Never had as dark moments? What about Sid and his torture chamber room with Franken-toys? What about Woody's nightmare of Andy throwing him away? Not to mention fear of being thrown out and left to die in a junkyard has been an impending theme of the series since the beginning.
The previous two movies were breakout films as well. Woody and Buzz have to break out of Sid's house, then Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye out of Al's capture. They've always had a prison breakout subtext and this film brought that to the forefront and made it an outright prison movie homage.
You do gotta remember that when things are old enough, animated movies, cartoons, etc. the writters take into account that a large portion of the audience is old fans. I read many theaters had more teenagers and young adults (not parents) than kids watching it, since the first movie came out 15 years before and the second 10 years before. The company itself had started adding more bleak tones since to it's movies.
You've gotta be kidding. A prison movie? How is that bad? And there are plenty of movies as dark as this.
@ Tuckerscreator For your first comment, I meant as dark as facing fiery doom. Even if we consider Sid's house a Fate Worse than Death, at least it would only be two toys instead of the entire gang. Woody's nightmare of Andy throwing them away certainly was scary, but at least it was just a dream, and a fear of being in a junkyard pales to actually being in one.
For your second comment I never really thought about that. That just goes to show how constructive debate leads to someone (me) finding out things I never thought of. I'm not exaggerating: put that on the fridge brilliance page if you haven't already.
@ marcellx I kept that in mind as I wrote the review. Indeed, I grew up on the franchise and watched the movie as a full blown teenager. I just wanted to see what happened to my favorite characters; this is why I will also go see the Finding Nemo sequel. Your argument is 100% correct, and if I had known the film was going for the fans who had grown up on it, I wouldn't have complained. I was just simply shocked at how my expectations that it would be 100% appropriate for little kids were defied.
Thanks for the compliment; I'll consider putting it on the Fridge page.
Even if it never got to exactly the same level as dark, I think the junkyard was still a necessary scene. Every Toy Story film has implicitly been about the toys' fear of being thrown away. In the first film, Woody thinks that Andy has forgotten him and therefore that he's going to be abandoned. The other toys fear this as well when hearing about Andy's birthday party. They all desire the love of their owner, a want reflected by the villain Sid, a mirror opposite of Andy who mistreats his toys and even kills them.
In the second film, Woody gets broken and has a nightmare about being thrown out because of that. Even after he's repaired, he's reminded that Andy is going to get older and eventually outgrow him. This is also reflected by the villain Stinky Pete, who wants to be immortal in the museum and has been unwanted all his life. At the end Woody decides that a short play life with Andy is still worth it over immortality, and looks forward to seeing him grow up.
But the third film has the toys finally face the day when they're abandoned. They can't assure themselves that it's going to be a long time away, because it's here now. And the junkyard is where almost every toy must meet its end. Forced to face their ultimate fate, they choose to hang on to each other since they've all been on this journey together. It's here where they give up love by an owner for love for each other, and thus after being rescued accept going to the attic because they know they'll have each other. Learning to accept death isn't a bad topic for kids to learn. Ever since I was a kid I had to contemplate the reality of death, especially after the death of relatives, and a film like this would have aided that. Maybe it isn't for all kids, but many have a greater philosophical capacity than adults would think.
Personally, I actually found the mutilated toys in the Sid's house to be a lot creepier and worse than the prison subtext in Toy Story 3. At least in Sunnyside you have clear rules and some certainty about your life, as well as some hope of carrying favour with wardens, or even advancing to their statute. In Sid's house nothing but blind chance decides if you will survive unscathed for a bit longer or not, and you're still thrown away at the end, and likely a lot faster as well. Plus, daycare children are still innocent and don't really damage toys out of spite. Sid's cruelty is entirely intentional.
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A Disturbing Scene And A Slightly Formulaic Approach To Plot Hinders An Otherwise Good Movie
A long time ago, rumors started to circulate of a third installment being developed. I read that one rumored idea that it would be about Buzz being recalled and it would kind of be about his experiences with other broken toys. I waited and waited for the movie to come out.
When it did come out, it was a little okay. The story is that Andy is going away to college, and through a mistake, the toys end up in a daycare.
The voice acting is good, the plot makes sense, and our characters remain likable and memorable. The animation is world class.
Only one problem.
It's a prison movie with toys. I mean, I know it's a daycare and no one did anything wrong, but a lot of the standard tropes are still there: Convenient Cellmates (some of our characters have "cells" right next to each other)? Captivity Harmonica (though brilliantly deconstructed when someone tells Rex to keep quiet)? Great Escape? The Old Convict? Punishment Box? Wardens Are Evil (and with tragic back stories as well)? Hellhole Prison (at least if you piss of the warden)? Check all across the board. Oh, and now that I've proved my point, add in Implicit Prison as well.
I'm not saying prison movies are innately bad, but when you look at it, it's a little formulatic. The other two movies at least had some originality. This movie is a little formulatic in comparison, and that's kind of what ruined it for me,
Also, there is a scene in which our beloved toys almost die in the fire of a junkyard, and it is played for fear and drama. Read that again, it's not a typo. Near death experiences can be hilarious in fiction, as long as it is played out right (imagine, say, how dangerous being one of the Three Stooges must be), but when a kids' movie (that had arguably never before had any moments as dark) has our characters moments away from cruel end, it's weird at best.
Prison movies with toys are not my thing. Thumbs down in my book.