Some parents will never learn! Just because Disney/Pixar is associated with a film is NOT license to bring one- to four-year-old toddlers to the theater. Parents at today's matinee had their hands full and most had to leave before the film was over. Here are some reasons why:
- Abandonment issues are too complex; tots don't understand why the toys are angry, confused or traumatized.
- They don’t understand why Buzz Lightyear speaks Spanish after his reset button is pushed (and they can't read the captions).
- They don't understand how that trash bag mix-up caused such a huge misunderstanding, or what the misunderstanding IS.
- They don't understand how recycling facilities work and might find those scenes scary: the incinerator, the shredders and the magnets.
Older children and adults, on the other hand, will relish the lessons in teamwork, loyalty, vanity, resourcefulness, tenacity, and good old- fashioned love. The final scene when our college-bound Andy, voiced again by John Morris ("Toy Story 2"), has to dispose of his childhood toys is poignant and heart-warming. Pixar can convey so much with a slight intake of breath or a sag of the shoulders as tension eases.
The story is logical, as eleven years have passed since Toy Story 2, and the same terrific voice talents have returned: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, John Ratzenberger, and Don Rickles (among others). New players include Ned Beatty as the misleadingly cornpone huggy bear and Michael Keaton as Ken, who lives in Barbie's Dream House. As Andy, no longer a little boy, prepares for college, the toys are boxed up for the attic. Things go awry and they are sent to a daycare center instead, where the story really gains momentum.
What they do about it and why, is the gist of this wonderful story; but do NOT bring a child under seven or eight... Please!
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