Best Motion Picture of the Year Indeed!

Rating: 10/10 (30 June 2010)

Toy Story came out November 22, 1995 just 2 weeks before my sixth birthday. Naturally, I became obsessed with it as it was funny, nail-biting, and had an awesome toy to play with: Buzz Lightyear! That Christmas I had my parents frantically searching high and low for a Buzz Lightyear action doll in a period of weeks that i'm sure resembled that of "Jingle All the Way's" infamous shopping scene. As time progressed, Buzz became a regular cast member in my various imaginative ventures through childhood. Him and I also revisited Woody and the gang countless times with my VHS copy of the movie...needless to say it got damn-near worn out.
I was excited when I saw the first preview for Toy Story 2, as it was released just 2 weeks before my tenth birthday. However, slight disappointment ensued at the end credits and I could only describe the sequel in comparison to the first movie as "weird." I was not pleased entirely with the journey the second film had taken me on. Not to say it didn't have it's funny moments (the return of "space ranger buzz" and even Bullseye was cute), but all-in-all it was NOT the first one! So I did not end up with a VHS copy of that one, and continued through the rest of my childhood with cherishing the memory of Toy Story and having only snippets of memory for Toy Story 2.
Through my teens I lost the eternal love for Toy Story that I had once had. So when they released the first two back in theaters in 3-D last year I did have a slight desire to see them as I remembered Toy Story as being "that movie I used to love when I was a kid" and Toy Story 2 as "that movie I had only seen once or twice and can't remember why mom and dad never bought it for me," but alas this was not enough for me to actively jump at this chance to see them again like i had never imagined them (obviously I have some regrets now). I also knew that the 3-D event was an intentional precursor to Toy Story 3 in 3-D happening the following year. I had my doubts about the movie of course (i had seen what happened to Shrek), but having fell in love with several Pixar movies in the previous years (Finding Nemo, Wall-E, UP) I had faith that it would not be terrible.
So earlier this year I rented Toy Story 1 & 2 so I could refresh my memory. Toy Story was the most fantastic trip through memory lane I have ever experienced as it was exactly how I remembered it as a kid. EXACTLY! I was a teary-eyed at this revelation that some part of my childhood had not been tarnished by my new-found adult criticism of movies. Toy Story 2, however, was significantly better than I remembered it as a kid, but it was still NOT the first one, nor is it one of my favorite Pixar movies. After reviewing the first two movies again, I have become obsessed with collecting everything Toy Story I can get my hands on. I even unburied my old Buzz Lightyear Toy and have him sitting on my shelf with my other collected items from the movies.
All this excitement made me more than eager to see the third (and apparently final) installment of the series. I found myself already tearing up at the beginning of the movie as the old home videos from Andy's childhood set up the finality-theme of the movie. I wasn't ready to say goodbye just yet, luckily for me I didn't have to as I had one more very dark journey to go on with my old friends. This movie played with my child-like feelings towards the toys as I was emotionally stressed from the extreme peril they were placed in, and unable to fully accept the changes happening. On the other hand, I was in awe of the flawless technology that had went into making the movie: a great paralleled observation as Toy Story was Pixar's first movie and Toy Story 3 had come a long way from it's 1990's technology and arguably reigns as Pixar's greatest triumph 15 years later. I cried passionately when the toys were about to face certain oblivion, and I bawled like a baby when Andy said good-bye while playing with them one last time. This just proves how magical Pixar films really are. Dreamworks certainly would NEVER be able to make you cry over the fate of a bunch of plastic toys, or over the fate of any character they could create.
In a nutshell: Toy Story 3 means more to me than any film I will ever see and lived past its expectations. I share the affection towards Barbie and Ken's scenes as the rest of the world does, and believe that it was the perfect cherry on top of a great trilogy. This movie will be a strong contender for Best Picture at the Oscars...and is arguably the certain one to win along with screenplay, director, animated feature, and visual effects.
Pixar has really outdone themselves and has effortlessly put all other movie-distributing companies (even you Disney! That crap you call movies that you have been releasing in the past couple of years has been shameful!) to shame. I only hope they don't trip on their egos on the journey to making the upcoming Cars 2 and Monster's Inc. 2 (both of which's predecessors I did not care too much for).