Toy Story (A Perfect Trilogy)

With Lee Unkrich at the helm, I must say that I was initially a little nervous for the completion of the trilogy, as it was his first solo direction project. But I must say, he delivered on all counts. With the triumphant return of Woody and Buzz to the big screen, the question everyone has been asking themselves is; where does this rank in the trilogy?

Well, let's start into this one, and be totally honest, there have been very few antagonists as villainous as Sid. I would rank him as the second or third most dastardly animated villain ever (Ursula and Jafar certainly come to mind). So, we can write this off immediately. "Toy Story," is the greatest animated film of all-time IMO. I'd say most can agree on the point that it is the greatest of the trilogy. The depth we see through the eyes of the toys is brilliant, and the love and importance of these toys to a child is very impacting as well. We need to help people when they are in danger, even if they don't respect us or want us to be there for them. Buzz shows us this with perfection! But the real question we want to know is this, where does the third installment in this series rank with respect to "Toy Story 2?"

Having now seen the film twice, I changed my mind from one viewing, to the next. The villains in the two films are very similar, at least on the surface. But, the Prospector and Lotso are both evil toys! How many different agendas could they have? Well, I'll tell you; two. The prospector wants to be admired, not played with, as is the case with Lotso. Which villain comes off better? It is hard to decide. I'd give the edge to Lotso because he ruins hundreds of toys lives, as appose to just a few. He is the equivalent of a Hitler, or Mussolini. He is a true dictator. So, "Toy Story 3" is better. Right? Wrong. After much contemplation, I must say, "Toy Story 2" takes it. But with a better villain and deeper story, and meaning, how could this be? The reason is this; we mustn’t forget, the Prospector isn't the only villain in "Toy Story 2!!!" Remember Big Al? He was the worst villain of the three of them. In our eyes he directly hurt our beloved Andy! He stole Woody (luckily Buzz saves the day)!!! As a real person, he holds onto that feeling of disgust we had towards Sid. Big Al is subtle, but without him, we have no story!! It's essentially all his fault!! For this reason, I would bump "Toy Story 2," just barely ahead of "Toy Story 3."

Having said all of this, "Toy Story 3" is perhaps the deepest of the three films. It was designed for all of us who grew up on T1 and T2. It was the more adult end to things, and because of this, it was deeper. We see the recurring theme of helping people. But we also see the idea, that people forget why they made decisions sometimes. Jessie went with Woody because she realized Emily had grown up, and knew that Andy would be a good new owner. She seems to forget this when she utters something to the effect of, "he threw us out, just like Emily." Another theme we see is that not one thing has to ruin your life. The subtle cameo of Sid (the garbage man) having seemingly grown up to be a normal guy adds to that as well. Most (myself included) didn't even notice it, but that was the point, he was just a normal guy now. His life wasn't ruined. Loyalty is another important tribute we see through Woody's eyes. Also, and perhaps the most important theme we see in the film is that there are some people's lives that we will touch, and make a huge impact, but this doesn't mean we will be in their lives forever. There is always someone new we can help! Towards the end of the film I think we'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge that it almost brought us to tears. "Toy Story 3" was the complete package, and deserves the Oscar it is going to win next March. Oh and did I mention it's hilarious? Its comedic volume was great, maybe a little behind the likes of 1 & 2, but not by much! The "Cool Hand Luke" reference was perhaps the greatest comedic element of the film. Unfortunately, the world has lost a respect for old films, so this went unnoticed to most. "Toy Story 3" wrapped up an absolutely beautiful trilogy, and is what I would say is a top 5 trilogy of All-time. The biggest reason for this is, it's over now, and I don't think it could have ended better. Thank you Pixar!

Toy Story 10/10
Toy Story 2 9/10
Toy Story 3 9/10

-Travis Stauffer