Ungrateful much?! Oh well, he gets his just dos, let’s say his fate is rubbish.

Bottom line Toy Story 3 is very solid and much like Toy Story 2, I don’t have much to say that’s wrong with it. The story is strong, the animation is spectacular, the characters are as loveable as ever, (most of them at least) and in general it felt like this would have been a perfect grand finale for the Toy Story franchise, especially with its heartfelt, bittersweet ending as the toys see Andy off but acquire a new home and their future is in safe hands. And in truth, part of me wishes that this was the case, but nevertheless, let’s not be judgemental and see what the fourth movie and the fifth one has to offer when it comes out.

Suffice to say, Toy Story 3 has left some enormous boots to fill with anything other than snakes. Can the toys do it again and charm us with their stories? Can they make lightning strike yet again? Or should it have ended with Toy Story 3? Let’s find out now.

The story sees Bonnie on her first day of kindergarten and she makes a toy she dubs Forky. But Forky sees himself as trash to which Woody, who hasn’t been played with in a while, tries to convince him otherwise. After getting lost, they encounter Gabby-Gabby, a vintage doll who wants a voice box so she can have her chance at being owned and loved by a child, but when she has her sights set on Woody’s voice box – things turn complicated very quickly – not just counting on getting Forky back to Bonnie.

Now, this story has its great moments – I especially love the prologue showing what happened to Bo Peep and once they reunite and they catch up thus allowing us to see what Bo had been doing this whole time. The chemistry is unmatched and I love every moment these two spend together in this film. I loved Bo back then but in this film she’s a badass and Annie Potts gives a performance of top quality to boot. The plot also prides itself in subverting our expectations, especially that ending where Woody chose to stay a lost toy. I’m still in disbelief they actually went and did it! I’ll never forget feeling absolutely flabbergasted seeing it in cinemas for the first time. However there are a few bad points as well like the running gag of Buzz’s inner voice – I feel this movie dumbed him down a little. But even through its bad points – the story was good. However I don’t feel it was as strong as 2 and 3 in particular.

The animation is truly at the top of it’s game here. Remember what I said before about kid Andy looking the best he’d ever looked? Well – now that’s the case with this movie. The animation makes everyone and everything look so good. It’s frankly outstanding as to how real everything looks in this movie – especially the rain in the prologue and the cat in the antique store. You can always count on a Toy Story movie, especially one in this day and age to look just ever so pretty. Once you sit through all the Toy Story movies back to back like I have now, you get this sensational feeling of watching an evolution take place.

Darn right Robotnik. Darn right. Funny I also use that punchline given Jim Carrey was once considered for Woody.

Sadly though, the characters are the weakest aspect of this movie for me. Especially in the case of Buzz having him dumbed down a little and Forky’s character arc really could have been handled better. If anything Forky mostly feels like a tool to get the story going to me. Ducky and Bunny didn’t contribute much to the cast either – especially as despite wanting one, they’re still kidless at the end – not to mention they were annoying. But thankfully it doesn’t completely fall apart there. Woody’s character arc is so compelling and he still selflessly puts his best foot forward, especially for Bonnie. People see this as a character assassination but I don’t see it that way. I see it as evolution once again and come on – people change in real life right?

Bo Peep is an absolute badass and once again god bless this movie for giving us that. And Gabby-Gabby? Well, at least she wasn’t a turd unlike Lotso. She was so deep and compelling and despite being the antagonistic character – she deserved her happy ending she got after the child she had her eye on – Harmony didn’t want her after all – even after having her voice box fixed. So many layers to her and she is a wonderful character in this movie. For someone who was supposed to be the film’s villain – how did Pixar do such a good job at making us feel for her? And never mind Bunny and Ducky – Duke Kaboom – he’s funny. And his backstory really has you feeling sorry for him. He’s unapologetically Canadian and bless both the script and Keanu Reeves for bring him to life for it.

And there’s one big elephant in the room for characters I need to address. Bonnie. People absolutely hate how she neglects Woody. I don’t hate her for that, heck I don’t even hate her at all. Children are always moving on from one thing to the next and that’s exactly what Bonnie was doing here, moving on from one to the other. Heck, Woody chose to stay a lost toy and somehow that’s her fault? People really drew “fan” art of Andy beating her up for this? Not cool! Andy would never hurt a kid and Bonnie is adorable.

And look here for god’s sake, she’s crying because she’s scared of her first day of Kindergarten! Is this the face you want someone to beat up you sadistic messed up individuals?! Anyway, rant over. Bonnie’s as good as ever and I don’t WRONGLY hate her for this movie.

In conclusion. We really didn’t need a Toy Story 4 per-say but it was still nice nevertheless that we got one and they gave us something quite decent. Just fix Buzz, take Ducky and Bunny out and make some adjustments to Forky’s arc and it would have been perfect. My rankings for the Toy Story movies are as follows:

Toy Story 3

Toy Story 2

Toy Story

Toy Story 4

So, that’s my stance on the Toy Story movies. What are the order of your favourites? Do you have an overall favourite or do you love them all equally? Heck, if you even have any Toy Story hot takes? Share them all in the comments below. Naturally I shall be watching Toy Story 5 when it comes out at the time of writing and I’ll be sure to do a mini post giving my first thoughts on it, but in the meantime, join me as we look at A Bug’s Life and the two Monsters Inc. movies next week. See you next time!

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