***Update: Toy Story 3*** "And then some..... (My take on the Best Picture Category come Oscar NIght)

 Toy Story 3

Having not seen the second of the three films in the series, I cannot compare the current edition to its immediate predecessor.  Although, having seen the original when it came out, and absolutely loving it, I was skeptical of a sequel's worthiness in the over-saturated Best Picture category at the Oscars. They had to be padding the category with a Pixar film, right? 

Wrong. 

I am not a big fan of animated films running neck and neck with live action for Oscar glory.  That is why there is already a category for Animation.  Besides, by giving Toy Story 3 a nod in Best Picture, doesn’t that mean that the Academy has to give it Best Animation?  It ruins the Animation category. 

Toy Story 3 is a great Animated Movie.  No doubt.  It again touches on the human need to be needed – but with toys – as the first did.  The whole Daycare element of the film is what drives the middle of the film, and therefore the movie.  What a great villain!   His voice reminded me of one of the characters from an old animated film, that has now been banned, Song of the South.

The movie balances the hilarious chaos of the Daycare along with the sentimental aspects between Andy and his Toys to perfection.  But it is the perfection that can be obtained in an animated film that keeps me from liking them more than a movie like Black Swan, where imperfections make it seem all that more real.

And therefore, even though I loved this movie, I cannot see this movie winning Best Picture.  Not that I don’t think there might one day be an animated film to win Best Picture, I do.  It will probably be soon, too.  It will touch a nerve and seem more real than its competition.   Toy Story 3 is not that movie, but it is definitely worth watching. 

-aap