The Toys are Back in Town...

...but things don't look too good from my perspective.

I'm going to talk to you guys a little bit about the "Toy Story" franchise. The reason I want to share this is because as we all know, "Toy Story 3" is coming out in theaters this coming summer. I'm sure a lot of hardcore fans are really excited and can't wait to see it. I, on the other hand, don't have a lot of high hopes. I'll explain why in this article.

First of all, let's start off with the first movie. "Toy Story" was released in 1995. For it's time, it was a very revolutionary movie. It was the very first animated feature to be fully computer-animated, and it was Pixar's first feature-length film. "Toy Story" also happens to be one of my favorite Disney films of all time. I still watch it religiously to this very day, and every time I watch it, I always feel like I'm a kid again. I'm not sure why it is that way; well, I was 10 when I went and saw it theatrically, so that may have something to do with it. The movie had a great plot, a good story, some good jokes, a lot of warmth, and not to mention a great cast (Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Wallace Shawn, Jim Varney and John Ratzenberger just to name a few). It also delivers a good message: No matter what happens, people still love you, and revenge is not sweet.

Now, let's forward to "Toy Story 2". This much-anticipated sequel was released 4 years after the first "Toy Story". For a lot of fans, this movie far-exceeded their expectations, which is why many find it to be better than the first one. I beg to differ on the matter. The sequel is loaded with a lot of funnier jokes, most of which are pop culture references, and that happens to be a major problem with CGI movies. Another thing people liked about the sequel was that it introduced us to some new characters: Jessie, Bullseye, Stinky Pete and Emperor Zurg. Also, for the first time ever, we are introduced to the franchise Woody was supposed to originate from. While the movie does have more focus on jokes than it should have had, there is still plenty of focus on the story. I think the part that everyone remembers from this film is when Jessie tells her backstory, which is considered by many as one of the saddest moments in Disney history. I think the main reason people like this one better is because the subject matter is not as dark and more kid-friendly than the previous one. Overall, "Toy Story 2", in my opinion, is not anywhere near as good as the first one, but it's not terrible; it's definately a good sequel that lives up to it's predecessor.

Now, throughout the 2000's, I've been hearing a lot of rumors going around that Pixar was going to make "Toy Story 3". For a while, nothing popped up on IMDb or Wikipedia. I remember hearing a rumor in 2006 that "Toy Story 3" was going to be done in traditional hand-drawn animation, and it was going to be a direct-to-DVD movie. Well, in 2008, I officially found out that the rumors about "Toy Story 3" being made were true, but thankfully, the rumor I heard in '06 was not. To be honest with you, I really don't think this movie is going to be all that good. In fact, I have a strong feeling that it could possibly be the worst of the trilogy. I saw trailers for it, and in all honesty, it looks really corny. That's not all, though. I have proof from other movie trilogies to back up my arguments:

Let's take a look at the Rambo trilogy, for instance. The first movie is a great and really epic film. The second movie is not as good as the first one, but it's forgivable. The third movie was easily the worst of the trilogy.

I know what you're thinking: "That's just one trilogy." ...but, lo! The same thing also happened to...

the Santa Clause trilogy...

the Home Alone trilogy...

the Pirates of the Carribean trilogy...

the Free Willy trilogy...

the Never-Ending Story trilogy...

the Care Bears trilogy...

and of course, the Ninja Turtles trilogy.

With that in mind, I have kind of a bad feeling that the Toy Story trilogy is going to do the same thing; so far, it has been, but only time will tell. I'm still gonna go see "3" when it comes out anyway, just to see if my theory is right. Although, Pixar has been really good at making some good-quality children's films, so it could be possible that they'll know how to make something good out of it, and if "Toy Story 3" turns out to be a huge success, then I'm sure we could expect a "Toy Story 4" in the future. Anyway, those are just my thoughts. I hope this was informative enough for you, and I welcome your thoughts.

Comments

I only give thumbs up because I'm a huge Toy Story fan too!!!

Not saying that this is a bad article, but not all trilogies get worse as they go on. I'm actually really excited about Toy Story 3. You shouldn't judge a movie by it's trailer.
Some good trilogies that get better to the end include:
The Lord Of The Rings
Star Wars (4,5,6)
The Dollors Trilogy by Clint Eastwood

The trilogies you did criticize do get bad by the end. There's also Jurassic Park, that 3rd film was truly unnecessary.

I can certainly understand some trilogies falling flat but some, like the Care Bears, are made for a demographic (children mostly) that don't expect or appreciate innovation and change. It could have 30 sequels and as long as it stuck to formulae young kids will like it as much as they liked the first 29. And hopefully buy the tie in toys.

Triology wise, Pirates doesn't come near the horror of the Home Alone franchise.

Looking at Free Willy I'm reminded it was a choice of movies to watch while I was in school years upon years ago. I so don't want to watch it then either. I actually stood up in class and asked, "If we have to watch 'Free Willy' can we also watch Max Herzog's 'Orca' in the interest of equal time?"

Hey I got another one... The Spider-Man trilogy. Two great movies, followed by an awful Spider-Man 3.

I kinda enjoyed Santa Claus 3

As well as Turtles 3.

And we are talking about Pixar here. What are they, 10/10?

...including the Care Bares movies on your list of trilogies was a joke, right?

Gotta completely disagree with ya here. While there are more than a few mediocre third parts in multiple different movie series, they don't always fail. Off the top of my head some solid examples are Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Back to the Future Part III, Naked Gun 33 1/3, Die Hard: With a Vengeance, etc. Besides, Toy Story 3 is being done by the same crew at Pixar, and the only mediocre movie I can think of that they've produced is Cars, and even that one I still enjoyed regardless. Pixar is in a class by itself, they redefined the animated movie and every other movie studio has tried relentlessly to follow in their footsteps but are still incapable of producing anything near the quality of a Pixar film. Is it any wonder that Pixar movies swipe the Best Animated Film Oscar almost every year? I wouldn't be too concerned about Toy Story 3, while personally I found the trailer to be very promising, I still think we've potentially got yet another contemporary classic on our hands. Like a book by its cover, you should never judge a movie by it's trailer.

I don't agree with the argument about trilogies. Third parts aren't always horrible. You should probably wait until the movie comes out before you judge it.

The article has probably failed because it is focusing on a subject that's not retro. You probably should have done a review of the first two movies and then added a section about Toy Story 3 at the end. Your chance of success might have been better.

Still, I don't feel it's a horrible article, even if I don't totally agree with it. So, I'll give thumbs up.

Hehe, you should have written an article on part-III's that you wouldn't know exist.

Still a thumbs up. And to flesh out your analogy with Rambo, does it mean that Toy Story Four will be on par if not better than the original story?

This is more of a forum rant then a article. =/ Anyways not all third movies suck. Last Crusade doesn't suck. Neither does Return of the Jedi (although Ewoks do, in fact, suck). And I think Toy Story 3 has an interisting premise for a movie; Andy is going to college, and his mother donates all of his old toys to a preschool without their knowing. At said preschool, Woody, Buzz, and the others proceed to get abused by spoiled kids that don't care about taking care of their toys.

A RetroJunk article reflects on the past, so I must ask why take Toy Story 3 to task? I never saw either but I can say this, Pixar is a hell of a movie studio that makes nothing but great blockbuster movies. Quite possibly you'll be eating some humble pie, but no matter why bash TS3 again?

The funny thing is, somehow, I knew this article was going to fail.

Hmm, I liked Pirates of the Carribean III but the rest of the 3rd movies you mentioned I either have not seen or did not like so I agree that trilogies usually fail unless it's a pre-set continual story line. Pixar said 'no' to a 3rd toy story and Disney was going to go ahead and do it with out Pixar. Then Disney bought out Pixar with shares so now Steve Jobs is the largest share holder of Disney. Anyway, this will be the first Disney Toy Story, or the first 100% Disney Toy Story, so that worries me a little. The people that were Pixar still work at Disney so I wouldn't give up on it entirely, Pixar has never failed before. I think Up was 100% Disney, it was started after the buy out, and it is my 3rd favorite Pixar move behind the two Toy Story movies. Plus it will have LEGO in it, freaking LEGO, my favorite toy of all time, so I'm sure it will be ok if not great.

Remember in Toy Story 2 where Stinky Pete told Woody that someday Andy would outgrow his toys? Well, in this movie that is just what happens. It sounds like a good idea for a plot to me.

The originals were also corny, but that's the glory of them.