Toy Story 3

We watched Toy Story 3 this afternoon. Finally. I think I subconsciously run away from movies I've been dying to watch because I'm afraid they would disappoint me. The possibility of something great living out there is always more comforting for me than the disappointment of a have-been. Toy Story 3 was amazing. It made me cry, it made me think, it made me laugh. It made me want to hug the person I could calmly face the impending doom of an incinerator.

Lots of things went through my head during the movie, but I think what struck me most was the elusiveness of a happy ending. The problem with sequels is when the original movie ended on a perfect note - it is not just a happy ending, the dramatic conflict of the movie, the problem, has been resolved and there can be no more organic development from it. It's easy for superhero movies, perhaps, just introduce a new villian, the same problem with bigger dimensions (and better technology) - but that's all very superficial and audience don't return because they are cheated of emotional growth. For example, movies like Aladdin and Mulan, the beauty of the original movie was the growth the Hero/Heroine went through - and whether he or she actually achieved success was not as important as the self knowledge he or she gained. The problem with a sequel is that it often artificially creates a "conflict" where the hero/heroine is knocked from his/her successful plateau and has to come back as the "underdog" again. Often, this is unconvincing as in order for the hero/heroine to be knocked down his or her plateau, he or she becomes a character we don't recognise - forgetting all the lessons he or she learned in the original movie.

I don't want sequels that start on a clean slate, the very fact it is a sequel demands it respect the original slate. I think that's where Toy Story 3 really gets it right - the conflict naturally arises from the passage of growth the Toy Owner, Andy, goes through. We all know what it means when someone says "you have outgrown your toys", but what happen to the toys who would never outgrow anyone? I think as we grow older, we learn about the fragility of happy "endings". There is no ending, every point of perfect happiness is just a pitstop, a mere dot, in our unravelling line of journey. The happiness that Andy shared with his toys in his childhood cannot be permanent - it is something wistfully captured in a photograph, no one, not even the toys, wants Andy to be permanently a child, it is in the crafting out of a new happiness for everyone that captures my breath and attention in Toy Story 3. It is scary to depend on someone for your happiness, it takes trust and it takes the courage to get hurt. This trust and vulnerability will not always be repaid. However, as always, the choice is always yours, to follow Andy to college, to go to a childcare centre, to go to the attic, to stay with your friends, to jump out of the window with a parachute to the great unknown.

Funnily enough, maybe all one needs, toy or human, is a hand to hold onto. Children may be forgetful of the toys they once loved, we may be forgetful of the loves in our childhood. So I'm thankful, when something comes along, knock me off my perch and forces me to remember some precious original lessons.