Continuing my countdown of every Pixar movie…
#1. Toy Story 3 (2010)
(up one spot from previous ranking)
I’ve written about this film twice on the blog already, once when it first came out and again earlier this year, as part of my countdown of favorite films of the 2010s (it was #9).
I’m providing links to both of those posts above and won’t bother repeating all of my points here.
Yesterday’s film was the most recent on this list, and today’s is the oldest. Toy Story 3 just made the decade cut, premiering in 2010.
2019 provided a nice opportunity to revisit it, given the release of the fourth film in the series. The popular consensus on Toy Story 4 (before anyone saw it) was that it was entirely unnecessary because Toy Story 3 was such a perfect ending for these characters. TS4 ended up being pretty darn great in its own right, managing to find new metaphors to mine for humor and pathos, but it still paled in comparison to this masterpiece.
This weekend was a great one to be a movie fan. I saw the funniest movie of the year, the most exciting action film of the year and the sweetest, most touching piece of filmmaking of the year. And I did it all in the course of the 103 minute running time of Toy Story 3.
It’s become a cliche to sing the praises of Pixar year after year, as they clear hurdle after hurdle, extending the longest winning streak in Hollywood. Can they make transcendent entertainment out of a rat who can cook? A trash compacting robot? A man who lifts his house with balloons? Yes, they can, again and again.
And now this. How many third films in series not intended as trilogies have ever been any good? I can’t think of even one. Sequels to sequels are always cash grabs conceived not as artistic statements but as a way to beef up a studio’s portfolio. Can a third film about toys that talk really be creatively necessary, poignant and profound?
Yes, it can, again and again.
Meet Me In Montauk 