Toy Story 3 (2010) - Movie Review for Parents

Bottom line: Toy Story 3 may be a threequel, but it packs all the entertainment punch of the first two Toy Story movies and rounds out the overall story with an emotional, funny film that is as fun for parents as it is for kids. The movie contains a few scenes that may be extremely frightening or suspenseful for very young viewers.

MPAA Rating: G
Genre: Animation/Comedy/Adventure
Runtime: Approx. 103 minutes
Studio: Disney/Pixar
Release Date: June 18, 2010

Toy Story - Overview

Buzz, Woody, and the rest of the gang have been toy-boxed up for a while now, and they are hoping for just one more chance to play with Andy before he heads off for college and they head up to the attic. Unfortunately, Andy is too busy for toys, and to make things worse, the disappointed toys are accidentally donated to Sunnyside, a daycare facility, instead of being put up in the attic to wait for Andy to come home again.

At first, the toys start to think daycare may not be such a bad deal. They meet tons of nice new toy friends -- Barbie even finds herself a Ken doll -- and the idea of getting played with lovingly by endless children every day for years to come is wonderful. But, the toys quickly find out that things at Sunnyside are not as they appear.

It seems that Andy's toys have been sentenced to a prison-like existence, where the top toy rules with a plush iron thumb and Andy's toys, at the bottom of the totem poll, are relegated to the toddler room, which can best be described as a toy torture chamber. With their love for Andy giving them hope and Woody leading the way, the toys make a bold and daring attempt to escape, but even if they do succeed, they are still a long way from home.

Toy Story 3 - Guide Review of Movie Messages and Content

Pixar has done it again with this third and final chapter in the Toy Story trilogy. The third installment manages to be altogether exciting, emotional and hilarious for families of all ages -- quite a feat for a G-rated feature. The added 3D element puts viewers right there with their favorite characters and makes the adventure seem even more real.

This Toy Story flick does kick up the thrill factor a little with the prison-like ambiance in the daycare and a harrowing near death experience the toys face during their escape. Young kids may be very frightened or unsettled by these scenes, and by the treachery of some toys who seem nice at first but turn out to be nasty and vicious. Also, themes of change and moving on -- with Andy going to college and the toys' uncertain future -- may be sad to kids, and more likely, for parents.

The plight of the toys in Toy Story has always been about the toys' fear of being replaced or becoming obsolete. The toys love Andy, but as he gets new toys and grows up, it's heartbreaking for his old toys. Kids will relate to these sad, scary, and uncertain feelings, and young kids may need to talk about them and be reassured that the toys are going to be happy. In the midst of the toys' plight, the movie also delivers some good messages about friendship, love, and loyalty. Kids will pick up on these good points, but they may also want to imitate the bullying ruler of Sunnyside or his toy followers who engage in activities like imprisoning other toys, gambling, and plotting.

Toy Story 3 - Content Overview

*May contain spoilers.

• Violence (Medium): The violence in Toy Story 3 all occurs with toys. In pretend sequences, some toys play bad guys and the toys chase each other, fall off things, get attacked by other toys and held down, and more. At the daycare, however, some toys are actually mean to other toys, doing things like capturing them, tying them up, threatening them with harm, throwing them in scary places, locking them up, changing their settings and more. One toy is shown battered, as if the mean toys have beaten it up a bit. A few toys very nearly get burnt to ashes, and another gets tied to a moving car. Kids at the daycare play very roughly with the toys.
• Sex/Nudity (Low): Buzz becomes very affectionate and romantic when he is switched to Spanish mode. Also, Barbie and Ken become very affectionate for each other.
• Drugs and Alcohol (None)
• Language (Low): No profanity is used in the movie. A couple of mild rude words like "butt" or "idiot" are used.
• Disrespectful/Imitative Behavior (High): Some toys have formed a hierarchy, and they exert control over other toys. Some of these toys are seen gambling in a secret room as they plot. Toddlers are shown playing roughly with toys -- banging, painting with them, licking them, sticking toys in their nose... Some toys tease Ken about being a girl toy, and Barbie rips some of his clothes to get info out of him and later ties him up.

• Scary Scenes (High): Very young children may be very frightened by some of the scenes listed under "violence" or other scenes in the movie. At Sunnyside, Andy's toys are locked up in toy containers, and it looks like they are behind bars. The toys are sad and scared. They find themselves in a few perilous situations as they try to escape, and in one scene, they actually come close to being burned up in an incinerator and resolve themselves to fact the terrible fate together. Big Baby, a worn baby doll, is portrayed as being very large and the way it suddenly appears is somewhat creepy a couple of times. Also, a monkey holding cymbals who screams with wild eyes, bangs the cymbals and pounds another toy with them may be scary to kids.
• Sad/Unsettling Scenes (High): Andy feels somewhat sad and aprehensive about leaving for college, and his mother gets emotional upon seeing his mostly empty room. Andy's toys are scared and uncertain about their future. Lotso the bear has a sad past and is still bitter about how he was lost and replaced by his old owner.

Toy Story 3 - On Blu-ray

I don't think most people are on the fence about whether or not to buy Toy Story 3, but if you are, rest assured that the bonus features add value and then some. Behind-the-scenes and making-of footage gives viewers an amazing glimpse into the film and animated film making in general, and the wealth of information is interesting for family members of all ages. Find out about characters, the animation process, voice actors and more as well as about how the characters actually became real toys.

Disclosure: The studio provided a free screening of this movie for review purposes. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.