What films influenced Toy Story 3?

Woody, Buzz, and the rest of Andy's toys haven't been played with in years. With Andy about to go to college, the gang find themselves accidentally left at a nefarious day care center. The toys must band together to escape and return home to Andy.

Year2010

CountryUnited States

DirectorLee Unkrich

Films with Similar Energy

Cinematic Threads

Lee Unkrich embedded a Totoro plush in the daycare scenes as a signal: Pixar was learning from Hayao Miyazaki. The emotional pacing of Toy Story 3 — the willingness to let quiet moments carry weight, to let sadness breathe — is inherited from Miyazaki's understanding of how to make children's films that don't insult the viewer's capacity for feeling. Unkrich documented this influence in 2010 interviews. My Neighbor Totoro is available on Criterion Channel.

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