Pixar strikes again with the return of a beloved cowboy and spaceman. Elizabeth Kerr reports.

To say that Pixar changed the face of modern Western animation isn't an understatement, and it isn't even a new sentiment. Critics, movie-goers, industry wags and just about everyone's dog has been saying so since the little studio (that wasn't yet) and its founder/writer/director John Lasseter walked off with an Oscar in 1988 for Tin Toy. At the time, the five-minute short film had everyone marveling at what you could do with a computer; that you could make a "complete" film with a computer.

Since then, the power Mac has become a more standard piece of filmmaking equipment than, well, film and everyone has jumped on the CGI bandwagon. Pixar may not have been the very first, but they were the first to prove that Western audiences would see a cartoon en masse that wasn't Disney (let's just skip the irony of Disney eventually buying Pixar) and didn't necessarily demand talking animals as a prerequisite. Pixar's ten films up to now (yes, only ten) have all managed to do something many other filmmakers have lost sight of. You can't argue that Pixar's films are cutting-edge narratives with high concepts that grab minds, young and old. The studio seems to make films according to a mantra that is the exact opposite of that. In fact, you could say Pixar's films were formulaic in their fundamental mechanics.

Toy Story was about a kid, his favorite toys, and one toy's fear that he was being pushed out by newer, fancier one - being made redundant in an increasingly technological world as it were. In The Incredibles, a suburban superpower endowed family in the midst of individual existential crises was just trying to find a happy middle ground, while dealing with teenaged children and marital malaise. Up focused on an elderly man and his renewed dedication to living his life in the wake of his wife's death. The list goes on and every single one of Pixar's films could have been a strong, live-action film about humanity, its foibles, surprises and everyday challenges. And that's what separates Pixar from its competitors (who are, admittedly, getting with the program). The emphasis on storytelling wrapped around recognizable human emotion and empathetic characters reminds moviegoers of why we go to the movies. Sure, we all want a little fantasy for our HK$60, but we want our movies peppered with action and "people" that we can let ourselves become invested in.

So finally, after a decade of wrangling over distribution rights, copyrights and a million other pieces of Hollywood minutiae that only studio heads understand - or care about - Pixar has revisited the film that put them on the cinematic map. Can lightening strike three times? Is it finally time for Pixar to put a stinker out there? Perhaps, but it's not this time.

Most of what you've heard about Toy Story 3 (in either 2D or 3D, depending on how your head feels that day) is true. And the part about grown men crying? Also true, but more on that later.

The film begins with Andy, the little boy from the first film, getting ready to head off to college. Before he does, his mother demands he go through his old stuff and keep what he wants so that she can get rid of the rest. Some of said stuff includes Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz (Tim Allen) and they soon find themselves donated to a preschool. This is not good. The toy room is ruled by the bitter, imperious teddy bear Lotso (Ned Beatty) and there's a whole lot more going on behind the scenes of the daycare than meets the eye. So it's Wood, Buzz and Co to the rescue again.

One of the beauties of Toy Story 3 is that director Len Unkrich and writer Michael Arndt acknowledge the very basic fact that the film's core audience has aged 10 years; the kids aren't the elementary-schoolers they were when Toy Story came out (they'd be well into high school now) and their parents are likely neck-deep in mortgage payments, job security fears and the onslaught of middle-age spread. In other words, we've all grown up. Just like Andy.

Sure, you can say that anyone who's ever had a toy they grew out of will react to the emotionalism of Toy Story 3. But there's more going on here - as usual in a Pixar film. Woody and Buzz are on yet another mission, this time to win the Play With Me sweepstakes, but they're also fighting their own obsolescence or mortality. They're trying to deal with being cast aside and getting a handle on being unwanted. The characters resonate more than ever in a techno-mad age that Pixar very nearly kick-started itself. In between the adventure is wistful nostalgia for the days when toys were, well, toys and we had to interact with each other in person to play with them. But the darker themes are woven into the story fabric with a light touch and never overwhelm. It is wholly possible to watch Toy Story 3 as an exciting, shiny cartoon. And the 3D? It's as polished as you'd expect it to, and like Up there's a depth to the images that make the film immersive, but it's not necessary to its enjoyment. When you get to the wrenching conclusion, it's not going to make a difference to its impact - but the glasses could hide any stray tears.

Also as usual, the voice work is excellent, with the new additions doing nothing to detract from the core characters and actually enhancing the narrative experience. Beatty as the sinister southern gentlemen is particularly charming and Michael Keaton as Ken - you read that right, Ken - sounds more animated (no pun intended) than he has since Beetlejuice. But it's Hanks and Allen's movie and the duo slip into Woody and Buzz with such ease it's impossible not to get swept up in the moment. The thought of another sequel normally sends many of us into fits but this time around? The unexpected growth of two familiar objects/people make Toy Story 3 a welcome addition to summer viewing fare.

Toy Story 3 opened in Hong Kong Thursday.

(HK Edition 07/17/2010 page4)