Toy Story- Nick Lodolo

Nick Lodolo

Blog 4

Toy Story 3

            The movie I chose was Toy Story 3 and the reason I chose this movie was because it has both positive and negative messages within it. Toy Story is based off the idea that when children are not looking, their toys come to life. In the first story, we learn about a young boy named Andy and his toys, especially his favorite; this is when we meet Woody. But, that all changes at Andy’s birthday party when he receives a gift, a gift containing a new toy. Toy Story 2 moves into Woody being kidnapped by the toy collector. Buzz and all his friends who are also toys set out to find Woody. This brings me to Toy Story 3, in which Andy’s finally leaving for college. Since Andy’s leaving he needs to leave his toys somewhere. This film answers the question to the two previous films, what will he do with his toys? He gives them to a daycare so other kids can have toys to play with.  

            The messages in this scene present both positive and negative, but throughout the movie there are different scenes that present these messages too. Throughout the movie kids may catch on to how old Andy’s getting, and his toys can no longer always be with or apart of him. It’s time for Andy to grow up and move past them. The positive message shown in Toy story 3 is selfless, and that the greatest happiness cam come from sharing the things that a time brought you so much joy. By passing them on, you can see the great joy and appreciation someone else can have for them too. While there weren’t very many negatives about the movie, one might be the way it uses sexism or stereotypes. This comes into play when Barbie and Ken are pictured. Barbie is portrayed as a female who’s vey dramatic, emotional, and everything has to be perfect for her. Then ken is also portrayed as not a ‘normal’ boy. Ken is portrayed you could say as a “famine fashionista,” who is also made fun of because he isn’t like everyone else. This image of Ken can relay a message to children that it’s not okay to be like Ken because you’ll get made of and won’t be considered cool. Instead you to be someone who you really aren’t so people won’t get a good laugh out of you.

            Toy Story for years has been a children’s favorite and continues to be. While most children may not exactly pick up on these positive and negative messages, it’s still something to think about. It’s something to think about because should these messages even be put into the movie in the first place, or could they change them around to try and make every message a positive message. This is something to look for in children’s movies from now on, to see if the messages are clear or not.