I’ve been somewhat dreading this one. Not because I have any
doubt about the latest iteration of the franchise that pointed the way forward
for CGI-animated cinema, or that Disney/Pixar in its current postmodern phase
isn’t capable of delivering. It’s more because, as I got into last year, Toy
Story 3 is a very important film for me. It’s the film that served as a
paradigm shift in how I viewed media meant for children from that point on,
making me realise that the age-old excuse of ‘it’s just for kids’ is nothing
more than the catchcry of lazy filmmakers.
In order for this film to measure up to that, it
would have to pull an artistic feat that I doubt even Disney/Pixar is capable
of. There’s no way this could be yet another improvement on the franchise’s
kid-friendly existentialism; all it could do is be another good addition, in my
eyes at least, and that’s thankfully what we get here.
