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EDITOR'S PICK
`Toy Story 3` hits bulls eye (IANS Film Review)
Rating: ****
The multiple award-winning 1995 "Toy Story" was a landmark film in
many ways. Not just in terms of technology, but especially in its brilliant
storytelling and themes of friendship, brotherhood and camaraderie. Fifteen
years later, the team - most of them from the original, delivers a double bill.
Or shall we say, triple bill.
These films prove that beyond all the technology and glitter in cinema, what
truly wins audiences over is a good story well told.
Woody (Hanks), Buzz (Allen) and the gang of toys are leading a retired life as
their master Andy is grown up. They make desperate attempts to get his
attention, but he prefers to spend time with his laptop and would be off to
college in a few days.
His mother has given him the option to either throw away the toys or donate
them. But Andy plans to keep them safely in the attic. A series of unfortunate
incidents lead them to the playschool `Sunny Side Up’.
The place at first seems like a toy heaven with an endless supply of children to
play with and an affable toy leader in Lotso. Woody pleads to his gang to return
to Andy as that is the first duty of a toy, to be always there for their master.
However, believing they have been abandoned by Andy, the gang decides to stay
while Woody tries to make it home alone.
The reality of the playschool dawns on the gang as a bunch of kids thrash the
toys violently while Lotso and his gang are handled in a different section by
gentle kids. Barely surviving the day when the gang decides to take matters into
their own hand, calamity befalls as Lotso and his gang restore Buzz to his
factory setting, and imprison the rest.
On his way home, Woody learns of the true nature of the playschool and returns
to try and save his friends.
There is practically nothing you can find wrong with this film. The screenplay,
the characterization, the pace, the score - everything hits bulls eye. 3D,
though not necessary, only enhances the experience.
A host of new characters with their idiosyncrasies and witty dialogues add to
the fun. But the best thing about the film is that it neither patronises the
audience (kids and adults alike), nor takes them for granted. So what you have
here is the best family film you may have seen in years.
John Lasseter, who directed the first two parts, turns producer with this one,
passing on the directorial baton to team mate Lee Unkrich, who’s been involved
as co-director and editor of films like "Finding Nemo" and
"Monsters Inc".
The animation industry pioneered by Walt Disney had a resurrection with the
first "Toy Story" and you can conveniently segregate modern animation
films into the pre and post `Toy Story` era. Watch "Toy Story 3" to
know why it is so and why cinema, despite the glitter and glamour, will always
be about basic human emotions and good story telling.
Actor John Cygan, popular for playing Lt. Paulie Pentangeli on the 1990s series "The Commish" and providing his voice for films like "Cars" and "Toy Story 3", has died at the age of 63.Read More