Screened this one with my husband, as I'd heard a few things from people who'd seen it that made me think we needed to preview it before going with the kids.
Oh so heck yeah. Kids are not going to see it any time soon.
*** Warning: Semi-Spoilers Ahead ***
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My daughter would not do well with the issues of toys being made prisoners and being beat to heck in school. She would ask me uncomfortable questions, such as do parents replace lost toys and pretend they are the old ones ... and have
I ever done that? She would not be happy with my attempts to plead the 5th. Especially because the answer would be "yes" to the special kitty from a loved relative and her Woody Doll.
I think the hulking mafia Baby doll would freak her out. She'd be seeing it in her dreams and telling her second grade teacher about her doll hallucinations (I know this because last year we went through this with the imaginary rat friend she had).
She'd be worried about Bo Peep being gone, and wonder if the same thing would not, some day, happen to her, or a special toy that she loves.
Also: She does not really get Barbie and Ken. Do we really need to give her more proof that Mommy finds really odd things to be funny? And: I am trying to get her to clean her room. The girl has inherited my clinging genes. This movie would make her lock her door and go into hoarding overdrive.
The noise level for James would be tough, especially the preschool. OMG, the school. He's starting a brand-new one, complete with new teachers and aides next year. Last thing I need him to watch is noisy, violent kids terrorizing the nice, brave, friendly toys. Watching them try to ... escape the school by
running away. Dudes! Do *not* put this idea in his head!
The furnace scenario at the end would completely terrorize them. I don't know if James would get the fact that, without a rescue, the toys would all go up in screaming flares of flame and die, as his big sister would. But the noise and very visual distress on the faces of all the toys would get to him, and not in a good way.
Heck, it gave
me nasty flashbacks to being in the Oakland Hills Fire in '91, where parents and I had to run for our lives, knowing that our house, photos, and other life things (including my long-loved toys) were incinerated behind us in that roaring, whirling 2,000
°+ inferno.
That said: I loved the movie. The Spanish Buzz and Ken? The poker game at the top of the vending machine? OMG, hilarious. Mrs Potato Head's mystic eye was an excellent and intriguing plot/story device. The little girl who really loves and plays with her toys was so touching, and neatly avoided being maudlin. The final play scene with Andy? Was real and satisfying.
Overall, I thought this movie was excellent. But I don't think I ever want to see it again. I also think that there will be children that will not have problems seeing TS3. Mine just don't happen to be in that crowd. I think when they are both older (say around age 9 or 10) they would enjoy many, many parts of this movie and not be overly bothered about the dramatic, semi-traumatic scenes with toys facing separation, imprisonment, or almost certain flaming death.
