Apologies for the long delay: Here's Part two of the Toy Story 3 2PMR.
First, I'll quote part 1's explanation of how these two-parters work:
These (actually, just "this" right now) two-part movie reviews are in two parts for a reason. Part 1 is for everyone! If you haven't seen it [the movie], read on. Nothing spoilery here. I can't be held responsible for anything that's given away via the links, though I'll try not to send you anywhere that will ruin it. But I warn you NOT to read part 2 until you've seen the movie, or if you decide from part 1 that you really don't care to see it in the first place. There. That's done.
So, this is part two. Don't read it if you haven't seen it and don't want anything in TS3 given away. I'm guessing that applies to small percentage of the already small number of people who've ever taken in the Mayhem. A request, though: part 2 is meant to be a discussion - you participate in the mayhem! So, if you read on, please take 30 seconds (or more) to comment on a) the movie, b) this review c) something else relevant, like your favorite cowboy or space ranger, or a toy you lost when you were a kid or something.
Before discussing the theme that was most poignant to me, a few other thoughts:
Villain: They nailed it. Like most evil in the world, Lotso looks innocent and kind initially. But he's hiding bitter motives underneath his external teddy-bear.
Consistency: Two words: "The Claw!" Tie-ins like this to the earlier films make the characters and story that much more believable.
Culture: There are few more pleasing sounds to the ears than the word "strawberries" pronounced with a British accent. Ahhhh. And the funniest part of the entire movie was Buzz in Spanish mode. Hilarious. At least if you know enough Spanish to catch the things he said that didn't get subtitled in English!
Themes: The most poignant theme to me was purpose. Andy is on his way to college, and that means the toys are being boxed up - will he send them to the trash? the attic? When the toys mistakenly conclude the former is Andy's intention, they decide they're not going to sit around and wait. With a self-derived sense of purpose, they head off to a day-care, where they think life will be easy - a lazy retirement of pleasure and play-time.
Unlike the other toys, Woody the cowboy is supposed to ride off to college with Andy. He's somewhat torn between the family of toys he's known and his loyalty to Andy. He believes his purpose and identity (and that of the other toys) is tied up with Andy (only logical, since Andy's name is written on his sole). Insisting on Andy's right over them as his toys, Woody tries to convince the others to stay and let Andy store them in the attic. His faith in Andy (not blind faith, by the way) and self-abandon to him is inspiring. But the others don't see it that way. They don't trust that Andy won't throw them away, and they don't trust Woody, since he gets to go off to college.
Soon they find out their play-time is actually painful, and their pleasure-palace of a daycare is actually a prison! At that point they want to return to Andy, even if that means ending up in the attic. And when they finally do wind up with Andy, the way he treats them shows how much he cares for them.
OK, it's your turn now: Have you ever felt abandoned by someone, only to find that they had your best interest at heart? Have you ever made a decision based on what felt best for you at the moment and realized later that it had terrible consequences? Is there a higher purpose to live for than your own dreams of fulfillment, comfort, and safety? Or was there another theme that struck you from the film? What made you laugh the hardest? Almost cry? (I said "almost") Or were you disappointed with TS3? Bring on the mayhem!!!
P.S.: There are two more 2PMRs in queue. They should appear gradually over the next couple of weeks.
