"Toy Story 3" - in theaters

I love going to see animated movies because often times they have the funniest lines and sweetest moments. I wasn't disappointed with "Toy Story 3", for it had both.

It's been quite a number of years since the last Toy Story, and not only has the audience aged, but Andy has as well. He's about to go off to college, and our favorite group of toys spends their days in Andy's old toy box, using every trick in the book to try and get Andy to play with them. But it doesn't work.

Due to a mix-up, our favorite misfits end up being donated to Sunnyside Day Care, where everything really isn't all that sunny. Woody tries to convince everyone to go back home, because life in the attic isn't all that bad, and anything beats Sunnyside. But alas, the other toys don't listen, and choose to stick it out. Woody (voice of Tom Hanks), through a series of events, ends up going home with a little girl whose mother works at Sunnyside, coming back to Sunnyside, and then orchestrates a jail break.

Overall, I found the movie to be very sad in many ways. All those toys wanted was someone to play with them, and it breaks your heart to watch Andy toss them aside in the beginning of the movie. But on the flip side of the coin is the moment when Andy discovers that those toys would be of more use belonging to someone who can appreciate them. And it still makes you cry.

I loved a lot of things about this film. I loved the toys that belong to the little girl that Woody goes home with. They're like a group of improv actors who praise Woody for his "natural" ability. I love when Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) goes into his Spanish mode and seduces Jesse the Cowgirl (Joan Cusack) with his dance steps and swaying hips. I love the beginning play sequence when you see a zillion Troll dolls playing "the orphans".

In the end, this movie is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching, and I cried my face off.

So on the CWeave scale, I give this movie a 10. It's everything you come to expect from a Pixar film with characters that feel like old friends. It made me yearn for the day when I would play with my Barbies or my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for hours on end. When there were no video games or DVDs to watch, and all you had was your imagination.