Having watched all the “Toy Story” movies, “Toy Story 3” is hands-down the best one. Beginning with Andy preparing to leave for college and ending with him giving his favorite toys away, the movie takes viewers on an emotional rollercoaster, with everything from tears to laughs along the way. The toys face new and more intrinsic challenges compared to the previous movies as they worry about their futures once Andy leaves for college. Amidst all this worry, they find their way to Sunnyside Daycare.

At Sunnyside, Andy’s (former) toys meet the most memorable “Toy Story” villain, Lotso, the bear that acts like a leader to the rest of the toys at Sunnyside and runs the daycare like a toy prison. Although most of the toys are alright with Lotso running the place since they still get to be played with by children, Woody feels like something’s wrong and tries to escape back to Andy’s house. But yet again, Woody gets separated from the other toys as he was in the two previous movies, just to find his way back to them in the end. 

As this plot unravels and the toys face new challenges, there continues to be comedic relief, even more so than in the prior movies. At Sunnyside, Barbie meets Ken and she immediately becomes charmed by the seemingly male-version of herself as they both share a love of fashion. However, the most hilarious scene in any “Toy Story” movie would be when Buzz Lightyear switches languages. Amidst Lotso’s many deceptions, he resets Buzz to factory mode, where he forgets everything, starts speaking fluent Spanish, and even falls in love with Jessie. I remember rewatching this movie multiple times just because my little brother, a toddler at the time, would laugh hysterically every time this scene began.

Nonetheless, the comedy comes to an end as Woody returns and the toys confront Lotso about his deceptions, causing another toy to throw Lotso into the garbage. Lotso pulls Andy in and the rest of the toys follow. They’re taken to an incinerator, where it almost seems as if some of the beloved toys are about to be burnt into ashes. Despite being brought into this mess by Lotso, Woody and Buzz try to save him, showing Woody’s true character development from the first movie (where he tried to kill Buzz a few times). However, Lotso continues to be the epic villain that he is and betrays the other toys.

Luckily, the toys are saved by the three little green aliens on a helicopter and ride a garbage truck back to Andy’s house. Andy finds the toys, along with a note Woody wrote, encouraging Andy to give the toys to Bonnie. Although he thinks his mom wrote the note, Andy heeds Woody’s advice and passes his beloved toys on to Bonnie, one by one. Watching this scene made me cry the first time but also made me realize how much I loved the Toy Story movies for the characters. The scene also held an incredibly emotional message about growing up and how it’s okay to let go of your childhood, leaving an undeniable impact on any viewer.