‘Toy Story 3’ captures a bittersweet moment for old friends
In
”
Toy Story 3,
”
Andy is all grown up and on the verge of leaving for college. By
putting off the decision of what to do with his old toys
– which have been stored in a toy box in his room for years now
– the toys end up on one more adventure together.
‘Toy Story 3’ captures a bittersweet moment for old friends
In “Toy Story 3,” Andy is all grown up and on the verge of leaving for college. By putting off the decision of what to do with his old toys – which have been stored in a toy box in his room for years now – the toys end up on one more adventure together.
Though “Toy Story 3” is a kids’ movie, it is one that will resonant with many adults. While it’s been years since I packed up my own stuff to head off to college I have some vivid recollections of trying to decide what to take and what to leave behind. There were things I knew had to come along – the CD binder full of music (back in the days before iPods) and some videotapes to keep my roommate and I entertained. There were school supplies, clothes and bedding.
But there were also some things that weren’t really necessities and were more to offer a sense of comfort away from home. I brought a stuffed turtle my friends and I had won at the Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk one summer a few years before. We’d spent all kinds of money playing games in the arcade just to get enough tickets to win the turtle. My best friend and I had traded off keeping it at our houses for a while, joking that we were sharing joint custody. But it went to me for that first year of school. I also brought along the baby blanket my grandmother had made for me when my mom was pregnant. It was ratty and torn along the edges, but I kept it folded up on the bottom of my dorm-room bed. The last thing I packed was a photo album with pictures of all my best high school friends to keep on my dorm room desk.
Andy (voiced by John Morris) is making his decisions about what to do with his old toys at the beginning of the last movie in the “Toy Story” trilogy. His mom tells him he has three options – trash them, donate them or put them in the attic. He decides to put them in the attic – except for Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), whom he decides to bring with him to college.
Of course, in a mix up the other toys, including Jessie (Joan Cusack), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), the Potato Heads, Rex and all the rest end up in a trash bag on the curb. The toys, who are cognizant when no one is looking, realize what kind of peril they are in. They escape from the bag just as the garbage truck is approaching and scramble into a box of toys to be donated to a local day care by Andy’s mom.
Woody, always the leader of the hodgepodge group of toys, tries to tell them that Andy meant to put them in the attic and that the boy was not throwing them away. But the other toys are sure Andy doesn’t want them anymore. They have no idea what day care is, but they think it must be better than the attic. Woody ends up along for the ride when Andy’s mom comes out to the car before he has a chance to get back to Andy’s room.
When all the toys realize that the day care is a place for children, they are excited that they will be played with everyday, just like when Andy was a little boy. Day care seems like a dream come true, and a couple of residents at the day care reinforce that notion.
Lotso (voiced by Ned Beatty), a huggable teddy bear who smells like strawberries, seems to be the toy in charge. He explains that when the day care kids grow up, new kids come in to replace them. Ken (Michael Keaton) backs up the notion that the day care is a great place to be when he is not wooing Barbie (Jodi Benson.)
When Andy’s old toys settle into one of the classrooms to wait for recess to end, Woody tries to persuade them one last time that they need to go back to Andy’s house. They all decide to stay and Woody heads off on his own. Of course, there is more to day care than just the fun of playtime, as the toys soon discover. Woody learns what is really going on at the day care through his own journey back to Andy’s house. He has to decide whether to rescue his friends or go back to Andy’s before the teen leaves for college.
As with the other stories, the latest movie offers a lesson in true friendship, growing up and learning to deal with the changes life brings.
Melissa Flores can be reached at [email protected]. She writes a blog at http://melissa-movielines.blogspot.com, where she reflects on TV, movies, food and more.
