The Philippine Online Chronicles

It’s not wrong to approach sequels warily, as most sequels are great examples of diminishing returns. Though sequels do justify their creation as far as box office output is concerned, they are often attempts at cashing in that lack the intelligence or vision of the pictures that launched the franchises. There are the occasional exceptions, but especially in the genre of animated features, sequels have more often led to drops in quality.

Then again, whenever Pixar does something, they do it differently.

The only other sequel that the animation studio has ever produced was Toy Story 2 and that was memorable and affecting. But there were doubts in my mind when I heard that there would be a third installment to the franchise. Would it be a case of cashing in? Too much of a good thing making it go bad?

It was neither. It was, as all Pixar films are, beautifully executed, intelligent, innovative, exciting, while also warm, affecting, and as is so ironic with a studio that creates things out of computer graphics, deeply human and emotionally engaging. Really, isn’t it a sad thing that Pixar’s pics can evoke more human emotion than a lot of Hollywood blockbusters? It’s just as much an indictment of the manufactured money-making way that Hollywood makes most of its movies as it is a compliment to the animation house’s ability and willingness to think, understand, and operate differently.

But I am betraying myself as a Pixar fan too much. Back to the task at hand, a discussion of Toy Story 3.

Coming fifteen years after the first film (which was also the company’s first feature) it’s spaced in such a way that the people who enjoyed that film as kids are now all grown up. This coincides with the toys’ owner Andy also growing up and getting ready to leave for college. Unlike other sequels that try to cash in on a franchise immediately, this movie took its time to get made, and the development of its conflicts and story seem organic and natural and all part of the world that Toy Story has created.

Andy’s had the toys in a chest for the past few years. He had gotten rid of the others, but has held on to this core group of toys, his favorites, which include Woody, Buzz, Jessie, the Potato Heads, Hamm, and Rex. Now that he is leaving for college, his mother is making him pack up all his stuff and either put it into the attic or give it away. And it’s from here that the action jumps, going at breakneck speed from one quandary, whether moral, emotional, or physical, to another.

This speed and rhythm that Toy Story 3 takes is remarkable as there is literally never a dull moment. Much of it, if broken down, looks like it follows a fiction textbook. One complication leads organically to the next, with settings and things within the scene helping to forward the action. Foreshadowing is done masterfully, as things are dropped deftly into a scene and returned to later with great dramatic effect. And as plots are the build-up of a series of events, and often the result of what fiction writers like to refer to as incremental perturbations, we can say that Toy Story 3’s plot is brimming with events, almost too many to count.

What’s great about it is that everything just seems to work. In a given scene there will be a complication. It will be both literal and metaphorical, and like a great comedian, the movie manages to extend the jokes and build upon them each time. There are no lazy laughs here, as every single visual gag, allusion, quip, or joke is obviously planned and executed to perfection.

This does not mean that this is sterilized or that everything is preconfigured and simple. On the contrary, it’s the ease of the jokes that make it obvious that there were both a good amount of planning and great creative energy put into them. Often the jokes are funny because they are both surprising and expected at the same time. I know that this sounds like a contradiction, but when we are shown a scene we register the visual elements of it, and we know which of these things could be utilized in a joke. But even with this knowledge the movie still manages to surprise and excite us. Even when it is referencing another film, the Pixar guys manage to make us sit up in our seats and gasp with the way that they have reimagined things.

I am not referencing specific scenes here because I do not want to spoil anything, and because none of these scenes are worth spoiling. I feel that there is such a joy and energy about this film that it would be an injustice to write about any of the jokes or gags that everyone really deserves to experience them fresh. Even the scenes that appear in the trailer are, when taken in context, that much funnier for it.

But it isn’t all fun. Not only does it make you laugh, but Toy Story 3 also tugs at the heartstrings and in the screening I attended I heard more than a little bit of sniffling. From great guffaws to stifled sobs, the movie spans the emotional spectrum, and manages to be effective by its handling of scenes that balance so many disparate emotions.

As usual, Pixar makes a film that hits a broad audience without resorting to broad humor or simplistic storytelling. It tells a very real, very human story but frames it in a context that everyone can understand, from the youngest moviegoers to the crusty old cynics like me.

In telling the story of toys that are on the verge of being thrown out, and thus have to look for their purpose and identity, the movie also talks of themes that are important to all of us. Not only does it feature big action-packed sequences, but it allows for contemplation on what it means to love, not just romantically (which is so often a topic in kids’ animation for some reason) but to love a friend, to lose that love, and how we can respond to it. It’s unusual for a summer flick to force deep concerns on kids, but Toy Story 3 is unafraid to do so, and is all the better for it.

Love, duty, responsibility, loss, moving on, finding one’s purpose. It’s a list of big, powerful themes that great films struggle with. And that’s just what Toy Story 3 is, yet another great film from a studio that makes consistently great films. Don’t be fooled by the cute plastic and huggable characters, this is a movie that is deep, moving, and powerful while also being fun, funny, exciting, entertaining, and action-packed.