Story

Andy (voice of John Morris) has a lot of toys. When people aren’t around, the toys come to life when on their own. Andy’s favourite is his cowboy, Woody (Tom Hanks).

When a space ranger toy, Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), arrives with an array of the latest gadgets, most of the toys are impressed. But Woody is jealous, because he’s not getting as much attention as he’s used to. When Woody’s jealousy gets the better of him, Buzz ends up being knocked out the bedroom window. Woody realises he must rescue his rival to stop the rest of the toys from turning on him.

So Woody sets off to find Buzz. The adventure that follows includes a harrowing escape from Sid (Erik Von Detten), the mean kid next door. Buzz and Woody set their differences aside to help themselves, save an army of disfigured toys, and return to Andy before it’s too late.

Themes

Jealousy

Violence

This movie contains some violence. For example:

• Mr Potato Head pulls a plastic pistol on some other toys and says, ‘This is a stick-up’.
• Andy’s toys look out the window and are horrified to see that Sid has strapped explosives to a toy in his back yard. The explosives are detonated, and the toy explodes.
• Buzz and Woody get into a fight. They are so busy pushing, shoving and wrestling each other that they don’t realise Andy and his mother are driving away until it is too late.
• Woody is nearly crushed by truck tyres.
• Woody is thrown about in the back of a truck. He is smashed and pinned against a toolbox.
• Sid’s dog attacks an alien doll and tries to rip it apart.
• Sid steals his little sister’s doll and takes its head off.
• Sid uses the window and the sun’s rays to bore a smoking hole into Woody’s head.
• Buzz loses an arm trying to fly out the window.
• Woody smacks Buzz across the face.
• Buzz is strapped to a rocket, which Sid tries to explode.

Sexual references

This movie contains some sexual references. For example, Bo Peep says suggestively to Woody, ‘Maybe I could get somebody else to watch the sheep tonight’.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

After sitting through a tea party with Sid’s sister and her dolls without heads, Buzz acts as though he is drunk.

Nudity and sexual activity

This movie contains no nudity or sexual activity.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie: Mr Potato Head, Mr Spell, Etch-a-Sketch, Candyland, Tinkertoy and Barrel of Monkeys.

Coarse language

This movie contains a lot of name-calling.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Toy Story 3D has the same content as the 1995 animated movie. But because it is produced in 3D, the characters come right off the screen. Although fans of the original movie will probably enjoy this, the 3D effects could make some sections of the movie scarier than the original for younger viewers.

The main messages from this movie are to see value within yourself, regardless of what others see, to know your own heart and conscience, and be true to what you believe.

Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include acceptance and tolerance of people who are different, cooperation, persistence and perseverance.

This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues such as:

• being jealous of other people
• hurting other people to get what you want
• damaging other people’s things
• playing with matches.

You might want to focus on the way Sid plays with explosives. He reads a warning on a box of explosives about how they are extremely dangerous and should be kept out of the reach of children. His response is, ‘Cool!’ Then he rips open the explosives and straps them to Buzz. This sends a potentially dangerous message to young, impressionable children, especially any who might identify with Sid.