I confess I even got a bit teary-eyed watching as the toys faced certain destruction at the dump. In Toy Story 3 the theme is seen as we watch the toys go from one change to the next. This theme recurs constantly throughout the trilogy. The title track for all three movies remains Randy Newman’s “You’ve Got A Friend In Me,” and for good reason. All three movies emphasize the importance of friendship. Lastly, the movie portrays in gripping fashion the importance of relationships. But what stuff do you have that you will never use again that could profit another. Americans aren’t just consumers we are hoarders (see the reality show by this name for proof). He must give them away to a sweet little girl who will play with them. But as we watch him, at the end of the movie, playing with Molly we see so clearly what he must do. He struggles with the though to giving them away because they meant so much to him as a boy, the hold a great deal of sentimental value to him. Andy decides that he will store his toys away, with the exception of Woody. What do you have hiding out in your attic that could better be used if given away. Second, Toy Story 3 forces us to ask questions about our possessions. No matter how much we want to live in the past, and many of us do (like the guys who relive their high school football games constantly or their college days or churches that try to recreate revivals from twenty years ago) we must all accept the present and move on. They are no longer going to be used and played with and they must come to accept that. This happens not simply for Andy who has to let go of his beloved toys, especially Woody, but it happens for the toys themselves. But Toy Story 3 reminds us that we all grow up and we all must accept change. We can tend to romanticize these times, but often they really were fun. Memories of a simple time, of fun with our action figures and doll houses. For many of us childhood holds fond memories. The movie helps us first to wrestle with the reality of growing up. Toy Story 3, takes a drastic turn, however, when we consider that Andy is all grown up and his toys are no longer important to him. He can be a famous toy and live in the spotlight of a toy museum or he can return to his owner, Andy, and spend his days as the object of a little boy’s affection. Toy Story 2 builds on this same theme, but this time Woody is the one wrestling with his identity and place. In the first movie the Sheriff Woody must come to grips with sharing his place as Andy’s favorite toy, and his competitor, a space ranger named Buzz Lightyear, must come to grips with being simply a toy and not a real space ranger. For those few of you who have, apparently, been living under a rock since the mid 90s, Toy Story is a trilogy about a group of toys belonging to a little boy named Andy and the various stages of their life together.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |