A time to grow up and move on

Film review: Toy Story 3

The movie reflects the sad and simultaneously happy event of growing up and moving on to bigger things in life.

 Not so long ago, cartoons were meant for children only. Adults like us would only watch animated movies to accompany our kids. Not anymore, I watched Toy Story 3 with my adult friends, and we did not even hide.

When I saw the first Toy Story movie in 1995 with my then seven-year-old son Jon, I already liked it. It was the first feature length film from Walt Disney Studios to use 3D animation. Colorful, vibrant and with a great story about friendship and loyalty, my son loved it. He would not stop hounding me until I got him a video copy. Next in the shopping list, were Woody the Cowboy, Buzz Lightyear and Space Ranger toys. Being half-Ilocana, I only bought the first two. (hahaha.)

 Toy Story 2 made me appreciate the film series even more. Jessie, the spunky cowgirl was introduced as a perfect compliment to Woody. Through the course of the film, Jessie would reveal that she once had an owner who outgrew her and left her abandoned. This sad tale gave a new dimension to the relationship of Woody and Buzz with their owner. This very storyline would be the core plot for the third installment.

In Toy Story 3, Buzz and Woody, and the usual gang of toys, embark on a new adventure that takes them from Andy’s quiet bedroom to a chaotic day care center to a menacing recycling facility. As several years have passed since Toy Story 2, Andy now begins preparing for his college freshman year while his mom prods him to start packing his bags and sort out the things that will be left behind. When Andy’s mom mistakenly sends Buzz and company to a day care facility, Woody jumps to the rescue, vowing to be home before Andy leaves for college.

Toy Story 3 is another entertaining and heartwarming treat for audiences of all ages. With the original fans of the first two films literally growing up with the franchise, Disney decided to inject some freshness by introducing spicy romances between Barbie Doll and Ken, and between Buzz and Jessie. The scenes showing these two couples falling in love and trying to impress each other’s partners received the best (and the loudest!) audience reaction at the SM moviehouse where we watched. Oh how we loved how the Spanish-mode Buzz gets muy caliente with secret-love-interest Jessie, smoothly swaying his salsa toy-hips and romancing the cowgirl in fluent Español! Another hilarious sequence is the costume-changes of fashion victim Ken, making us adults roll in laughter with the subtle innuendoes that Ken could be gay.

What is also remarkable about Toy Story 3 is that it retained the song You’ve Got a Friend in Me as its theme song, giving loyal fans a little trip down memory lane. As for Academy Award winner Tom Hanks, I would give him an acting award anytime just for his masterful vocal delivery.

As an experience, Toy Story 3 is a coming of age film. It reflects the sad and simultaneously happy event of growing up and moving on to bigger things in life. My tears welled up and almost fell when Andy’s mother showed how heartbroken she was that her son was leaving for college. Those tears actually fell at the end when each and every one of the lead characters finally accepted that it was time to say goodbye and move on. For some, this may be the end of an era. But for Woody and the gang, this is just the beginning of a whole new adventure.

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