A long time has passed since the events of Toy Story 2. Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Bullseye, Slinky, Hamm, Mr and Mrs Potato Head, and three aliens are all that remain of Andy's toy collection. With Andy due to leave for college, they're pondering what their ultimate fate is going to be (whether consigned to the attic, donated, or thrown away). After a misunderstanding, they get donated to Sunnyside Daycare Centre, which turns out to be a harsh dystopia where toys are subject to rough play by the toddlers. Ruling this prison is Lotso, a nihilistic teddy bear voiced by Ned Beatty. Meanwhile, Woody is determined to return home after finding that Andy intends to take him to college. He winds up in the possession of an imaginative child named Bonnie, and learns of Sunnyside and Lotso's true nature. He then becomes determined to rescue his friends.
There was an eleven year gap between the release of this film and the previous one, but Pixar were successful in re-uniting most of the cast. The only real exception was that Slinky Dog had to be re-cast, as Jim Varney had died three months after Toy Story 2 was released. In this film, he's voiced by Blake Clark. The other absence was Annie Potts, who voiced Bo Peep, a porcelain doll and Woody's love interest from the previous films. Presumably she was unable to commit to the role, but would return in the next film.
The film's opening is action-packed and epic. The previous films show Andy playing with the toys from an outsider's perspective, but this time we see it from his perspective. It shows how much the animation has improved in the fifteen years since the first film. I especially like the visual style of Sunnyside at night. The toys are confined to baskets and draws which give the impression of a cell block, with those rollercoaster toys laid across the top of the shelf to resemble barbed wire.
Lotso's a pretty good villain, almost to a Shakespearean level. He comes across as warm and welcoming when Andy's toys arrive at Sunnyside, but his ruthless side is revealed when Buzz attempts to negotiate moving the toys to the older children's classroom, restoring him to his factory settings and making him his lackey. His background reveals that he was the cherished toy of a girl named Daisy, along with a doll known as Big Baby, and a clown called Chuckles. When they were lost during a trip, they struggled home to find that Lotso had been replaced. He took over Sunnyside, with Big Baby acting as his enforcer. Chuckles was later repaired by Bonnie, but is still traumatised by his experiences.
I sometimes wonder if this film was being made for the cadre of existing fans. I was 16 when this film came out, and had not long finished my GCSEs. I can imagine that a lot of people who saw the previous two films in the cinema would be in the same boat. You've got Woody's loyalty threatening to create a genuine rift with the other toys, a clown doll with PTSD, Lotso's gang betting on the outcome of a "What the Farmer Says" toy (with Monopoly money), a Chatter Telephone who acts as a "Deep Throat"-style whistleblower, and a pretty harrowing climax following the epic prison break.
Another strong sequel that holds up really well. Even if I'm a newcomer to it.
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