The Pixar “Formula” Is It Another Likely Blockbuster with Toy Story 3?

Written By: mike on September 5, 2010 No Comment

Pixar has a knack for pulling at the heartstrings of those that remember what it was like to be a kid two to three of decades ago. The movie company’s “magical formulas” for making films that allow this generation’s parents and grandparents to reminisce while simultaneously getting a babysitter for 90 minutes has worked in the company’s favor since its first release in 1995 with the first Toy Story installment.

Writers John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton have teamed up again for the final chapter in the Toy Story series. Veteran toy voices Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, and Estelle Harris, are joining the likes of Ned Beatty and Michael Keaton in an all-too-familiar yet warm hearted growing-up tale.

The latest trailer brings the spotlight once again to Andy, the child best known as the owner Woody, Buzz, Rex, the Potato Heads, and Stretch, etc., as he’s heading to college and has to make a decision about where he will put off his childish things. It seems the decision has been made to donate them to a day care center where tantrum throwing, slobbering, havoc-wreaking toddlers become the daily norm, leaving the toys mangled as we are lead to believe as we watch Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head rearranging their faces. This becomes the formulaic reason for an escape, and the trailer’s exclamation “No Toy Left Behind.” Andy, however, may not be the intended target this time since the toys have renewed their desire to renew their statuses as playthings rather than antiques gathering dust in toy chests and bookshelves.

The first minute of the trailer reminds us yet again that Pixar will not allow its audiences to forget their keen sense of knowing how to effectively marry our emotional connection to our very own memories. The 60 second montage gives us a recap of the 15 years we’ve watched Andy grow up, and apparently, grow away from his childhood memories. The first minute would win the in the category of “best downer teaser trailer,” but Pixar knows the average American family expects more than to grab a tissue or two during a preview. So the trailer continues to unfold snippets of the rest of the story, seen through the eyes of the toys Toy Story audiences have grown to know very well.

This is a different tactic for Pixar. Trailers for the Toy Story 2 and most Pixar films give us glimpses of most of the new characters to be seen in that film. The third film’s trailer gives the audience no indication of new characters with snappy one-liners, although with a whole new world of daycare, we all know new toy characters are lurking within its walls. This may disappoint fans hoping to catch a glimpse of which characters Keaton and Beatty are to voice, but probably not enough to keep them from being willingly dragged to the movies again. And a bit of Spanish from the mouth of a probable glitched Buzz Lightyear won’t hurt to satisfy the growing Hispanic demographic buying all the latest Disney/Pixar DVDs and memorabilia for their families. All in all, Pixar knows we are going to see the film anyway. Bravo for giving us just enough to know the story, but leaving the big surprises for when we and our families watch the film this summer.
Josh