"Toy Story" trilogy comes to an end

“Toy Story 3” is a worthy film of the Pixar franchise with a wonderfully written script  consistently laugh-out-loud funny and powerfully emotional — a hilarious, touching and excellent farewell to the characters we’ve come to know and love.

Certainly, the Toy Story gang needs no introduction. They are toys who live secret lives outside the vision of their owner, Andy.  Woody the cowboy and space ranger Buzz Lightyear lead the group, which has helped Andy develop a vivid imagination throughout the years.

There is a montage in the beginning of the movie showing Andy on video as we remember him from the previous films, playing with his favorite toys.

Years later, Andy is now days away from leaving for college, and the gang seems destined for the attic after spending many years in Andy’s old toy chest.

Andy must decide what to take to college, what to throw away, donate or put up in the attic for storage. The toys mistakenly assume they are headed for the city dump, so they hide in a box meant for donations to a local daycare center, where they believe they have found a new home with an endless supply of young children to play with them forever.

Once they arrive, they are welcomed by veteran toys, led by Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear. He welcomes them and shows them where they’ll be living, promising it is the best thing that could have happened to them. 

Eventually, they come to find the daycare isn’t a paradise, but a prison. They end up being placed with children too young for them, and they are battered mercilessly by rough play. They learn all newcomers start in "The Caterpillar Room." If they survive, they move up to "The Butterfly Room” — a haven most toys don’t last long enough to see.

Buzz is captured by Lotso and re-set to factory settings to keep the gang from escaping — putting him back in his "deluded" space-ranger mode.

Woody escapes prior to this discovery, and the rest of the film is dedicated to setting everyone free and getting back to Andy’s house (whether he wants them or not). 

The story of loyalty and frienship between a childhood owner and his toys has finally came to a close.

While the film is packed with comedy and action, the third installment never loses sight of its emotional core. It is such a deep wrap-up, it makes the previous two movies feel like episodes, while the third and final movie feels like the summation. So long, partner.