Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American animated comedy-drama film directed by Lee Unkrich and written by Michael Arndt. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, it is the third installment in the Toy Story film series and the sequel to Toy Story 2 (1999). The film features the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton, Jodi Benson, and John Morris. In the film, Andy Davis, now a teenager, is going to college. Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the other toys are accidentally donated to the Sunnyside Daycare center by Andy's mother, and the toys must decide where their loyalties lie.
In 2004, following disagreements between the Walt Disney Company's CEO Michael Eisner and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs, Disney planned to make Toy Story 3 at the new Circle Seven Animation studio unit, with a tentative theatrical release date in early 2008. The script was developed in multiple versions. After Disney bought Pixar in early 2006, the Circle Seven version of the film was canceled as the result of Circle Seven's closure. The production was then transferred to Pixar, where a new script was developed. Randy Newman returned to compose the film's musical score. With a budget of $200 million, Toy Story 3 is one of the most expensive films ever made.
Toy Story 3 premiered at the Taormina Film Fest in Italy on June 12, 2010, and was released in the United States on June 18. It was the first film to be released theatrically with Dolby Surround 7.1 sound. Like its predecessors, the film received acclaim from critics, with praise for the vocal performances, screenplay, emotional depth, animation, and Newman's musical score. It grossed $1.067 billion worldwide, finishing its theatrical run as the highest-grossing film of 2010 and the fourth-highest grossing film of all time at the time of its release. It was also the first animated film to reach $1 billion at the box office, and was the highest-grossing animated film until the release of Frozen in 2013, and Pixar's highest-grossing film until the release of Incredibles 2 in 2018.
The National Board of Review, the American Film Institute and Cahiers du Cinéma named Toy Story 3 one of their top ten films of 2010. Amongst its numerous accolades, Toy Story 3 was nominated for five awards at the 83rd Academy Awards, winning Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. It was the third animated film to be nominated for Best Picture. A sequel, Toy Story 4, was released in 2019.
Plot
17-year-old Andy Davis, who has not played with his toys in years, is leaving for college, and intends to take Woody with him. Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, and the others are put in a bag to be stored in the attic, but Andy's mother mistakenly takes the bag to the curb for garbage pickup. The toys escape and, believing Andy intended to throw them away, join Barbie in a donation box bound for Sunnyside Daycare. Woody pursues the others and fails to convince them of the truth.
Andy's toys are welcomed by the other toys at Sunnyside, and are given a tour of the seemingly perfect play-setting by Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear ("Lotso"), Big Baby, and Ken, with whom Barbie falls in love. All the toys choose to stay, except Woody, who attempts to return home. A Sunnyside child named Bonnie finds Woody and takes him to her house, playing with him and her other toys.
After Andy's toys endure a rough playtime with the toddlers, Buzz asks Lotso to have himself and his friends moved to the older children's room, but is instead captured. Lotso is revealed to be running a police state among the daycare's toys; he tells Buzz he sends all newly arrived toys to the toddler room for his gang's safety, regardless of whether the new toys are age-appropriate or get broken. Seeing promise in Buzz, Lotso has him switched to demo mode, brainwashing him into believing Lotso is his commander. Meanwhile, Mrs. Potato Head, who lost an eye in Andy's room, sees an upset Andy searching for his toys. Andy's toys realize their mistake and attempt to leave, but are captured and imprisoned by Buzz on Lotso's orders.
At Bonnie's house, Woody meets a toy clown named Chuckles, and learns that Chuckles, Lotso, and Big Baby were once owned by a girl named Daisy. When the three toys were accidentally lost during a road trip, they traveled back to Daisy's house on foot, only to find that Daisy's parents had replaced Lotso. After convincing Big Baby that Daisy had replaced them and intimidating Chuckles to silence the truth, Lotso led the toys to Sunnyside, taking it over as a dictator.
Woody returns to Sunnyside and reunites with his friends. That night, the toys initiate an escape plan, accidentally resetting Buzz to Spanish mode in the process. "Spanish Buzz" immediately befriends Woody and begins a relationship with Jessie. The toys escape the building, getting as far as Sunnyside's dumpster, but Lotso and his gang thwart them. As a trash truck approaches, Woody reveals Lotso's deception to Big Baby, who promptly throws Lotso into the dumpster. Andy's toys attempt to escape, but Lotso pulls Woody in with him. Andy's other toys jump in to help, and fall into the truck, where a junked television hits Buzz and restores him to his normal persona.
The toys are brought to a local trash center, and most of them are dumped on a conveyor belt leading to an incinerator. Woody and Buzz help Lotso avoid a shredder, and later to reach an emergency stop button, but once he is safe, Lotso abandons them. As Woody and his friends accept their impending fate, the Aliens rescue them with an industrial crane. A garbage truck driver later finds Lotso and straps him to his truck's radiator grille.
Woody and his friends ride another garbage truck, driven by an adult Sid Phillips, back to Andy's house. Andy discovers a note from Woody and, assuming it is from his mother, donates the toys to Bonnie, who lives nearby. Andy introduces the toys individually to Bonnie, and is surprised to find Woody at the bottom of the donation box. After Bonnie recognizes Woody, an initially hesitant Andy passes him on to her. Andy plays with Bonnie before leaving; Woody bids him a quiet farewell, and the toys begin their new life with Bonnie.
Later, Woody and the other toys learn that Barbie, Ken, and Big Baby have improved the lives of the toys at Sunnyside.
Voice cast
Tom Hanks as Woody Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear Javier Fernández Peña voices Buzz in his Spanish mode (credited as Spanish Buzz). Joan Cusack as Jessie Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head Wallace Shawn as Rex John Ratzenberger as Hamm Estelle Harris as Mrs. Potato Head Ned Beatty as Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear/"Lotso", a strawberry-scented teddy bear. Michael Keaton as Ken, a flamboyant Ken doll in league with Lotso. Jodi Benson as Barbie, a sensitive but strong-willed Barbie doll who belonged to Andy's sister Molly before being donated. John Morris as Andy Davis Charlie Bright voices a young Andy.
In addition to the main cast, Andy's other toys include Jeff Pidgeon as the Aliens, Blake Clark as Slinky Dog (replacing Jim Varney who died in 2000), and R. Lee Ermey as Sarge, in his final role in the franchise before his death in 2018; Laurie Metcalf reprises her role as Andy's mother Mrs. Davis and Bea Miller voices his sister Molly; Emily Hahn and Lori Alan voice Bonnie and her mother; Erik von Detten reprises his role from the first film as Sid Phillips, now a garbage truck driver; Bonnie's toys are voiced by Timothy Dalton as Mr. Pricklepants; Kristen Schaal as Trixie; Bonnie Hunt as Dolly; Jeff Garlin as Buttercup; Charlie Bright, Amber Krone and Brianna Maiwand as the Peas-in-a-Pod; and Bud Luckey as Chuckles. The Sunnyside Daycare toys are voiced by Lee Unkrich as the jack-in-the-box, Teddy Newton as Chatter Telephone, Woody Smith as Big Baby,Toy Story 3 DVD credits Whoopi Goldberg as Stretch, John Cygan as Twitch, Jack Angel as Chunk, Jan Rabson as Spark and Richard Kind as the Bookworm.
Production
Early development; Circle Seven Animation version
According to the terms of Pixar Animation Studios' initial seven-film deal with the Walt Disney Company, all characters created by Pixar for their films were owned and controlled by Disney. Furthermore, Disney owned the rights to make sequels to all Pixar films up to and including Cars, though Pixar retained the right of first refusal to work on these sequels. In 2004, when the contentious negotiations between the two companies made a split appear likely, Michael Eisner, Disney chairman at the time, put plans in motion to produce Toy Story 3 at a new Disney studio, Circle Seven Animation. Tim Allen, the voice of Buzz Lightyear, indicated a willingness to return, even if Pixar was not on board. It was slated for a theatrical release sometime in spring 2008.
Bradley Raymond, who previously directed Disney's direct-to-video sequels such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame II and The Lion King 1½, was hired to direct the film. Among the scripts Circle Seven had under consideration was one from Teacher's Pet screenwriters Bill and Cheri Steinkellner. Their idea for the film involved Andy and his toys (Woody, Buzz, Hamm, Rex, Slinky, Mr. Potato Head, Jessie, and Bullseye) paying a visit to his grandmother's house for the night because his room is getting remodeled. A set of Andy's toys and new characters Hee-Hee and Gladiola try to figure out who is stealing the toys one by one in a whodunit-style murder mystery story. Though it was rejected, Disney was so impressed with the script that this version would have been considered for a possible fourth installment.
The final version of the Circle Seven script was written by Meet the Parents screenwriter Jim Herzfeld. It focused on Andy's toys shipping a malfunctioning Buzz to the factory in Taiwan where he was built called Wocka-Wocka, with the other toys hoping he will be fixed there. While searching on the Internet, they then discovered that many more Buzz Lightyear toys are malfunctioning around the world and the company had issued a massive recall. Fearing Buzz's destruction, a group of Andy's toys (Woody, Rex, Slinky, Mr. Potato Head, Hamm, Jessie, and Bullseye) all ship themselves to Taiwan and venture out to rescue Buzz. At the same time, Buzz meets other toys from around the world that were once loved, but have been recalled such as Rosey, a warm cozy toy, and Jade, a leggy doll with an evening gown. Along with meeting the recalled toys, Buzz also meets a new Star Command action figure that was going to be the replacement of Buzz, Daxx Blastar, along with his accessory pet cat named Comet.
New development in 2006 In January 2006, Disney bought Pixar in a deal that put Pixar chiefs Edwin Catmull and John Lasseter in charge of all Disney Animation. Shortly thereafter, Circle Seven Animation was shut down and its alternate version of Toy Story 3 was canceled. The following month, Disney CEO Robert Iger confirmed that Disney was in the process of transferring the production to Pixar. The studio's brain trust, which included John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, and Lee Unkrich, had their own idea for a sequel that they had carried around for years. They retreated to the cabin where they first pitched Toy Story, and almost immediately dropped the idea after they felt that it was not good enough. Unable to come up with anything the first day, they watched the first two movies again, and the next day a new story was starting to take shape. Stanton then wrote a treatment.