Toy Story 3

I love Pixar. Up, Wall-E, Ratatouille, and the Incredibles are some of my favorite movies ever. With that said, I am a little disappointed to see that next summer's movie is a sequel as oppose to another original title. Now with that said, the trailer looks excellent. If recent Pixar efforts are anything to go by, we should be able to expect several things. The first is for the movie to tell a great story with strong emotional resonance. The story as outlined in the trailer is set up to deal with a number of issues. The most interesting one here involves the struggle to make new friends and relationships after your friends/children move away or go to college. That sense of abandonment or loneliness when someone close moves on with their lives and you're left behind. This is a pretty mature subject for a family movie to handle well, but recent Pixar has a proven track record in handling mature themes well.

The second thing I look for in a Pixar release is great humor. Buzz Lightyear telling the other toys not to be hysterical and the exchange that follows is very funny, ending with the piggy banks great line about checking their prices on Ebay. Spanish Buzz Lightyear is an inspired concept, and the toddlers physically abusing the toys was great. I have no worries that this film won't be funny.

Lastly we can expect Pixar films to look and sound great. Here I'm a little disappointed. Yeah, the trailer looks and sounds great, but its the same look as the prequels. There's nothing new about the films style except that its in 3D which isn't even new seeing as how Toy Story 1&2 were recently re-released in 3D. And amongst recent Pixar Toy Story 3 just doesn't match up. It's nothing compared to Wall-E's beautiful outer space, and strangely beautiful trashed Earth. Or Up's already iconic image of the house and balloons.

It's a sequel, but as long as Pixar can find new and exciting stories to explore with these supremely entertaining characters I'll keep watching. Most sequels grow tiring because they retread the same ideas and themes. For the most part Toy Story 2 avoided that and Toy Story 3 is looking to explore new territory as well. Truly excellent stuff.