Excellent, but not entirely for children

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2010)

Let me start by saying that, as expected, Toy Story 3 is a wonderful film. In the company of the characters we have come to know and love over the previous two movies, together with some new ones, we embark on one last adventure which is full of thrills, excitement, humour, scary bits, and tearful emotion before arriving at a moment which brings the Toy Story films to an entirely appropriate conclusion. The story is predicated on the problem of what to do with Andy's toys now that he is going to college, and the plot involves the complications which ensue when most, but not all, of the toys are donated to a daycare centre - the central section is effectively an extended prison break caper.
Having said that, and having had a few hours to let things settle down in my mind, I find myself thinking that Toy Story 3 isn't a children's film at all, although it will undoubtedly be greatly enjoyed by children. The themes are, as always, entirely adult - the importance of family, ageing, the inevitability of separation, letting go and so on - but Pixar (and Disney historically) have never felt it necessary to shie away from adult themes in kids' films, so that isn't really a factor in my speculation.
There are two things which make me say that Toy Story 3 is predominantly an adult film.
One, it is much - much! - darker in tone than the previous films. Sid was a disadvantaged kid given to mistreating toys with no conception of the consequences of his actions, and the Collector meant toys no harm. But in TS3 we have, for the only time in the Toy Story films, a character who makes a deliberate choice to act in a way which is entirely evil. We also have the characters facing their deaths in a way that even young children can understand. Adult themes are one thing, the reality of an unpleasant death is something entirely different.
And, two, while the movie works as a standalone movie, it acquires a richness when watched as the third part of a trilogy by an audience which has aged at the same rate as the characters in the film, and this is perhaps reflected best by the fact that the entire story rests on Andy standing on the threshold of adulthood - issues of maturity have replaced simple childhood playing, and this is understood by an audience which identifies with where Andy now finds himself. This is the same sort of thing which Jo Rowling has gone for in the Harry Potter books.
None of this in any way diminishes what a fine film this is, though - if anything, it enhances it, and shows once more how effectively Pixar make movies which work on multiple levels.
While I'm at it, a quick word of praise for the accompanying short Night And Day, an astonishingly clever work of visual imagination.