How do they top themselves every time?

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2010)

It's incredible. The good folks at Pixar have done it again and made what would have seemed impossible. Made a sequel, that tops both number one and two.
The question still remains: What good is a toy when there is no one to play with it? It was the recurring theme of both 1 and 2, but that would have been sort of boring to repeat, if the story didn't go in another way. It does and we get a great prison drama, adventure and even psychological thriller all thrown into one.
The original characters are still here, even Slinky Dog whose original actor, Jim Varney, sadly died. But I think they found a suitable replacement in Blake Clark. There were times when I couldn't even hear the difference in their voices. Along with them are tons and tons of new characters and every single one is unique. They are too numerous to mention, but Ned Beatty's Lotso certainly stands out. I would say, that it is one of his greatest achievements and the guy has hundreds of credits. Also, props to Michael Keaton. He is one of the most versatile actors and can go from lighthearted comedy to extremely serious drama in a heartbeat. Here he does both.
Speaking of drama, I was surprised how dark the back story of Lotso turned out to be. It's not for little kids but I doubt that it will disturb them. Still, it's nice to see that not all things of family entertainment have to be watered down.
And how about that Buzz Lightyear. If you have seen the movie, you will laugh your head off at what happens to him. It's as close as annoying, but still funny as you get, and it is funny.
You have to have a somewhat happy ending in a film like this but for once, it's a great one. It's strange to see something as realistic as this in an animated movie but it makes sense. Which proves that they don't just have great animators at Pixar, but also intelligent writers.
There are not that many movies that I will give top grades but this one is close to perfect.