My Toy Story 3 Rant
OK here it is; I know I’m totally alone on this one, but as a Mom I think Toy Story 3 sucks.
Remember on Seinfeld how Elaine hated The English Patient but everyone on the planet thought it was the greatest movie ever? I feel kind of like Elaine. Toy Story 3 was awful.
Elaine: Oh, come on. Good? What was good about it? (scoffs) Those sex scenes! I mean, please! Gimme something I can use!
***
Elaine: Hey, what’re you guys doing here?
Lisa: We just saw The English Patient again.
Gail: It’s even better the second time.
Elaine: They make it longer?
See here’s why I’m so ticked off. My husband and I love going to the movies but my kids don’t. My daughter’s first exposure to the movies was with her grandparents when they prematurely took her to the 3-D showing of Sharkboy and Lavagirl at 9 months of age. She’s been scarred ever since and somehow this fear has trickled over onto my son who refuses to go as well.
So I was really excited when Toy Story 3 came out because:
a) I’d seen Toy Story 1 and 2 before we had kids and loved them both and
b) it was rated G and I might be able to convince my kids to give it a try.
How this movie passed as rated ‘G’ is ridiculous.
This movie is SO dark and disturbing.
In case you haven’t heard, in Toy Story 3 the regular cast of friendly characters
find themselves donated to Sunnyside Day Care center. The center has its own top dog, Lotso, who has a seriously dark side, and his gang: Stretch, Sparks, Twitch, Ken, Chunk, Big Baby, Bookworm and The Toy Monkey make Woody, Buzz and pals’ lives hell.
Sinister Lotso in Toy Story 3
These toys are CREEPY. Most of all, I was totally freaked out by the demonic little organ grinding monkey with cymbals. This guy:
The Toy Monkey - How is he fun for kids?
This guy’s red eyes and creepy cymbal clapping made my skin crawl. But apparently, I’m the only one that thinks this as even the New York Times thought he was worthy enough to interview (yes, they interviewed a toy). Read the NYT interview here.
The point where I really lost it with Pixar was at the double climax. First the toys are pushed into a dumpster and then taken in a dump truck. All of this set to VERY scary music. My kids were scrambling to leave the theater but I desperately wanted them to stay until the end, it has to have a happy ending right? I convinced them to stay which was probably not my proudest parenting moment, we should have left. THEN the Toys narrowly, and I mean NARROWLY escape a FIERY INCINERATOR. How is this imagery ok for little kids?
Stretch pushing other toys into the dumpster.
I was so annoyed. My kids first real movie and they are petrified. We watched the last 10 minutes of the film standing in the aisle so we could bolt in case they needed to. They were SO scared!
Yes, the story ends with a nice moral, lots of people cry when they see Toy Story 3. Afterall, the first movie in the trilogy came out in 1995 and we have in a sense grown up with Andy and his toys.
Yes, there are morals sewn in through out the story: Be nice to others. Take care of your toys.
But to me this movie was completely overhyped and definitely NOT appropriate for a ‘G’ rating – who did Pixar pay to get that?
What did you think? Did you love Toy Story 3?
Nice Sara! I felt exactly like Elaine and remember that episode. And I agree about toy
Story!!
Hey Sara! Haven’t been commenting lately but have been loving the posts..looking forward to those margaritas this summer when I ween, appreciating rocking out with Ev and Max to the black eyed peas (no they have been beiber-ized yet), and YES I hated TS 3 as well, although Evan seems unaffected so I don’t have a need to boycott Pixar just yet. Lotso and his giant baby side kick are still giving me nightmares! So Elaine, you are not alone!
Hi, Funny, the girls are watching TS3 in the car on the way home from Tahoe. They are movie wimps too (won’t even watch most Disney classics yet), but they love this one. They were a little traumatized when we watched it in the theater (we have now seen a handful of movies in the theater), but I don’t even think they skip the fire scene now. I love the Elaine reference, but I’m with everyone else on this one.
I so agreed with Elaine that the English Patient was overrated, but I’m with the Academy on this one. I love Toy Story 3! I don’t think it’s scarier than Snow White (her stepmother trying to kill her) or Hansel and Gretel (kids being pushed into an oven). Commonsensemedia.org though does not recommend it for the under 5 group. I did let James watch it (probably too many times) that yesterday, while gathering our old toys to donate to Goodwill, he actually asked me that the toys not be taken to the dumptruck, but to the daycare with the good kids. Seriously.