I guess I'm really evil, because not only did I not keep my childhood toys, but during the late nineties, I replaced a great many of them via eBay in a several-years long fit of nostalgia. Then, throughout the early oughts, I re-sold all but a very few of them.

Put me in the "Loved It!" column.

My minor disappointment was the Claw joke. It pulled me out of the story. How did the alien dolls get up there? Where did I lose track of them? Etc. How that all came to pass would make a nice little short for another feature.

Yeah, I was all lumpy throat and misty eyed from the dumpster scene on through the end. Almost lost it at Mom's reaction to Andy's nearly empty room. But the dam-buster for me was when Andy, after introducing Bonnie to all her new toys, noticed Woody in the bottom of the box. I'm always amazed how much these guys can communicate in 2 to 3 seconds of film.

Another winner for Pixar!

You'd better touch that Wiimote once in a blue moon, or one of these days you'll wake up to find they've moved on their own, into places where the sun don't shine, screaming "play with me! play with me!" out of their little speakers..... and that's when things will REALLY start to get wierd. :eek:

Yeah, a total deus ex machina, but could you imagine the ending if it DIDN'T show up. It would be like the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Stunned silence from the audience. Fade to....... YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME! YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND IN MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

I suppose it was a deus ex machina in the sense that the Millennium Falcon showing up at the end of Star Wars was. Corny, totally telegraphed in advance, and completely appreciated by a willing audience.


If it wasn't telegraphed to you, I would chalk that up to being caught up in the film - a good thing. But the aliens saw the claw from far off as soon as they arrived at the dump, and ambled off alone to commune with it.

Showing up at the perfect point to save the other toys may have been schmaltzy movie timing, but the bit had the requisite set-up.


Sorry if you missed it, Sam. Go see it again! I know I'm going to (among other things, I wanna spot Sid as a garbage man).

A-Ha! I'll definitely see it again, but this time alone. Not with someone who trots off to the bathroom at the most inopportune moment and then expects to be caught up on the story when he returns.

I DO remember hearing their reaction to the claw, but missed them waddling off.

They waddled off toward it, and then got plowed by the bulldozer.

Yeah, plowed by the bulldozer and instantly forgotten as things ramp up.

I thought the claw rescue was perfect, in that the situation had gotten SO serious and scary and weepy with all the acceptance of imminent death...and then the claw shows up and saves them from nowhere with a lighthearted reference, completely breaking the tension, making audience members laugh not only at the gag but at themselves for getting so emotionally wrought by some toys at a garbage dump....and not in a "gotcha" or demeaning way, either. Just, perfect.

Still, I wonder if the Raiders of the Lost Ark ending will be a Blu-ray easter egg. :evil:

I'm missing something with the Raiders reference here. Was there some other ending?

Oh I'm just picturing the "non-claw" ending: