We waited and waited and waited and now it’s here! What a wonderful movie. An amazine feat of 2 sequels to a movie that each was greater than the one before. It’s the strength of the characters.

I don’t want to spoil any of your enjoyment of this film (assuming there is anyone out there who hasn’t seen it yet), but this movie did bring some surprises.

First, you would suspect that this is a great family film for all ages. Well, it is that, but it’s a surpise how many grown, macho men, come out of the theater with their hat brims pulled down, staring at the ground, not wanting anyone to see the tears rolling down their cheeks. I don’t think men cry at movies, but in droves the do at this one. That wasn’t expected I’m sure. Why? Because, especially in the last part of the movie, it really connects to a guy’s deepest feelings. We’ve all put away our toys and gave up that wonderful part of our life because we grew up. We didn’t want to, but we had to. So facing what Andy is facing, strikes a chord that hits us. We did that too. Perhaps today’s world is too complicated. Toys today are not a simple as Mr. Potato Head, a Slinky dog, a toy dinosaur, or a raggedy old pull string cowboy. We used our imaginations. Kids today have high technology toys, but they don’t build the connection to them like we did. There are many moments like this.

But the kids are going to love it too. There are lots of new characters, some scary, some trying to be scary, but they’re all trying to survive in their own way and determine their own worth. The story is very strong, the old characters are there, and still load of fun, and the new ones are nice to get to know.

I can’t see any reason for anyone on earth not to love this movie. It has to get the highest rating of any movie of the year so far!

==Written by Ed Goettman ==

==From: Ed's Review Dot Com (www.edsreview.com)==

Review by Steve Carlson: “We’re all just trash, waiting to be thrown away…” Consider what it must be like to be a toy in the world of the 'Toy Story' films. It’s all fun and games as long as your owner is of the age where you matter, but every toy, like every human, must know that nothing lasts forever. And, as long as you aren’t junked, you’re effectively immortal. This translates to a relatively brief window of happiness sidling into a long dry desert of disappointment and boredom. These are not parameters explored by the average children’s film. Then again, it’s debatable whether it can be said that Pixar is making children’s films any more. They’ve often used the genre to explore parental fears and concerns, but over their last couple of projects the house seems to be struggling to leave behind even the last vestiges of their initial identity.

For a company that built a reputation as the makers of the best family films in the business, Pixar are working awful hard at dropping that word “family” and laying claim to making the best films in the business, period. The delightful “Toy Story 3,” helmed by longtime company stalwart Lee Unkrich, is no exception. It hits staggering highs nearly unheard of in a third franchise installment. It’s difficult to believe that fifteen years have passed between the first film and this new one, yet Unkrich and company kick things off with a deft and exciting action sequence—an imaginative rendition of what goes on inside Andy’s head during playtime—that serves to situate us right where we last left Woody, Buzz and the rest. (Among other things, there’s a mushroom cloud made of the Barrel-o-Monkeys, a sight as disarming as any I’ve seen at the movies.)

With little fanfare, Unkrich then jumps to the present, where it turns out that Andy is preparing to head off to college. The toys, anxious over where they go from here, expect that the best they can hope for is a lifetime of quiet storage in the attic. A mix-up with bags, though, delivers them to a far more unexpected fate—they’re donated to the Sunnyside Daycare facility, an initially-idyllic haven overseen by the folksy and genial Lots-O-Huggin’ Bear, a large and cuddly stuffed plaything who always smells of strawberries and insists, in the avuncular tones of Ned Beatty, that the new arrivals call him Lotso. Woody, with the slightest tinge of desperation and neediness, insists on getting back to Andy’s house, even if being there means years of nothing, but other toys are enamored by Lotso and his creepy sidekick Big Baby (a hulking plastic baby doll with a wonky eye; the first indication that things may not be as perfect as they seem).

When Woody departs on his own and Lotso in time is revealed as an iron-fisted, strawberry-scented sadist, “Toy Story 3” kicks into high gear and, in doing so, reveals its soulfulness. The truly impressive thing about the film manifests once this dual-track narrative takes root: It necessarily begins to grapple with the nature of the toys, of their ephemeral utility against their eternal existence, and… well, color me floored. It’s a grand enough achievement to make a great second sequel when most can’t even muster up a single passable one. But to openly acknowledge that the story we know, the story we showed up to see, ended before the film began, that under a number of logical circumstances there would be no story at all? That what we’re watching is, if you want to get cosmic about it, an existential choice for our beloved characters between Hell and Limbo? To do this and still—still!—craft a terrific entertainment for all ages takes a lot of confidence and a lot of talent. That’s a great deal of baggage to carry, and one false move could throw weight to the wrong side.

Improbably, the balancing act comes off without a hitch, due mainly to an inexhaustible propulsive energy and a delirious inventiveness. While Woody gets sidetracked from his quest to return home, Buzz and the rest (whittled down to Jessie, Hamm, Rex, the Potatoheads, Slinky Dog, Bullseye and a clutch of those three-eyed alien dolls) plot to escape Sunnyside, thus transforming the narrative into a tricky prison-break actioner—a molded-plastic “Brute Force” with a sense of whimsy. Adapting the beats and clichés of a prison flick for the 'Toy Story' world leads to some of the film’s best moments, culminating in a hilarious re-modeling of Mr. Potato Head. Special mention should also be made of the freakiest cymbal-banging monkey since Stephen King’s motorized monster. This 'Toy Story' entry, as might be surmised, is heavier on the action than the other two. But then, when the characters are literally fighting for their right to exist on their own terms, you’d honestly expect nothing less.

Some may complain about the emphasis on constant movement over character development, but I think the balance is struck in just the right way, and the expert voice acting is key. New characters are given voices by the likes of Beatty, Michael Keaton and Timothy Dalton that work in a certain register of psychological shorthand—each actor’s voice says everything we need to know about their animated avatar—while the characters we already know carry pre-existing associations from the earlier films, that old familiar ring. “Toy Story 3,” then, has it all: An intelligent and heartfelt premise, an ingenious measure of narrative construction, tense doses of action and peril, and even a cleverly literal deus ex machina. Lastly, there’s the perfectly bittersweet and beautiful coda, where the Pixar boys prove that they still know how to break your heart and make you love it.

==Written by [Steve Carlson]==

==From: In Review Online (www.inreviewonline.com)==

What made the original Toy Story so great, besides its significant achievement as the first-ever feature-length computer animated film, was its ability to instantly transport viewers into a magical world where it seemed completely plausible that toys were living, thinking beings who sprang to life the minute they were alone and wanted nothing more than to be loved and played with by their children. Toy Story 3 absolutely succeeds in the very same thing--adults and children alike, whether they've seen the original film or not, find themselves immediately immersed in a world in which Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack), Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head (Don Rickles and Estelle Harris), Ham (John Ratzenberger), Rex (Wallace Shawn), the aliens, and the rest of Andy's toys remain completely devoted to Andy (John Morris) even as he's getting ready to pack up and leave for college. Woody scoffs at the other toys' worries that they'll end up in the garbage, assuring them that they've earned a spot of honor in the attic, but when the toys are mistakenly donated to Sunnyside Daycare, Woody is the only toy whose devotion to Andy outweighs the promise of getting played with each and every day. Woody sets off toward home alone while the other toys settle in for some daycare fun, but things don't turn out quite as expected at the daycare thanks to the scheming, strawberry-scented old-timer bear Lots-o'-Huggin' (Ned Beatty). Eventually, Woody rejoins his friends and they all attempt a daring escape from the daycare, which could destroy them all. The pacing of the film is impeccable at this point, although the sense of peril may prove almost too intense for a few young viewers. Pixar's 3-D computer animation is top-notch as always and the voice talent in this film is tremendous, but in the end, it's Pixar's uncanny ability to combine drama, action, and humor in a way that irresistibly draws viewers into the world of the film that makes Toy Story 3 such great family entertainment. (Ages 7 and older) --Tami Horiuchi