toy story, naturally.

first, observe the title of this blog.

second, my friend sarah wrote a blog about toy story, and i feel the need to have my own take on this movie series as well.

thirdly, it will not be just like sarahs, but it may get close at some points.

and finally, there is no way to do this movie justice, but here it goes:

everyone loves it when you start with some statistics. i learned that one at college orientation after a few hours. so i guess i can do that. today is the 27th, 9 days after its release in the USA. To date, the movie has grossed $226.6 million, and its only going up. This being its second weekend in the box office, it has generated $59 million in ticket sales. most movies can't do that opening weekend. it did nearly double on its own opening weekend, while competing with seven other movies with the same release date. it is now competing with grown ups, which i first started seeing ads for at least 5 months ago, and it still holds the number one spot in the box office. it still has 16 countries that it hasn't been released in, including japan, the UK, and many others that it will surely soar in. the real critics at rottentomatoes.com holds toy story 3 at a 100%, which is rare, but even more so is the fact that it was almost the first trilogy - if it weren't for 3 idiots - to have 100% ratings across the board from all the critics. apparently, 3 out of 195 movie critics didn't like it, but that still leaves it at a 98% approval. i can deal with that i suppose.

why do i share all of this? just to preface my heartfelt rant with something that actually backs up my unprofessional opinion that this is certainly the best animated movie ever created, if not just simply the best movie to come across a movie screen. its not just me that loves this movie, and i'm not the only person to go see it.

maybe i'm biased. again, look at the title of the blog. falling with style was my life story for a long time, because shortly after seeing this movie, at the ripe age of almost-four, i began learning how to climb trees and get on my roof. (my mother was thrilled). it became my motto, because buzz was my hero. like many people of my age are saying, i grew up with andy. we were the same age in the beginning, we were the same age at the end, and we both love all those toys that lived on 234 Elm street.

my dad and i saw toy story 3 together, him for the first time, me for the second. afterward, we were discussing it, talking about why i got so much more emotional than him during the movie, and he said something like "so i guess you kinda grew up with toy story". I agreed, naturally, but then he pointed out a disturbing fact... "well you sure didn't keep your toys. they all got ruined and trashed." there was no doubting it, so instead i figured my toys never talked to me, and so i loved the toys on the screen much more than my own. so yes, i cried during the movie. that last 15 minutes when we're saying bye to andy and to the toys and when andy sees woody in the box and gets caught up and when they're all playing together in the yard just like old times..... yeah, it got to me. because thats me. those are my toys.

better yet, throw into the mix that i'm too leaving for college, and in exactly 50 days. its close now. when andy's mom walks into andy's empty room and just gasps at the reality of it all of a sudden... thats me. this that i'm sitting in will hardly be my own room in 50 days. that's going to be my mom sitting and gasping at my sudden lack of occupation of the house.

but what i really want to say is, thank you, pixar, for that ending. it was perfect. after a lifetime of toy story, i know and love those toys just as much as andy himself, if not more, and was happy to see them go out with style as andy left them with the perfect little bonnie (who my daughter very well may be named after, should i have one). i am a child on the inside, and frequently on the outside, as many people that know me have noticed, and loved seeing a beautiful, happy ending come through the sadness. that scene with andy and bonnie and the gang was nearly nostalgic, because the last time andy played with those toys was when i played with my own. watching that scene made that inner child burst out and take over, and i realized in that instant that i would always love those toys and i would always have that inner child that can't wait to do it all over when i have kids of my own.


let us observe the graph. now, to clear up any doubt, THIS IS ACCURATE. for me anyway. i can't wait to have the chance for it to be totally socially acceptable to have play time again. andy had his chance right before college, and i got to have that chance with him right there in my theater seat, and it made me so very happy.

if you didn't cry during toy story, i've been saying you have no soul. but i guess i should rework that blanket statement a little bit. i'm much more emotionally attached to every aspect of toy story 3, from my own childhood toys to leaving for college. i cried. both times i've seen it. but i have such a large portion of my life invested in the characters and lives of this movie that every scene just hit so close to my heart that i couldn't help it. if you're just watching it, disconnected and unable to relate, then i can understand that you wouldn't get all choked up like all of us kids that truly grew up alongside andy and the gang.

whether you like it or not, andy is off to college. his toys are safe. the 3 movie deal that started 15 years ago has been fulfilled and toy story debuts are very possibly a thing of the past. all good things do come to an end eventually, and this movie hit right at home when it made me realize my childhood is no exception.

thanks disney, pixar, John Lasseter, and Lee Unkrich for an awesome trilogy. and thank you woody, buzz, rex, mr. and mrs. potato head, the round up gang, slinky, and hamm, along with all the other toys throughout the years for an awesome childhood and for being the best friends a kid can have.