After a rousing opening sequence which cleverly mimics the opening of Toy Story, Toy Story 3 jumps to the present. Andy (voiced by John Morris) is preparing to go to college and he's been instructed to do something with his old toys. Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) tries to convince the other toys -- Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen), Jessie (voiced by Joan Cusack), Potato Head (voiced by Don Rickles), Mrs. Potato Head (voiced by Estelle Harris), Slinky Dog (voiced by Blake Clark), Rex (voiced by Wallace Shawn), Hamm (voiced by John Ratzenberger), and Barbie (voiced by Jodi Benson) -- the everything will be all right and that Andy will stow them safely in the attic. But when a mix-up occurs, the toys, excluding Woody, are sent to Sunnyside Day Care. Once there, the toys find themselves welcomed by the resident toys, who are lead by a purple bear named Lotso (voiced by Ned Beatty). Woody follows the toys to their new home and tries to convince them to come home, but Buzz and his pals insist that they are happy at the day care. However, everyone will soon learn that things aren't always what they seem.

I could use a lot of words to describe Pixar's recent output (most of which are synonyms of bad), but the one that I'm going to run with is pretentious. Fueled by their own success, the powers that be apparently decided that they wanted all of their movies to be "deep" and have a "message". There's nothing run with going into an animated movie with a serious mind-set, but sometimes that can rob the project of its fun. With Toy Story 3, Pixar has gone back to its roots of simply wanting to have a good time and tell an exciting story.

But, the movie isn't just about action. As one would hope from a Toy Story movie, there are plenty of laughs here. The one-liners and zingers are great, and there are some very funny visual gags as well, especially amongst the many toys in the day care. Ken (voiced by Michael Keaton) steals his scenes, as he brings a funny nervous energy to the screen. But, the best scene comes when Woody finds himself at a tea party with some new characters with the familiar voices of Bonnie Hunt, Jeff Garlin, and Timothy Dalton. The movie also brings the emotion as well. The last ten minutes of Toy Story 3 is one of the most extreme gut-wrenching segments that you'll ever see in a movie. But, it's a happy kind of sad, and rarely in life will you find yourself grinning from ear-to-ear while tears fill your eyes.

I honestly don't know if a Toy Story 3 was necessary, but it's certainly a fitting way to finish out the series and plays quite well with the first two movies. It's funny, exciting, and touching in equal amounts and the introductions of several new characters doesn't feel overwhelming. Pixar may have just found their way back into my good graces.

Toy Story 3 earns a "Golly Bob Howdy!" on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 25 Mbps. The image is incredibly sharp and clear, showing on grain and no defects from the source materials. The colors look fantastic, and are incredibly vivid. The image is never too dark or bright. The HD transfer really brings out the detail in the animation and it's amazing that we can see every bump on every surface. Although this isn't in 3D, it still has great depth. The Disc offers a DTS-HD 7.1 audio track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 5.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are quite good and in certain scenes do a fine job of portraying off-screen sounds. The surround sound effects are great, especially in the crazed day care scenes. The same goes for the subwoofer effects which really come into play during the dump scene.

The Toy Story 3 Blu-ray Disc set contains a toy box of extras. We start on Disc 1 with "Day & Night" (6 minutes), the short which run before Toy Story 3 in theaters. It's cute, but it's certainly not Pixar's best work. "Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs: The Science of Adventure" (5 minutes) is yet another short, which was apparently made in conjunction with NASA, in which Buzz shows how space exploration and science got hand-in-hand. "Toys!" (7 minutes) explores how the various characters were created in the computer. We see animation tests and listen to the designers discuss the work which went into updating the old characters and creating the new ones. The remainder of the extras are found on Disc 2. "Cine-Explore" combines an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Director Lee Unkrich and Producer Darla K. Anderson which is combined with picture-in-picture elements which contain concept art, character designs, and storyboards/animatics. "Beyond the Toybox" offers a second AUDIO COMMENTARY with Supervising Animator Bobby Podesta, Supervising Technical Director Guido Quaroni, Production Designer Bob Pauley, Supervising Animator Mike Venturini, and Story Supervisor Jason Katz. This has a commentary only, and doesn't have any behind-the-scenes stuff. "Roundin' Up a Western Opening" (6 minutes) explores the ideas behind and the making of the film's opening. "Bonnie's Playtime: A Story Roundtable" (7 minutes) has a conversation with the filmmakers discussing the challenge of bringing to life the Bonnie character. Screenwriter Michael Arndt (through animation) describes how the various ideas for Toy Story 3 were brought together in "Beginnings: Setting a Story in Motion" (8 minutes). (This also gives insights into how screenplays are structured.) "Life of a Shot" (7 minutes) has the filmmakers describing the look of the film, including colors and shapes, and how they factored into the opening. We also see how animation and music helped to shape the scene. "Making of 'Day & Night'" (2 minutes) explores the creation of the short. "Paths to Pixar: Editorial" (5 minutes) explains the job of editor.

"Studio Stories" offers three animated shorts showing how the folks at Pixar love to have fun. "The Gang's All Here" (11 minutes) profiles the voice actors and allows us to see them performing in the studio, and commenting on the Toy Story 3 experience. "Goodbye Andy" (8 minutes) looks at the challenge of creating the film's finale. We see how the characters in Toy Story become real toys in "Accidental Toymakers" (4 minutes). "Creating a Whole New Land" (5 minutes) shows how Toy Story has migrated to the Disney theme parks. "Epilogue" (4 minutes) allows us to see the footage from the end credits full-frame. "Grab Bag" (4 minutes) is a series of promos which appear to have been made for theaters. "Ken's Dating Tips" (2 minutes) has the character offering love advice, in what appears to have been TV ads. We get two "Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear Commercials" (1 minute total), both of which are live action and look as if they were pulled off of an old VHS. We also get a 90-second segment showing how the commercials were made. There are seven TRAILERS, including two from Japan. "Character Intros" (2 minutes) is a series of odd promos which introduces the new characters. "Internet Chat", "Security Cam", and "Gadgets" (1 minute each) are animated shorts which were made to promote the film (I'm not sure where these were shown). "Dancing with the Stars at Pixar" (2 minutes) shows how Buzz's dance was designed. The final extra is a POSTER GALLERY.