Toy Story 3 (2010, Lee Unkrich)

Where better to start a film blog than with the most recent film I have seen....Toy Story 3. Although I admit that this is not branching out and watching films that I wouldn’t have watched before, I still feel it deserves a special mention, as one of the most awaited films of the summer


The first two Toy Story films are, in true Disney Pixar fashion, brilliant for audiences of all ages, possibly even more so for viewers of my age who have grown up alongside Andy, and are now reaching the same stage of leaving home for college/ university. I work in a toy shop which sells some of the toys from the films; slinky dog, chatter telephone and Mr and Mrs Potato Head, and it often irritates me when children aged 5 or 6 come in with the parents and point out the toys as characters from Toy Story 3-the majority of the characters have been in the films since the first one, released 15 years ago, but such is the appeal of the characters that children young and old take to them. Everyone can recognise the characters, either as part of themselves, or as someone they know; Woody the leader, the cynical Mr Potato Head, the nagging Mrs Potato Head, slow but faithful Bullseye.

The film is brilliant. At one point (if you’ve seen it you will know the part I mean) I genuinely believed that Disney Pixar were going to give up their tradition, if you will, of happy endings and actually allow a tragedy to befall the characters, destroying the belief system of all viewers who can relax whilst watching Disney films, safe in the knowledge that they will have a happy ending. Nonetheless, in this particular case, disaster was averted, and in spite of a rather drawn out (and somewhat tear jerking) ending, the film was thoroughly enjoyable and exceeded expectations. I only hope that Disney Pixar do not try to draw it out any further by opening another chapter in the lives of the toys. Let a good thing lie!