Toy Story 3 is the long awaited final installment to Pixar’s first full-length film, Toy Story and its sequel, Toy Story 2. Andy’s toys have been through a lot: bonding into a family, almost getting torn apart, jealousy when some got played with more than others. But ultimately, they held the Toy Story motto true: You’ve Got A Friend In Me. But now Andy’s seventeen years old and off to college! Is college any place for a toy? What happens when a toy gets left behind? Will that motto still hold true once everything’s said and done?
 
Toy Story 3 starts off with Woody and the gang’s near desperate attempt to be played with again by Andy, their favorite kid in the world. With a plot involving Andy’s cell phone, a couple of the green army men and a prank call, surely this can’t go wrong! However, Andy merely shuffles through his toy box until he finds his cell phone, then goes back to playing on his computer and packing for college.

When mom insists and it finally comes time to decide, most of the toys that are left from Andy’s childhood get put in a garbage bag to be put in the attic. Buzz, Jessie, Rex, Slinky, the Potato Heads. Everyone…except for Woody. Woody gets to go with Andy to college. However, due to a misunderstanding with Mom, the toys meant for the attic somehow get put on the curb with the trash instead, and while Woody attempts to save them, they all wind up in the ‘donation’ box and sent to Sunnyside Daycare.

Sunnyside Daycare: a warm, caring place where toys get played with every day, where a toy always has an owner, is never outgrown, tossed aside, thrown away, sold, or donated. Where a toy is always loved by someone. No heartbreaks here! Sunnyside is a wonderful place for a toy to live.
 
Yeah. Right.
 
Toy Story 3, as in the shoes of its predecessors, has something for everyone. It’s obviously meant to be a movie for kids, but there’s also plenty for the older audience to enjoy. Alongside a group of toys panicking over being thrown out (a true Shakespearean tragedy!), there is also the subtle tension growing between Jessie and Buzz. When the greatest desire of the main characters is to be played with, there is also homage paid to several other movie types, including a monologue by a ‘war’ veteran, and a jailbreak that could make Steve McQueen take notes. Oh, and let's not forget Buzz getting reset into Spanish!

The movie is beautifully done, the animation flawless and even has realistic subtleties, such as Woody’s plastic gun holster shaking a little longer after he’s stopped moving. The voice acting is top-notch, and all of the voice actors reprised their roles (with the exception of Slinky Dog, as original voice actor Jim Varney passed away in the time between movies). The story was gripping and exciting, filled with laughs and tears (I admit, I cried there at the end), and I would definitely see it again. And I’ve already seen it twice.
 
Bravo, Pixar. You are amazing.
 
ComicsOnline gives Toy Story 3 5 green aliens from Pizza Planet out of 5.
 
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