Dosty Glory reviews Toy Story 3

by Dosty Glory with pictures by Bo Hicks

Toy Story 3, much like its earlier incarnations, is an exploration of the perpetuation of imagination.  Try saying that five times fast!

            Beyond that, there really isn’t much to say.  From my limited memory, the second film in the franchise was a bit of a dud, as second films are apt to be, but this one picked up the spirit where the original left off.  The power of this film, however, is bolstered by the fact that we see the affection for the power of imagination reach beyond childhood, to “infinity and beyond.” 

Both films, if boiled down to a single theme, revolve

around the line between fiction and reality.  When Buzz Lightyear is introduced, he is a creature that doesn’t know of his existence within the fictional realm.  This condition makes him an item of folly amongst the other toys and gets them into trouble, ending in a devastating scene where Buzz is forced to come to terms with the realities of his existence.  This conflict and confusion is embodied in each child who succumbs to the power of imagination.  The whole reason that Buzz is brought into the toy’s world is because their owner, Andy, is affected by marketing to request something flashier than the old fashioned toys he is formerly enjoyed.  Though Buzz eventually enters the fold of Andy’s play universe, he continues to be a symbol of how reality, embodied in the concept of media marketing, attempts to chip away at the autonomy of childhood imagination. (picture to the left is the editors attempt to show "autonomy of childhood imagination")

This most recent film opens entrenched in fantasy.  Gradually, the scene of make-believe is pulled away and developed into a montage of Andy’s growth and change, cumulating in the question of what happens to a person’s playthings when they leave childhood.  In this scenario it isn’t the reality of marketing that encroaches on imagination, but the reality of “growing up.”  The toy characters that we have developed a relationship with over two films are the symbol of youth and freedom of mind and spirit, unaffected by the pressures of the outside world.  The progression of the plot is then an allegory of what happens to that freedom.

What makes Toy Story as a franchise so powerful, to me, is that it thrives on the simply human need for creation as opposed to a more recent dependence of children on video games and television shows.  Both of these things are fine, in limited measure, but they are no replacement for a villainous Potato Head and a courageous cowboy demanding you “reach for the skies!”  Though there is likely plenty of argument to the contrary, I would say that in many ways this film exceeds the first film, and certainly runs laps around the second (Star Wars, anybody?).  By giving us an intimate look at toys beyond Andy’s room, the issues of aging and the destruction of the creative spirit expand to a more global level, even if it’s still in the same suburban neighborhood.  This expansion of the toy community gave their adventure even greater heft, as if our old friends weren’t just fighting for their relationship with Andy, but the relationship of all of us with hope and wonder.

And even if the whole thing were an utter wreck: Michael Keaton as the voice of Ken!

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"I can fail again, but at least I will fail with something that excites me."  -- Billy Wilder

---Dosty Glory