Toy Story 3

Woody, Buzz Lightyear and their friends are back! Eleven years after "Toy Story 2", the superhuman toys return to our cinemas. The ingenious minds of Pixar, who in recent years have repeatedly asserted their supremacy in the field of animated films with films such as "Oben", "Wall-E" or "Ratatouille", once again give small and large moviegoers a wonderful fairy tale that can convince not only with impressive (3D) animation, but also a really nice story and a lot of heart.

Big changes are coming. Andy is now almost eighteen and is off to college in a few weeks. He barely spends any time with his toys anymore, let alone plays with them. Andy has only kept a handful of his once beloved toys in his box, including, of course, his beloved cowboy Woody (voiced by Michael "Bully" Herbig) and the death-defying astronaut Buzz Lightyear. But now the boy must decide: what will he take to college, what will go in the attic, and what will go in the trash? While Woody is chosen to move into the new home on campus with him, by some silly coincidence his friends end up in a daycare center instead of the attic as planned. At first, everything suggests that they have found the true paradise of toys here. Every day they are played with here and they are never shunted off to the siding. But what seems so wonderful at first, soon turns out to be a real nightmare from which they have to escape as quickly as possible. Luckily Woody comes to the rescue. But with it the real adventure only begins...

"Toy Story 3" is a wonderful film. Not only technically is the third installment superior to the original, which revolutionized animated cinema fifteen years ago. The animations are almost perfect down to the smallest detail, with the characters and the environment in which they operate harmonizing much better than was the case in the first two parts. The 3D effect - if you're watching the film in the 3D version - is relatively subtle, merely adding a little more depth to the proceedings. It's not really breathtaking, but it's definitely better than it was last time around with "Forever Shrek".

What makes the film so worth watching, however, and makes it stand out from the crowd of animated films, is the wonderful story and the myriad of lovable characters. In addition to the already familiar heroes, many new characters appear in Part 3, including an old Fisher Price phone that older moviegoers in particular will be very familiar with from their own childhoods. As far as the plot is concerned, the makers here deliberately take their cue from the classic family film, which likes to present somewhat dark, exciting and, for young viewers, slightly terrifying moments. Of all things, a baby doll is responsible for such creepy moments here, which could even give adult audiences the creeps.

First and foremost, "Toy Story 3", like the first two films, is about friendship. But being able to let go, starting new stages of life and saying goodbye to dear friends are also central themes of the story, which may well generate many a tear in the end. In between, there are quite great goosebump moments (especially during a scene at a landfill site, which is probably one of the darkest moments of the series), many great laughs and enchanting images.

A word about the voice actors: while in the English original Tom Hanks (he is just great as Woody), Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, ex-Bond Timothy Dalton, ex-Batman Michael Keaton or Whoopie Goldberg lend their voices to the characters, for part 3 in Germany they also relied on celebrities: For the first time Michael "Bully" Herbig was allowed to give Cowboy Woody his voice. For connoisseurs of the first two films, this may take some getting used to, but overall Bully does an absolutely perfect job. Of course he is supported by Christian Tramitz, who voices Barbie's new companion Ken, and Rick Kavanian as the lovable toy dinosaur. This also makes "Toy Story 3" one of those rare instances where the dubbed version is almost as good as the original.

With plenty of imagination, coupled with some nostalgia and a nice story, "Toy Story 3" is one of those rare sequels that is far superior to the original. It's a film that both children (though not under 6) and adults can enjoy. Unfortunately, the blend of perfect technique and traditional storytelling is not a given and makes this film something very special. And along the way, the story of Andy the boy and his beloved toy is brought to a close in a very nice way. Family cinema really doesn't get any better than this!

And of course, as with every film from Pixar, there is once again an enchanting supporting film that combines computer animation and traditional animated film and tells something quite magical using only visual and sound effects. So be sure to get to the cinema in time, so that you don't miss the short film in any case!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp