In 2004, following disagreements betweenthe Walt Disney Company's CEOMichael Eisner and Pixar CEOSteve Jobs, Disney planned to makeToy Story 3 at the newCircle Seven Animation studio unit, with the tentative theatrical release date in early 2008. The script was developed in multiple versions; however, 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 isone of the most expensive films ever made.
Toy Story 3 premiered at theTaormina 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 withDolby Surround 7.1 sound. Like its predecessors, the film received acclaim from critics, who praised the vocal performances, screenplay, emotional depth, animation, and Newman's musical score. It grossed $1.067 billion worldwide, finishing its theatrical run as thehighest-grossing film of 2010 and thefourth-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 thehighest-grossing animated film until the release ofFrozen in 2013, and Pixar's highest-grossing film until the release ofIncredibles 2 in 2018.
Andy Davis, who has not played with his toys in years, is leaving for college, and intends to takeWoody 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, joinBarbie 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 byLots-O'-Huggin' Bear ("Lotso"),Big Baby, andKen, with whom Barbie falls in love. All the toys choose to stay, except Woody, who attempts to return home. A Sunnyside child namedBonnie 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 apolice 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 order.
At Bonnie's house, Woody meets a toy clown namedChuckles, 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, Lotso led the toys to Sunnyside, taking it over as adictator.
Woody returns to Sunnyside and reunites with his friends. That night, Andy's 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 anincinerator. Woody and Buzz help Lotso avoid a shredder, and later to reach anemergency stop button, but once he is safe, Lotso abandons them. As Woody and his friends accept their impending fate, Andy'sAliens rescue them with an industrial claw. A trash truck driver later finds Lotso and straps him to his truck's radiatorgrille. Woody and his friends ride another garbage truck, driven by an adultSid 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.
Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head, a curmudgeonlyPotato Head toy who is Mrs. Potato Head's husband. His component parts can function independently of his potato "body", which he uses to his advantage.
Wallace Shawn as Rex, a nervous and clumsy plasticT-Rex toy who enjoys video games.
According to the terms ofPixar Animation Studios' initial seven-film deal withthe Walt Disney Company, all characters created by Pixar for their films were owned and controlled by Disney.[9] Furthermore, Disney owned the rights to make sequels to all Pixar films up to and includingCars,[9] though Pixar retained theright of first refusal to work on these sequels.[10] 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 produceToy Story 3 at a new Disney studio,Circle Seven Animation.[11] 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.[12]
Promotional art forCircle Seven'sToy Story 3 at Siggraph 2005, displaying the storyline of therecalled Buzz Lightyears.
Bradley Raymond, who previously directed Disney's direct-to-video sequels such asThe Hunchback of Notre Dame II andThe Lion King 1½, was hired to direct the film. Among the scripts Circle Seven had under consideration was one fromTeacher's Pet screenwritersBill and Cheri Steinkellner. Their idea for the film involves 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.[13][14] Though it was rejected, Disney was so impressed with the script that this version would have been considered for a possible fourth installment.[15]
The final version of the Circle Seven script was written byMeet the Parents screenwriterJim Herzfeld. It focused on Andy's toys shipping a malfunctioning Buzz to the factory inTaiwan 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 massiverecall. 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.[11][14]
New development in 2006
In January 2006,Disney bought Pixar in a deal that put Pixar chiefsEdwin Catmull andJohn Lasseter in charge of all Disney Animation.[16] Shortly thereafter, Circle Seven Animation was shut down and its alternate version ofToy Story 3 was canceled.[11]: 1 The following month, Disney CEORobert Iger confirmed that Disney was in the process of transferring the production to Pixar.[17] The studio's brain trust, which included John Lasseter,Andrew Stanton,Pete Docter, andLee Unkrich, had their own idea for a sequel that they had carried around for years. They retreated to the cabin where they first pitchedToy 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 atreatment.[18][19][20]
This story had no traces of the Circle Seven version of the film since the filmmakers did not read its script: "Not out of spite, but we wanted to start fresh, and not be influenced by what they'd done," said Unkrich. "We didn't look at any of the work they'd done. We really didn't want to know anything about it."[21] In February 2007, Lasseter announcedToy Story 2's co-director, Unkrich, as the sole director of the film instead of himself (Lasseter had directed the first two films and was busy directingCars 2), andMichael Arndt as screenwriter.[22] 2010 was also announced as the tentative release date.[21]
Unkrich, who had been working with Arndt and story development artists on the film since the middle of 2006,[21] said that he felt pressure to avoid creating "the first dud" for Pixar, since all of Pixar's prior films had been critical and commercial successes.[23] In February 2008, the film's plotline was reported: "Woody the cowboy and his toy-box friends are dumped in a daycare center after their owner, Andy, leaves for college."[24]
Lee Unkrich, pictured at theToy Story 3 panel at WonderCon in April 2010, was the full-time director for the film.
During the initial development stages of the film, Pixar revisited their work from the originalToy Story and found that, although they could open the oldcomputer files for the animated3D models, error messages prevented them from editing the files, which necessitated recreating the models from scratch.[25] To create the chaotic and complex junkyard scene near the film's end, more than a year and a half was invested on research and development to create the simulation systems required for the sequence.[26]
Instead of sending Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and John Ratzenberger scripts for their consideration in reprising their roles, a complete story reel of the film was shown to the actors in a theater. The reel was made up of moving storyboards with pre-recorded voices, sound effects, and music. When the preview concluded, the actors signed on to the film.[27] Hanks was paid $15 million for his involvement, the highest salary received for a voice actor.[28]
In 2007, to create the setting of the film's climax, Pixar artists went on several field trips to a local landfill and incinerator in Northern California.[29] Unkrich explained in anNPR interview: "We visited theAltamont dump and went to a number of other landfills."[30] Although they had visited similar facilities before to createWALL-E, that was a different experience because the dump environment in that film was not trying to kill theeponymous robot.[29] For this film, Pixar was trying to create the toy "equivalent ofDante'sInferno: a grim landscape of suffering and annihilation".[29] The goal was not to "accurately" depict a waste management facility, but "to discover the visual cues" needed to create a facility that was "believable but more dramatic than a real one".[31] Production designer Bob Pauley joked that theRatatouille crew got "the better deal", since they flew to Paris and ate in French restaurants for their research trip, while theToy Story 3 crew did not leave Northern California and was stuck with wandering around the local garbage dump.[29]
Dolby Laboratories announced thatToy Story 3 would be the first film to feature theatrical7.1 surround sound.[33] Thus, even theBlu-ray version would feature original 7.1 audio, unlike other films which were remixed into 7.1 for Blu-ray.
Release
Theatrical
Toy Story 3 had its United States premiere atEl Capitan Theatre,[34] which also hosted aToy Story marathon showing all three films together for the first time.[35]
Toy Story 3 had its worldwide premiere on June 12, 2010, opening atTaormina Film Fest in Italy.[36] In the United States, it premiered on June 13, 2010, atEl Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California.[34] El Capitan also hosted on June 17, 2010, aToy Story marathon, showing for the first time all threeToy Story films together.[35] The film went into its wide release on June 18, 2010,[37] along with a release toIMAX 3D theaters.[38]
The film was theatrically accompanied with the Pixar short filmDay & Night, which focuses on what happens when an animated personification ofDay meets his opposite, Night, and the resulting growth for both.[39][40]
Marketing
The film's firstteaser trailer was released withUp inDisney Digital 3-D on May 29, 2009.[41] On October 2, 2009,Toy Story andToy Story 2 were re-released as a double feature in Disney Digital 3-D.[42] The first full-lengthtrailer was attached as an exclusive sneak peek and a first footage to theToy Story double feature on October 12, 2009.[43] A second teaser was released on February 10, 2010, followed by a second full-length trailer on February 11, and appeared in 3D showings ofAlice in Wonderland andHow to Train Your Dragon.[44] On March 23, 2010,Toy Story andToy Story 2 were released separately on Blu-ray/DVD combo packs;Toy Story included a small feature of "The Story ofToy Story 3" andToy Story 2 included one on the "Characters ofToy Story 3."[45][46]
Joan Cusack, who voiced Jessie in the film, signingToy Story 3 merchandise.
Toy Story 3 was featured in Apple's iPhoneOS 4 Event on April 8, 2010, withSteve Jobs demonstrating aToy Story 3-themediAd written inHTML5.[51] Pixar designed a commercial for the toyLots-O'-Huggin' Bear and formatted it to appear as if it came from an old VCR recording. The recording was altered with distorted sound, noise along the bottom of the screen, and flickering video, all designed to make it look like a converted recording from around 1983.[52] A Japanese version of the commercial was also released online, with the name "Lots-O'-Huggin Bear" replaced with "Little Hug-Hug Bear" (Japanese:ハグハグベアちゃん/Hagu Hagu Beya-Chan).[53]
Toy Story 3's "Not since..." Oscar campaign drew a lot of attention, emphasizing the film's uniqueness and critical acclaim. The campaign consisted of posters featuring characters from the film, comparingToy Story 3 to previous winners such asThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,Shakespeare in Love,Titanic, and more.[61]Walt Disney Studios ChairmanRich Ross explained they were going for the Best Picture win, not just Best Animated film.[62]The Hollywood Reporter gave the campaign a bronze award in Key Art Awards Winners 2011.[63]
Home media
Toy Story 3 was released byWalt Disney Studios Home Entertainment in North America on November 2, 2010, in a standard DVD edition, a two-discBlu-ray Disc, and in a four-disc Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack. Features included behind-the-scenes, including a sneak peek teaser for the then-upcomingCars 2 (the sequel to the 2006 filmCars).[64] A 10-discToy Story trilogy Blu-ray box set arrived on store shelves that same day.[65] A 3D version of the Blu-ray was released in North America on November 1, 2011.[66]
On its first week of release (November 2–7, 2010), it sold 3,859,736 units (equal to $73,096,452), ranking No.1 for the week and immediately becoming the bestselling animated film of 2010 in units sold (surpassingHow to Train Your Dragon). As of July 18, 2012, it had sold 10,911,701 units ($185,924,247).[67] It became the bestselling DVD of 2010 in units sold, but it lacked in sales revenue and therefore ranked second behindAvatar on that list.[68] It also sold about 4 million Blu-ray units, ranking as the fourth-bestselling film of 2010.[69]
In the United Kingdom, it broke the record for the largest first day ever for an animated feature in sales revenue, on both DVD and Blu-ray. Additionally, on the first day of itsiTunes release, it immediately became the most downloaded Disney film ever.[70]Toy Story 3 was released on4K UHD Blu-ray on June 4, 2019.[71]
Reception
Box office
Toy Story 3 earned $415 million in the United States and Canada and $652 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $1.067 billion,[1] becoming thehighest-grossing animated film of all time[72] (until it was surpassed byFrozen (2013) in 2014[73]) and thehighest-grossing film of 2010.[74] On its first weekend,Toy Story 3 topped the worldwide box office with $145.3 million ($153.7 million with weekday previews), theninth-largest opening weekend worldwide for an animated feature.[75] On August 27, 2010 – its seventy-first day of release, it surpassed the $1 billion mark, becoming the third Disney film, the second Disney-distributed film in 2010 (afterAlice in Wonderland), the first animated film,[76] and the seventh film in cinematic history to do so.
United States and Canada
In North America,Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 52 million tickets in the U.S.[77]Toy Story 3 earned $41.1 million on its opening day (June 18, 2010) from 4,028 theaters, including $4 million at midnight shows from about 1,500 theaters, setting an opening-day record for an animated film[78] (surpassed byMinions and laterFinding Dory).[79][80]
During its opening weekend, the film topped the box office with $110.3 million, setting an opening-weekend record among Pixar films[81] (surpassed byFinding Dory),[82] films released in June[83] (surpassed byMan of Steel and laterJurassic World),[84][85] and G-rated films (surpassed byits sequel).[86][87] The film also achieved the second-largest opening weekend among animated films[88] and the fourth-largest opening weekend among 2010 films.[89] Its average of $27,385 per venue is the second-highest for a G-rated film and the third-highest for an animated feature.[90] Its opening-week gross (Friday through Thursday) of $167.6 million is the second-largest among animated films, the second-largest among 2010 films, and the 23rd-largest of all time.[91] It also achieved the largest 10-day gross among 2010 films.[92] It topped the box office for two consecutive weekends.[93]
Other territories
Outside of North America,Toy Story 3 topped the box office outside North America three times, in its first ($35 million),[94] second,[95] and sixth weekend (which was its largest).[96] Its highest-grossing market after North America is Japan ($126.7 million),[97] where it is the second-highest-grossing U.S. animated feature (behindFinding Nemo),[76] followed by the UK and Ireland, and Malta (£73.8 million – $116.6 million), where it is theninth-highest-grossing film,[98] and Mexico ($59.4 million), where it is the second-highest-grossing film.[99] It set opening-weekend records for animated films in Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, China, Argentina,[100] Hong Kong,[101] Spain, and the UK.[102] Its top international markets were the United Kingdom ($115.4million), Australia ($32.8million), and Brazil ($23.6million).[67]
Critical response
On review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoes,Toy Story 3 has an approval rating of 98% based on 313 reviews, with an average rating of 8.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Deftly blending comedy, adventure, and honest emotion,Toy Story 3 is a rare second sequel that really works."[103]Metacritic, another review aggregator which assigns anormalized rating to reviews, gave the film a score of 92 out of 100 based on 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[104]TIME namedToy Story 3 the "best film of 2010"[105] as didQuentin Tarantino until 2020 where the latter ranked fellow 2010 filmThe Social Network as the best film of the 2010s.[106][107] In 2011,TIME ranked the film at #11 on their list of "The 25 All-TIME Best Animated Films".[108] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, the same score as thefirst film, but down from the "A+" earned by thesecond film.[109]
A. O. Scott ofThe New York Times stated "This film—this whole three-part, 15-year epic—about the adventures of a bunch of silly plastic junk turns out also to be a long, melancholy meditation on loss, impermanence and that noble, stubborn, foolish thing called love."[110]Owen Gleiberman fromEntertainment Weekly gave the film an "A" saying "Even with the bar raised high,Toy Story 3 enchanted and moved me so deeply I was flabbergasted that a digitally animated comedy about plastic playthings could have this effect."[111] Gleiberman also wrote in the next issue that he, along with many other grown men, cried at the end of the film.[112] Michael Rechtshaffen ofThe Hollywood Reporter also gave the film a positive review, saying "Woody, Buzz and playmates make a thoroughly engaging, emotionally satisfying return."[113]
Mark Kermode of theBBC gave the film, and the series, a glowing review, calling it "the best movie trilogy of all time."[114] InUSA Today, Claudia Puig gave the film a complete 4-star rating, writing "This installment, the best of the three, is everything a movie should be: hilarious, touching, exciting, and clever."[115]Michael Phillips of theChicago Tribune gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, writing that "Compared with the riches of all kinds in recent Pixar masterworks such asRatatouille,WALL-E, andUp,Toy Story 3 looks and plays like an exceptionally slick and confident product, as opposed to a magical blend of commerce and popular art."[116] Roger Moore of theOrlando Sentinel, who gave the film 31⁄2 out of 4 stars, wrote "Dazzling, scary, and sentimental,Toy Story 3 is a dark and emotional conclusion to the film series that made Pixar famous."[117]
Iowa brothers Morgan and Mason McGrew spent eight years recreating the film instop motion. TitledToy Story 3 in Real Life, the film was shot usingiPhones and was uploaded to YouTube on January 25, 2020. Excluding the scenes with human characters, the shot-for-shot remake uses the film's original audio. According to Screen Crush, Pixar's parent company Walt Disney Studios gave the McGrews permission to release the film online.[129]
In addition to the tracks included in the soundtrack album, the film also uses several other tracks such as "Dream Weaver" byGary Wright,[134] "Le Freak" byChic,[135] and Randy Newman's original version of "You've Got a Friend in Me".[135] Furthermore, tracks "Cowboy!" and "Come to Papa" included material from Newman's rejected score toAir Force One.[136] The song "Losing You" from Newman's own albumHarps and Angels was also used in the first trailer for the film.[137] TheJudas Priest song "Electric Eye" was also used in the film in the temp score for the opening scene of the film.[138]
Toy Story 3 was followed byToy Story 4 (2019).[139] It marginally surpassed the box-office take ofToy Story 3,[140] and received a similarly positive critical and audience response.[141] A fifth film, titledToy Story 5, is in development for release on June 19, 2026.[142]
^Isidore, Chris (January 30, 2004)."Disney could gain from Pixar loss".CNN.Archived from the original on April 10, 2004. RetrievedFebruary 16, 2014.While technically Pixar has the rights of first refusal on all sequels, it would have to again give Disney the lion's share of the profits from those films.
^abcDaly, Steve (February 16, 2007)."Toys Out of the Attic".Entertainment Weekly.Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. RetrievedMarch 6, 2007.
^Fritz, Ben (February 8, 2007)."'Toy Story' sequel set".Variety.Archived from the original on January 18, 2016. RetrievedAugust 28, 2010.
^van der Lugt, Peter (August 11, 2009)."An interview with Michael Giacchino".Twitch. Archived fromthe original on February 23, 2014. RetrievedFebruary 16, 2014.And will the CD of Up be released, someday? Unfortunately, it will not. The Walt Disney Company decided that, from now on, all the music from its films will be exclusively sold via digital download.
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