Disney booting up 'Toy Story 3'
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Walt Disney Studios is actively moving ahead with its long-in-discussion sequel to Pixar Animation's two "Toy Story" movies, a move that could bring Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the gang back to the big screen. Disney is in the process of setting up a digital animation facility in Glendale, not all that far from DreamWorks Animation's digs, that will be used for the production of "Toy Story 3." The project falls under the aegis of David Stainton, president of Walt Disney Feature Animation. Andrew Millstein, who headed the company's now-shuttered animation facility in Orlando, also is involved and has begun the process of recruiting animation heavyweights from rival animation studios and effects shops. Although over the past year Disney chairman Michael Eisner and studio head Dick Cook have signaled their determination to embark on a "Toy Story" sequel, the fact that the studio is now actively beginning that process could make it more difficult for it to resume negotiations with Pixar CEO Steve Jobs to extend Pixar's relationship with Disney. The current Pixar/Disney deal expires next year with the release of John Lasseter's "Cars." While Disney holds the rights to do sequels to "Toy Story," it has held off from doing so in the past, in part in deference to Jobs and Lasseter, both of whom haven't wanted to lose control of the characters. Neither Disney nor Pixar would comment.
SERIOUSLY, this blows hard. disney is a low-down sunuvabitch and i hope to god Hanks and Allen refuse to take part in this, because that will force disney to find replacements or deal with some seriously bad pr. either way, I BOYCOTT THIS FILM(S).
edit: haha, i just realized i had the exact same reaction a few posts above. it looks like i still feel the same way about it.
As I said in the mass e-mail I sent out to my friends, this is going to suck at least 10 new species of ass.
From Guardian Unlimited...
Disney plans Pixarless Toy Story III
Staff and agencies
Wednesday November 17, 2004
Disney is planning a third instalment of Toy Story, but without the help of Pixar, the studio which produced the first two movies.
The studio is setting up its own digital animation studio following the end of its collaboration with Pixar earlier this year, and seems set to produce Toy Story 3 on its own.
Disney had so far refused to produce a second sequel, in deference to Pixar CEO Steve Jobs and Toy Story director John Lasseter, who did not want to lose control of the characters.
However, Tom Hanks looks unlikely to reprise his role as the voice of Woody, citing concern over the authenticity of any new film made without Pixar.
"The creative team that put together the original Toy Story was very specific and organic to the success of the process. Not that there aren't other talented people that would be involved [if another sequel was made]. That would be a bridge to cross when I come to it."
Tim Allen, who voiced Buzz Lightyear, is perhaps less cautious: "If [Disney] can get the magic that Pixar had, then I don't think anybody's going to complain about it."
The last Pixar-Disney collaboration will be Cars, directed by John Lasseter, due to be released next year.
All I can say to this is: No Hanks? No thanks!
Quote from: hacksparrow
"The creative team that put together the original Toy Story was very specific and organic to the success of the process. Not that there aren't other talented people that would be involved [if another sequel was made]. That would be a bridge to cross when I come to it."
AKA "If they pay me enough, I'll do it"
tom hanks = respectable
tim allen = notsomuch
Quote from: hacksparrowNot that there aren't other talented people that would be involved
tom hanks = a wuss
Pixar may be the goat.
Stern to 'Toy' with sequel for Disney Ani
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Walt Disney Feature Animation didn't have to look far for a story line for its sequel "Toy Story 3," currently in development. The winning premise came from Jared Stern, a participant in Disney's feature animation story development program. Stern pitched a proposal for the film, which the studio sparked to but is keeping under wraps. According to Disney, no determination has been made whether Stern will pen the "Toy Story 3" screenplay himself or whether other writers will be involved. Disney has begun recruiting animators to work on a sequel to the first two Pixar-created "Toy Story" films. Pending new developments in the Pixar-Disney relationship, which is scheduled to expire once Pixar completes John Lasseter's upcoming "Cars," Disney is working on the "Toy Story 3" by itself.
Bradley Raymond Directing Toy Story 3
Source: The Business of Animation March 14, 2005
Bradley Raymond will direct Toy Story 3, which Walt Disney Pictures is planning for a 2008 theatrical release. Raymond previously helmed direct-to-DVD/video Disney titles The Lion King 1½ and The Hunchback of Notre Dame II.
Disney Feature Animation is making the third film without Pixar and basing the next installment on a script by young writer Jared Stern. Stern developed a story idea for the long-in-the-works "TS3" on spec while a member of Disney's Feature Animation Writing Program.
Stern's new take is expected to advance the "Toy Story" franchise by taking the characters on the road and out of Andy's room. Stern is also understood to have invented a couple of new characters for the next installment.
yes, this is the first horseman of the apocalypse. wow, disney really has a lot of faith in this project giving it to the genius behind lion king 1 1/2 and hunchback II. he clearly knows his way around a sequel! i will never see this movie as long as i live. please god, dont let the voices sign on for this.
Toy Story 3 Update
Dis divulges Story details.
The outcome of recently renewed negotiations between Disney and Pixar is still up in the air, but the Mouse is set on moving ahead with Toy Story 3, with or without the CG-animation studio that created the franchise.
Disney has just released the first story details on the next installment in the hit film series at the computer animation trade show SIGGRAPH.
According to a report on the Jim Hill Media website, the Disney booth has a Toy Story 3 display with this plot summary: "After a major malfunction, Buzz Lightyear is recalled to a toy factory in Taiwan. Woody and the gang have to hightail it halfway around the world to save Buzz before he dissembled forever."
The story for Story 3 was developed by Jared Stern, a participant in Disney's feature animation story development program. There's no word yet on whether or not he'll actually write the script.
Disney, who are in the process of setting up their own digital animation unit in Glendale, California, hopes to lure talented animators to their studio at the trade show.
Their second non-Pixar CG film, Chicken Little, opens on November 4th.
'Toy Story 3' to be retooled at Pixar
The Walt Disney Co. will scrap production of the latest "Toy Story" sequel and hand the project over to Pixar Animation Studios Inc. as part of its deal to acquire Pixar, sources familiar with the situation said on Thursday.
It was not clear how the change would affect the production schedule at Pixar, which has not announced release dates for films beyond the June opening of "Cars."
Disney said on Tuesday it would acquire Pixar in a $7.4 billion stock deal expected to close by this summer.
Production had already started on "Toy Story 3" at Disney's new animation unit in Glendale, California. The unit, dubbed Circle 7, was set up while the two companies were haggling over the terms of a new distribution agreement for Pixar films.
Circle 7 will not immediately be shut down, but its future is yet to be determined, one of the sources said.
Disney's current agreement with Pixar allows it to make sequels to the animated films the two studios made together.
Sequels can be made in three to four years compared with four or five years of development for an original animated film because technical work on most of the characters has already been done.
Former Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner ordered "Toy Story 3" into production after the two companies broke off talks over a new distribution deal nearly two years ago.
Current Disney CEO Robert Iger, who took over in October, returned all sequel-making to Pixar as part of the merger agreement.
"It was really important to me that the people who made the films originally ... get a shot at making any films that were derivative," Iger told analysts on a conference call earlier this week.
THAT IS THE BEST NEWS EVER> except for those employees at Circle 7. but seriously, i was never going to see that film so this is the best possible thing for Pixar's integrity.
so do we like Robert Iger?
Allen and Hanks Back for Toy Story 3
Source: Coming Soon
Columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith caught up with Zoom star Tim Allen who said that he and Tom Hanks will reprise their voices of Buzz Lightyear and Woody, respectively, in Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3.
"It's going to be great," said Allen. "We have John Lasseter, the original director, and I believe Tom is on board." Allen added that the new version of the story is "stronger" than the previous one.
Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger revealed in May that the studio had started production on the third film. After Disney acquired Pixar, Pixar took over production of Toy Story 3, which Disney's in-house animators had been working on.
I love the Toy Story films but does anyone else kind of not want to see a Toy Story 3?
well its got a bad taste in my mouth already because of disney trying to make it without pixar. so i hope that if it IS made and lassetter is involved it can be more Toy Story II and less Cars. we'll see, originally II was going to be straight to video and it was completely retooled for a theatrical, so lets hope they can rekindle that magic if this does indeed go forward.
'Toy Story' sequel set
Unkrich to direct upcoming feature
Source: Variety
"Toy Story 3" is coming in 2009, but John Lasseter won't be the director.
In an unusually candid presentation from the typically tight-lipped execs, Lasseter and Disney Animation prexy Ed Catmull provided extensive details on their upcoming slate at the Mouse House's investor conference Thursday.
In addition to confirming for the first time that a third "Toy Story" is in the works, most likely for 2009 release, Lasseter said Lee Unkrich will helm it.
Unkrich co-directed "Toy Story 2," "Monsters, Inc." and "Finding Nemo" but has never before been sole helmer on a Pixar pic.
Lasseter directed the first two "Toy Story" pics but is presumably too busy in his new post as chief creative officer of Disney Animation to work on individual films.
Michael Arndt, Oscar-nominated scribe of "Little Miss Sunshine," is penning the script.
Lasseter said, "The greatest thing about the merger of the two companies is that the creators of 'Toy Story' 1 and 2 can make 3 with the story that we wanted."
Comment was a not-too-subtle swipe at Disney's former plan to develop a third "Toy Story," without Pixar input, before Disney decided to buy the toon studio in late 2005.
Lasseter also revealed a behind-the-scenes shift at Walt Disney Feature Animation -- which is separate from Pixar but also under the control of Lasseter and Catmull -- by announcing that Chris Williams, a vet story artist at the Mouse, is now directing 2008 release "American Dog." Pic was developed and previously under the control of "Lilo & Stitch" helmer Chris Sanders, who recently left Disney.
Catmull denied speculation that Walt Disney Feature Animation may become a 2-D-only studio, with Pixar handling CGI, though he did confirm the Mouse will bring back hand-drawn pics.
"We're really excited about that and have brought back some great directors to work on that," he said, presumably referring to "The Frog Princess," a 2-D pic being developed by "Aladdin" and "Treasure Planet" helmers Ron Clements and John Musker, whom Lasseter brought back to Disney last year. That pic is believed to be on the fast track and may be the division's next release after "American Dog."
Catmull admitted there were problems at Disney Feature Animation when he and Lasseter took over.
"At Disney we have these remarkable artists who were there, but in all candor (they) were not kneaded together in the right way," he stated. "The whole wasn't greater than the sum of its parts, but there were some great parts there."
He said that he and Lasseter are trying to make Disney Feature Animation's pics more director-driven, as at Pixar, and that members of the two units are giving each other notes and sharing technology.
He didn't mention December's layoff of 160 animators, about 20% of the WDFA staff.
Benson, Keaton Voicing Toy Story 3
Source: IESB.net
While promoting The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (on DVD August 26), Jodi Benson, who has voiced Ariel since 1989's hit feature, revealed that she is returning as the voice of Barbie in Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3 and will be joined by Michael Keaton as the voice of Ken, reports IESB.net.
Keaton worked with Pixar previously voicing Chick Hicks in 2006's Cars. Benson played Tour Guide Barbie and Barbie on Backpack for Toy Story 2.
The duo join voice cast members Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Estelle Harris, John Ratzenberger and Ned Beatty. The third installment is scheduled for a June 18, 2010 release.
Disney screens 'Toy' teaser at NAB
Studio offers sneak of upcoming toon
Source: Variety
LAS VEGAS -- For their presentation to the Digital Cinema Summit at NAB, Disney went to infinity ... and beyond.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Group prexy offered up the first-ever public screening of the teaser trailer for "Toy Story 3." Custom-animated short shows Woody supervising the Toy Story characters as they improvise a sign for the pic, only to have Buzz upstage them all with a high-tech version.
The Mouse House will re-release 3-D versions of "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" in a double feature. "Toy Story 3" bows June 18, 2010.
Zoradi, whose polished presentations in support of the 3-D format and Disney's stereo slate have become a regular feature at 3-D conferences, also showed the entire first song, "Belle," from the "Beauty and the Beast," converted to 3-D.
"Think of the potential of what could follow if this is successful," he said. Pic will be released on Feb. 12.
Zoradi thanked the engineers of SMPTE, which organized the confab, and the other orgs and technologists who made 3-D movies possible, but he also offered up a request.
"We know product replacement cycles are shorter than ever before," he said. "We need 3-D standards to be somewhat flexible so they can be updated."
Playthings face mortality in `Toy Story 3'
CANNES, France - Woody, Buzz Lightyear and their plaything pals are coping with abandonment issues in the new "Toy Story" sequel.
Next year's "Toy Story 3" has the gang learning they have reached their shelf life as the young boy who owns them grows up and goes off to college.
"Toys are put on this Earth to be played with by a child," said John Lasseter, director of the first two "Toy Story" movies and chief creative officer for Pixar and Disney animation. "The thing they worry about the most is all the things in life that prevent them from being played with, and probably the thing they fear the most is being outgrown."
Lasseter and his Pixar colleagues talked up the "Toy Story" sequel at the Cannes Film Festival, where their latest animation adventure, "Up," was the opening-night entry.
"Up" director Pete Docter, who helped develop the stories for the "Toy Story" flicks and was an animator on the first, said the creative minds behind the original movies holed up in a cabin for two days to brainstorm ideas for the third.
"For a while, we were worried that we didn't have the story. We were like, `Oh, nothing's coming,'" Docter said. "Then something clicked on the second day, and it just, like, flooded."
Tom Hanks and Tim Allen return as the main mouthpieces, providing the voices of toy buddies Woody and Buzz. Lee Unkrich, one of Lasseter's co-directors on "Toy Story 2," is directing the new sequel.
"Toy Story" was the first computer-animated feature-length movie, launching Hollywood into an era of digital cartoons that have superseded hand-drawn animation. Pixar movies, including "Finding Nemo," "Ratatouille" and "WALL-E," have won four of the eight Academy Awards for feature animation since the category was added in 2001.
Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney's animation studios, said Pixar only does sequels if there is fresh ground to cover, and the "Toy Story" characters lent themselves to a whole new adventure.
"It feels like the summation of a trilogy," said Catmull, adding that the filmmakers had hit on a big emotional finish to "Toy Story 3."
He would not elaborate.
"I'm going to wait on that one. That's got to be the surprise of the film."
Teaser Trailer here. (http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/toystory3/)
What to expect in Toy Story 3 (hints: new characters, adult themes!)
Source: SciFi Wire
You know animator Angus MacLane's work even though he's not one of the Pixar marquee stars like John Lasseter or Brad Bird: MacLane lent his talents to WALL-E, for which he accepted the film's Saturn Award on Wednesday. He also directed the short BURN-E, which appears on the DVD. He got his start at Pixar while Toy Story 2 was in the pipeline, and he's currently working on Toy Story 3 animation. Since he and Pixar got their start with the franchise, he says the third film represents their adulthood.
"I feel like we've grown up making these movies, and each of the films represents where the filmmakers were at the time of making the films," MacLane said in an exclusive interview in Burbank, Calif. "Certainly we're approaching this film 10 years later, so I think we're sort of coming at it from the standpoint of [Andy] has grown up, and we've grown up with these toys, and we have a reverence for them, but we also have different things as a priority."
Lee Unkrich takes the directing lead on a story dealing with Andy's going off to college. The prospect of Andy's outgrowing Buzz Lightyear and Sheriff Woody was first raised in Toy Story 2. So what is a Toy Story with Andy basically grown up?
"I think that's a question we've tried to figure out ourselves," MacLane said. "I can tell you Andy's room is in the movie. That's about all I can say." Whether it's the Andy's room we know or Andy's teenage room, MacLane would not tell.
With a specialty in character movement and motion, which brought many of WALL-E's silent sequences to life, MacLane has had a chance to introduce new toys into the Toy Story world. "Oh, I've had a lot of fun with new characters," he said. "I've spent a lot of the time on the show on new characters. That's one of the things I did work on on this film, was a lot of preproduction and developing on the new characters, just help out getting them ready to go for the film." On Toy Story 2, MacLane was in charge of the "crazy" Buzz Lightyear, fresh out of the box at the toy store, still thinking he's a real space ranger.
MacLane assured fans that he and his Pixar colleagues take Toy Story 3 seriously. They would not make a cheap knock-off sequel (ahem, Disney). And he said the new installment will mark the true conclusion of a trilogy.
"Toy Story 2 was one of the first films I did starting at Pixar, so I feel a real kinship with the characters, specifically Buzz Lightyear," MacLane said. "So I really wanted to get back in there and animate. To give you a sense of the responsibility they feel, there was a T-shirt made in the story department. The back of the T-shirt said, 'Franchise Guardian.' It's not something we do lightly. We go back into that mythology with the intent to continue a story that needs to be told, a story that we believe in and a story that, to be really honest, having seen the movie, is amazing. I'm not worried about it, but in finishing it, we want to make sure it's the best film it can be, and it's fit to stand alongside the other films on the shelf."
Toy Story 3 is due in theaters in 2010.
SDCC: What's new, what's familiar in Toy Story 3
Grown men watching Toy Story 2 still burst into tears when Sarah McLachlan's "When She Loved Me" plays during Jessie's memory. That hit sequel ended on a bittersweet note, with the toys deciding to stay with Andy even though they knew he would eventually outgrow them. Now the upcoming 3-D Toy Story 3 will fulfill that theme, with Andy at 18 going off to college.
"Well, in that song, we took a character who we didn't really know yet in Toy Story 2, and we put her through that, and we saw what she'd been through emotionally," said Lee Unkrich, the director of Toy Story 3, in a group interview at Comic-Con in San Diego over the weekend. "Now we're going to see how it affects our main characters to be in a similar situation. It's really fun to take them and put them in a situation where we don't necessarily know how they're going to react. Each character is going to react in a different way to the situation. So that's exactly what happens. Everybody deals with it differently, and that's what drives a lot of the conflict."
Toy Story was Pixar's first feature-length animated film, and since then many Pixar artists who had been with the company before then have grown up, had children, won Oscars and more. It's been 11 years since Toy Story 2.
"A lot of that is informing, just emotionally, what we're doing in Toy Story 3," Unkrich continued. "The last thing we wanted to do was make a movie about these characters going off and having a wacky adventure somewhere. When we arrived at the notion of having Andy grown up and about to head off to college, that seemed like the perfect life event to place our story at, to provide that rich, deep emotion."
Pixar may have been picky about what would justify making Toy Story 3, but the voice actors were just waiting for the call. "Every time we would bump into Tom Hanks or Tim Allen or anyone, they would always ask, 'When? When is Toy Story 3?'" Unkrich recalls. "They all wanted to do it, and they were all instantly on board and excited to be a part of it."
Hanks, Allen, Joan Cusack et al. will welcome even more new toys into Andy's room. Unkrich announced that a Ken doll, to be voiced by Michael Keaton, will join the Barbie who joined the gang when they infiltrated Al's Toy Barn in Toy Story 2.
"I mean, we actually have more characters in Toy Story 3 than any film that we've made at Pixar," Unkrich said. "When we decided to have Ken in the film, I had a very specific vision of which Ken I wanted to have in the film, because there've been a lot of Kens over the years. Sometimes he has real hair, sometimes he has molded hair, but there was a Ken kind of from the late '80s that's my personal version of Ken, that kind of really smarmy, molded plastic feathered hair. I knew from the get-go that that's the one that we had to go with. Michael Keaton came to us very early on, when we started to think about who would be the perfect voice of Ken."
Pixar continues to push visual boundaries with their films. The fur in Monsters, Inc. was a breakthrough, as was the water in Finding Nemo and the post-apocalyptic Earth and deep space in WALL-E. Even though Toy Story 3 returns to familiar territory, animators are still pushing it further.
"If you've been watching our movies over the years, you know that each one has gotten more and more beautiful-looking, I think, than the last," Unkrich said. "They've gotten more sophisticated. It's not just the technology, it's also the artistry at the studio. So when we sat down to start working on Toy Story 3, we knew that we were capable of making a really, really rich, beautiful world, because we'd done it on Ratatouille and WALL-E. The decision we had to make was 'How much different do we want this film to look?' Just because we have the technology now to do so much more, do we really want to? Because we wanted Toy Story 3 to fit in the canon of Toy Story 1 and Toy Story 2 and feel of a piece. That being said, we wanted it to look really beautiful. It feels of the universe, of the world that we created, yet it's exponentially more rich and beautiful and detailed."
One obvious evolution will be Andy's room. The bedroom of a teenager will have to be updated from the blue wallpapered design we saw in the first two films. "You can use your imaginatiom," Unkrich said. "It would be kind of weird if an 18-year-old was still living in the room of Toy Story 2. We can use a lot of design, because a lot of that great design work had been done on the other movies. But we now had to fill in those ensuing six, seven years in Andy's life, from where we were in 2 to 3."
Toy Story 3 opens June 18, 2010.
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slashfilm.com%2Fwp%2Fwp-content%2Fimages%2Fts3_hamm_teaser_1s_v10composed-550x814.jpg&hash=3ad546072fb608514042b12e329459a5aed3b226)
New Trailer http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/toy-story-3/trailer
International Trailer here. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU9duJDUfQ0)
New Trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/toy-story-3/22984/main
The "Take My Breath Away" moment makes me extremely nervous because it just screams "Dreamworks".
Quote from: modage on February 11, 2010, 10:15:48 AM
The "Take My Breath Away" moment makes me extremely nervous because it just screams "Dreamworks".
Yeah, hoping that music is just for the trailer.
"nice ascot" is Dreamworksy too.
for fuck's sake it's another one of those trailers that reveals every single thing that happens aside from the last ten minutes. could you warn us maybe?
trailer spoils
the mr. potato head thing is pretty unnerving too... so his body gets destroyed? and he survives using his body parts? i could totally have nightmares about that. as a child.
Toy Story 3 Cliffhanger Screenings Coming to Colleges
Source: ComingSoon
Disney•Pixar is inviting college students nationwide to a screening of the "Special Cliffhanger Edition" of Toy Story 3. On Disney•Pixar's Facebook page, you can select your school then click "I'm In!" for the chance to see the first 65 minutes of the gang's newest adventure. The studio says you must bring your valid college ID for admission, that seating is first come, first serve, and no recording devices are permitted.
You can check out the page here (http://www.facebook.com/DisneyPixar?v=app_372057916815) which can be refreshed to see all three teaser videos!
Opening in 3D, 2D and IMAX 3D theaters on June 18, the Lee Unkrich-directed sequel features the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, R. Lee Ermey, Jodi Benson, Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton, Timothy Dalton, Jeff Garlin, Bonnie Hunt, Whoopi Goldberg, Kristen Schaal and Blake Clark.
Ken Meets Barbie:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2847868697/
I laughed, I cried, I saw it in 2D. A worthy and fitting end to the story.
yeah, i really wasnt ready for how heavy that was. And sooo fuckin beautiful. Pixar, for what it's worth, has really outdone themselves...
It looks like it's going to a be a variation on the end of Winnie the Pooh, which is one of the saddest things ever, so I'm prepared for the tearjerkin'.
Overall, it's probably the third best of the series, but the end is so perfect that it kind of makes up for that.
There were two parts (one of which was already discussed here because it's in the trailer) that were basically right out of a Dreamworks movie. That really got on my nerves, but only because they stuck out like a sore thumb.
The rest was funny and cute and stunningly colored and detailed, but just didn't have the grab that the other two did.
A-
Must wait two more months for this. :( It will be nostalgic.
lots of fun with closure catharsis to spare, but i can't help but consider it a step back considering the leaps and bounds pixar made with wall-e and up. personally, i'm glad that toy story is done with.
how the fuck do they do this at pixar all the time? it was excellent AGAIN. the ending made shed a tear.
i found myself staring at a trashbag during one of the earlier scenes thinking, "now that's a trashbag"
The movie itself....not so much.
But "Day & Night"? Holy shit. incredible.
loved the movie and the short film in front of it.
the movie hit all the notes in my opinion. the first two both felt pretty short. and this one was much funnier and sadder, perhaps not as gentle as the first one.
but it feels more consistent than the previous two pixars, Wall-E and Up. Both those movies started out with almost poetic premises, but were hijacked in the third act by some sort of action comedy formula that didn't quite deliver. Toy Story 3 had that same Indiana Jones quality to it but it was stuck in the second act and it was also much funnier. I think I also like the progression in its tone; how it starts out very silly and progressively gets more and more perilous.
I did like this one, although I found a lot of repetitive or predictable. Lots of overexplaining motivation in the beginning. The day care was pretty obvious. I wish the children at the day care had played a bigger role rather than the Lotsa bear, they could have tied in the theme of ownership better than his backstory, but that's just nit-picky. Some really hilarious moments. Michael Keaton was perfect for Ken, definitely the best addition to the series. Overall it was better than 2 and a lot of fun. Not up there with the best Pixar (ie Brad Bird) but like Pete said, more solid than the previous offerings, if you ask me.
I have a special affinity to these films which comes from one of the most influential times in my life.
to explain: when i was 21 i had vertigo for 3 months, a constantly uneven equilibrium sickness that pretty much anything you do becomes a major feat. going to get a glass of water or a trip to the corner store became such a serious undertaking. after a few weeks into this illness i really started to worry I'd never recover from it, which is a possibility and pretty much made me terrified. at that time i did a lot of research online and one thing they did to a famous writer who got this ailment (i think it was twain) was put him in a hospital bed and his doctors painted a red dot on the ceiling so that he could focus on it. all day he'd sit there so eventually over time he would start to get his regular senses back. i mention this to show how debilitating it is. during those three months i became very introverted, litterally living for every moment because such focus was put on my every action. strangely i became conditioned to think and react this way, and naturally it isolated me from social situations; which further perpetuated my introverted state of mind. even after i got better, for a few more months i would constantly be questioning and analyzing my every action, it was hard to look at things long term and/or in the big picture. emoness aside it was dark days to say the least...
the one thing, and i mean litterally the one thing that could take me outta all that was toy story and it's sequel. part of the reason i think i got sick was because i was doing a lot of drugs and drinking tons to the point i lowered my immune system that such a virus could get ahold so strongly in my body. toy story at that time was not only a get away from my spins (which it was because if i lay on my one side and watch movies the spin would be minimal) but it was also a reconnection to a pure place internally. it'd put a smile on my face, or make me sad in a way that would remind me of childhood. i told myself (even then) if i ever became a film maker i would try to approach John Lasseter and Co. and personally thank them for getting me through a very rough spot in my life. because as much as we pontificate (and I've done my vast share) about films, there really isn't anything more powerful than the gift those movies gave me.
so going into Toy Story 3 i was very worried...
and i gotta say this was the perfect ending, and just like the next season of breaking bad, i hope they don't make any more. it's a perfect trilogy and the final note of the 3rd one completes a cycle flawlessly. I don't wanna say anymore than that, if you're a fan go see it. if you're unfamiliar with these films, watch them all.
the film nerd in me: I do think the 2nd one was the best in the trilogy. many of the devices in this one were a variation of techniques they used in the 2nd one. while i loved it, it's the only thing I'd say was a tad redundant. though that doesn't really matter in the end does it.
EDIT - oh ya and i forced my friend to go see it 2D, cuz fuck that gimmicky shit.
Quote from: I Love a Magician on June 24, 2010, 02:18:55 PM
i found myself staring at a trashbag during one of the earlier scenes thinking, "now that's a trashbag"
haha same, especially when they're stretching it in the way it becomes semi translucent.
Quote from: socketlevel on June 27, 2010, 11:31:27 PM
Quote from: I Love a Magician on June 24, 2010, 02:18:55 PM
i found myself staring at a trashbag during one of the earlier scenes thinking, "now that's a trashbag"
haha same, especially when they're stretching it in the way it becomes semi translucent.
That trashbag was more awe-inspiring than the entire six hours or whatever of Avatar.
dear socket:
I too have vertigo.
Quote from: pete on June 28, 2010, 02:00:40 AM
dear socket:
I too have vertigo.
have or had? or you mean hitchcock?
dear socketlevel - it lasts for about a month, once a year, like allergies. but aside from the first couple of days, it's pretty light. I just walk around with a cane for a month.
I saw it in 3d cause it was the only way to catch it in english. There is nothing 3d about it but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it really didn't lose a lot of the color because of it, as was the case with Alice in Wonderland.
cinépolis valle oriente, am i rite??? :yabbse-smiley:?
right.
Quote from: pete on June 28, 2010, 10:39:03 AM
dear socketlevel - it lasts for about a month, once a year, like allergies. but aside from the first couple of days, it's pretty light. I just walk around with a cane for a month.
ya for sure i could see it sinus related. that sucks to hear man, and least you have some comfort knowing it goes away eventually.
Damn, the movie was outstanding, but that short beforehand is what I was really hung up on. Amazing sound design and overall, just a solid, solid short that didn't just fall into the expected Pixar look and feel.
Can I tell you that I get a kick out of those Priority Mail/Toy Story commercials? Having the Cliff Clavin Pig as the mail man, priceless.
Can I also tell you that I cried? :yabbse-sad: Toy Story remains my fav Pixar. Adding to the 'quotes we say too much from the movies' topic: I have been telling people, "There's a snake in my boot!" since 1995 and for some reason it ALWAYS gets a laugh.
Isn't that line also a reference to Oregon Trail? It feels like that happened now and then when you weren't running out of supplies and someone wasn't poisoning the water hole.
This was a mostly funny and entertaining movie (the first daycare sequence was great, and so was the tortilla thing) but it doesn't live up to Toy Story 2, and it feels sort of redundant.
Loved the short at the beginning.
I cried. I cried like a big dumb piece of shit.
I actually think it's the best out of the three. I approached this as a cash in and didn't really have high expectations. Oh, it's just the toys in another adventure, but it was so much more. As with most everything Pixar does it transcended the simple animated film genre. It starts out kind of basic but really gets going once the toys get to the daycare. After that it doesn't let up.
The funniest part was easily Ken modeling for Barbie. Also, I think my favorite character is the pig. His sarcasm kills me. I like Mr. Potato Head, too. I like all the abrasive characters.
That ending tho, wow, I teared up big time. Felt like an idiot.
This proves (once again) that sequels can be so much more than the original. My heart melted and I was filled with unabashed joy. I didn't have high expectations like I do with most films but this really blew me out of the water.