MANILA, Philippines?First off, the makers of ?Toy Story 3? should be complimented for their relative lack of concupiscence and avarice. Huh?

I mean, ?Toy Story? is such a hugely successful film franchise that it could have been milked for many more sequels (anyone for ?Toy Story 65??). But its producers have wisely opted to end the hit series after only three installments. Talk about responsibly mitigating your greed, this really hits the spot!

After watching ?Toy Story 3,? I can say that the final installment ends the self-limiting series with a big storytelling bang, instead of an anticlimactic simper.

A big bang

This is exactly the right time to end it, because the toys? young owner, Andy, is about to go off to college, thus opening himself up to other experiences aside from playing with the old toys, like Woody and Buzz Lightyear, who have been his best buddies.

To stretch the story further into Andy?s young adulthood would sour up and contradict the youthful sense of wonder that childhood is all about, hence the producers? perfect sense of timing?and knowing when to say goodbye.

Would other serial productions, like the ?Nightmare on Elm Street? series, similarly know when enough is already too much, so they wouldn?t overstay their welcome?as they have?

The first ?Toy Story? also impresses with its ability to develop its concluding story in consistently inventive and affecting ways, with the incremental addition of interesting, new characters.

As a result, it can go into new themes and situations, and thus avoid the onus of predictability that blights so many hit movie series.

In this instance, the new relationships involve Barbie and Ken, who fall in a plastic approximation of love, and new toys like the Peas in a Pod triplets who are bit players for most of the movie, but turn out to be the story?s unlikely heroes and saviors in the end.

Among these new toys are the mismatched tandem of Lotso and Big Baby who, quite against type, emerge as the story?s new villains, due to the fact that they were rejected and abandoned by their young owner.

This ?abandonment? factor eventually emerges as the major theme of ?Toy Story 3,? hopefully making viewers of all ages more sensitive to the feelings of others, be they toys or humans.

Bittersweet

Thus, the final sequel in the series ends on a bittersweet note that may feel a bit strange in a supposedly fun-fun-fun animation feature. In actuality, however, it is precisely right for the conclusion of this particular series, because ?Toy Story? has pioneered in exploring themes and ?issues? that are generally thought to be too ?serious? by the rest of the animation community.

?Toy Story 3? is also distinguished by inventive plotting, which keeps its slim story (about what happens to old toys when their owners outgrow them) ever fresh and ?new.?

The production should similarly be credited for its spot-on characterization of children, especially the little girl who ?inherits? Buzz and Woody and their friends at film?s end.

The cute moppet is limned so perceptively that she is no longer just an animated figure, she lives and breathes like a living person.
Animation lives!