To me, this is by far and large the best Pixar film to date!

Rating: 10/10 (28 December 2010)

To me, Pixar have never yet made a bad film, even their weakest Cars is actually very good. Like a lot of people here, I grew up with and loved the first two Toy Story films and still love them. As is consistently the case with Pixar they are superbly animated, sophisticated and had great characters. Toy Story 3 somehow managed to do the seemingly impossible, while its Toy Storys 1 and 2 have a special place in my heart, this film was even better.
Perhaps Toy Story 3 isn't the most original of the trilogy or of the Pixar films, but that made little difference to me. While the darkest of the three, it still maintained the predecessors' heart and charm, and overall it was just an amazing film full-stop from start to finish, and easily one of the best of the year.
The animation is just superb here. Hardly a surprise though, as the animation was phenomenal also in Toy Storys 1 and 2, but to me it was just as sophisticated and as colourful here if not more so. I also loved the music, that said I don't think it is the best Pixar score(Up) or best score of the year, but it is almost certainly one of Randy Newman's better efforts and I liked the You've Got a Friend in Me repeat.
The pacing is just fine as well, and the story is tremendously engaging with plenty of humorous, tense, exciting and genuinely affecting scenes. The ending especially resonated with my entire family, especially my brother, while the scene in the dump is for me Pixar's most intense scene.
I was also delighted with the film's script. The dialogue was always witty and sharp, none of it felt forced in any way. There was the brilliantly judged humour- Buzz speaking Spanish was just one of the highlights and the beginning alone had about 5 or 6 laughs- and also the poignant parts that avoided being overly-sentimental and mawkish.
Another strength is in the characters. All the main characters are as likable as ever, Woody is still determined, Buzz is a sheer delight, Jessie(though I actually like her) is more tolerable here and Mr Potato Head is hilarious. But the new characters are just as wonderful, the baby is both creepy and cute and I felt for him at the end, the cymbal monkey especially for that shriek is one of Pixar's scariest characters, Lotso looks cuddly but is actually shady and bitter with an unrelenting past and Ken is cool without being bland or annoying.
As ever, the voice work is brilliant from all involved, not just from Tom Hanks and Tim Allen but also from Ned Beatty whose crusty demeanour fitted Lotso like a glove.
In conclusion, a truly brilliant film and a fitting conclusion to an amazing trilogy. 10/10 Bethany Cox