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.
Films That Influenced Toy Story 3
