As Harry Hill would say; “and relax”. After years in production, after the Pixar-Disney split and then merger (which was partly about Disney’s plans to make a Toy Story sequel without Pixar’s involvement), as well as the usual concerns over sequelitis, this looks set to be the summer’s genuine family entertainment. It’s marvellous – sweet, funny, pacy, loaded with jokes, and will appeal to younger children and parents alike. Only sulky teenagers could have any reason to dislike it, but then they get Twilight, which they’re welcome to.
The really clever thing here is that the gags appeal to everyone. There is no adult-child split like so many children’s films. Even when Barbie meets Ken and they get together in his dreamhouse, the temptation is resisted for any bawdy or adult humour – but they are still hysterically funny, especially the hopelessly vain Ken (voiced by Toy Story newcomer Michael Keaton).
It opens with a lovely sequence, an adventure story which we quickly realise is going on inside Andy’s head, just using his toys and his imagination. We then cut forward to Andy as a teenager about to go to college, so his mum makes him decide - either take the toys with him, put them in the attic or take them to the local nursery. He decides to keep Woody and put the rest in the attic, but due to a mix-up they end up in the nursery, where they meet lots of other old toys, headed by purple cuddly toy Lotso (Ned Beatty) . Life is great here, they are told – the nursery is full of kids who just love playing with toys, conditions are good and Lotso keeps everyone happy.
However, what the newcomers don’t realise is that there is a strict system in operation here, the senior toys get played with by the nice kids while the newcomers get pulled apart by some truly horrible brats – a particularly funny sequence. Something must be done, but Lotso operates a prison-like operation to stop anyone escaping. It’s up to Woody and Buzz to form a committee to get them out of there.
The real reason this is such a delight is the script, written by Michael Arndt, who did such a fantastic job with the wonderful Little Miss Sunshine. He brings the same gentle humour to proceedings here, and wrings out every joke he can from each comic character. Mr and Mrs Potato Head are gloriously wonky, Rex (Wallace Shawn) is over-excited at the prospect of being played with again and of course Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are on top form as Woody and Buzz. When Lightyear is ‘reset’ to a Spanish setting, the results are witty, but the joke is never overdone.
The ‘bad’ toys are equally finely drawn – never has a baby doll sounded so threatening, and Beatty manages to make a purple cuddly toy genuinely evil. Arndt also has loads of fun with some of the minor toys, especially Mr Pricklepants, played by a gloriously hammy Timothy Dalton. However it’s when the script pairs up Ken and Barbie that it really lets rip – Barbie can’t believe her luck, a man with a room just for trying on clothes. Ken (Michael Keaton) is comedy gold, a toy so stupid he can’t seen how he is actually for girls, not boys.
Such is the confidence in the set-up that the film even goes for a sequence where the toys find themselves in an incinerator, and it plays it straight. It’s superbly pitched, and almost unbearably tense, even for adults. The way the story plays out offers a moral of sorts, but it’s not overdone and actually remains true to the spirit of the first two films.
For me the best joke is John Ratzenberg’s Hamm the pig, offering a line which could be straight out of Cheers. Trivia fans should note; he is the only actor who has been in all 11 Pixar films. Like all of the toys his voice fits his toy perfectly, keeping the mums in the audience as happy as their kids, who, at the screening I attended, were mesmerised for over 100 minutes without fidgeting at all. That’s a real triumph.
Overall verdict: A summer treat that will keep the whole family happy. Wonderful family entertainment that works on every level, and the jokes come thick and fast. Lovely stuff.
Reviewer: Mike Martin
