Toy Story 3: The Completion of My Childhood.

Rating: 10/10 (19 June 2010)

I wasn't born when Toy Story came out back in 1995. I didn't have the pleasure to go see it in theaters and experience it truly. I was barely two when Toy Story 2 hit cinemas. I wasn't taken to that film. However, because I was born in 1997, I did have the advantage of VCR's. I remember the old tapes of Toy Story and Toy Story 2. Those were some of my favorite films. In fact, those were the only few films I actually enjoyed, or even saw. These films were an important part of my childhood.
Now, I had Toy Story everything. I had Woody dolls. I had Buzz dolls. I had Mr. Potato Heads, Rex's, Slinky Dogs, Hamms, Jesses, you name it. I had a Toy Story backpack at one point, I believe. I had talking interactive Jesse and Woody dolls. I even had a copy of the god awful Buzz Light Year of Star Command: The Adventure Begins. I even ate the cereal and watched the cartoon, which I hated also. Toy Story was my life. 'Twas the "good old' pop in the tape and shut the hell up" scenario. Not that my parents made me shut up, I just did it as if the films took the breath right out of me. I expected a Toy Story 3 sometime soon in the future. I waited so long. So very long...
About a year ago, I saw the trailer. Sure it was the teaser, but it kept me eager. I maturely thought I should see it, for nostalgia purposes. I secretly could not wait. While I waited, I heard the original Toy Story and Toy Story 2 were being converted into Disney Digital 3-D. Not being too excited for the 3-D, I went to the closest IMAX theater. (An Hour Drive Away).
While I was watching the reissues, which were conveniently shown as a double-feature, I saw an official, 3-D trailer for Toy Story 3. Again, I felt hyped. But for now, let me tell you about the actual experience, seeing these movies on the big screen for the first time. The theater was packed with little kids. Really little kids. So little, when the original began, the famous opening with Andy playing, the image of Mr. Potato Head made a girl scream. Real loud. And she cried. The oldest person there that wasn't a parent or a guardian was some 9 year old. Oh, well.
Well, today I saw Toy Story 3. Was it good? No. Was it great? No. Was it the best film of 2010? Yes. Was it one of the greatest motion pictures of all time? Yes. Was it one of the best films I've seen in a theater? Yes. Is it up there in the top ten best films of all time? Yes. Very much so.
I went to the theater about three hours ago. Almost everybody there was either a really little kid, a parent/grandparent, or a high school/ college student. There was a couple about in college, romancing it up while watching the film. And also rudely playing around with their cell phones during the film. There was a family behind me with a young girl. But I think all of this enhanced the experience.
The film started out as pretty much the opening for Toy Story, just with some of the cast of Toy Story 2. Only this is what you would have saw if you were Andy. It turns out to be a home movie, but anyways, this opening made my cheeks ache, for my smile was incredibly wide. I really, really got pepped.
Now, Andy is going to college, just like many people who grew up with these films. The older audience really related to him. I felt slightly like them. Because of this, there is a mix up, and instead of going to the attic, the main cast of toys and a Barbie doll gets accidentally sent to a day care center, called Sunny Side. Woody tags along, instead of going to college with Andy. This place is paradise, it's ran by old timer, veteran toy Lotso Huggin' Bear. Lotso introduces Barbie to Ken, who I honestly thought was kind of on the Smithers side, if you catch my drift.
Lotso isn't the nicest bear. In fact, he's the main villain. He's an eight ounce pile of strawberry scented evil. Another new character was Bonnie, who was like a younger, female version of Andy. She has similar adventures with toys compared to Andy. You learn more about Lotso's past, through another toy, Chuckles. My memory is kind of blank because of pure excitement, but the next paragraph will be my most important, and major spoilers ahead.
The toys escape, and along with Lotso, are taken to the Tri-County land fill. They are in the compacter, and what not, and are to be incinerated. There is much action in this scene, however, it is painful to watch for me. No bad jokes, just Buzz and Jesse hold hands. Hamm and Rex hold hands. Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head hold hands, until everyone is. They have been through a lot with each other, and so has the audience with them. They were to go, they were doomed, but they were to be doomed eternally, together. This really, really had me, well, crying hard on the inside. I held it in because I am a male. Any ways, something similar made me feel that way, when Andy gives the toys to Bonnie, and they were also together, for a very long time. Never before have I felt so much closure. To make another movie would be a travesty, the series is over, no matter what. The toys will be together, forever. The End, as I regret to say this, but good bye, Toy Story franchise, you are now complete, and so is my childhood.