Film: Is there anything left to say about Toy Story 3? You can check out my in-depth review when the movie was released. Needless to say, it’s a great film. My favorite of the three Toy Story films and it beautifully brings closure to one of the best trilogies (maybe the best?) of all time.
Image: As expected, the high definition (1080p) picture is flawless. Some think Blu-ray is fad and don’t want to invest in another format, but Blu-ray truly does deliver the most pristine picture imaginable. Downloading from iTunes or watching on standard DVD just doesn’t not compare. If you have a HDTV TV that’s 32 inches or larger, then you owe it to yourself to see this film on Blu-ray.
Audio: The is the first Pixar release that includes a DTS-HD 7.1 mix. It also includes a DTS-HD 5.1 mix. The surround channels and bass are very active. It’s a great mix all around.
Extras: In addition to your standard extras, the Blu-ray includes some amazing features for those who love animation and filmmaking. The menus feature new animation with the Toy Story characters are very fun to watch as well. Here’s a breakdown on some of my favorites (screen shots are from my laptop and aren’t the highest quality):
- Life of a Shot – A great look at all the things that went into the creation of the opening sequence. From the original idea through to story, art, modeling, shading, lighting, etc. A bevy of Pixarians chime in such as Darla K. Anderson, Lee Unkrich, Jason Katz, Dice Tsutsumi, Kim White, Robert Kondo, Denise Blakely Fuller, Matthew Strangio, Konstantin Promokhov, Sungyeon Joh, Rogan Griffin, Chris Chapman, Ken Schretzmann, Mahyar Abousaeedi, Jeff Pidgeon, Bob Pauley, Carlo Vogele, Duncan Ramsay, Luigi Passalaqua, James Reinhart Robertson, Becki Tower, Mach Tony Kobayashi, Ferdi Scheepers, Robert M. Russ, Bill Wattral, Lourdes Marquez Alba, Paul Topolos, Michael Fong, Barney Jones, Nick Lucas, Esdras Varagnolo and Paul Cichocki.
- Goodbye Andy – a featurette that focuses on the design of the human characters, the concept of the uncanny valley and the emotional ending of the film. Pixarians featured include Lee Unkrich, Bob Pauley, Sanjay Bakshi, Guido Quaroni, John Morris, Darla K. Anderson, Bobby Podesta, Michal Makarewicz and Dan Nguyen.
- Roundin’ Up – A Western Opening – The original “Showdown” opening of Woody vs. Buzz is discussed in detail (storyboarded by Bud Luckey). They share why it was abandoned and the contributions of Mark Andrews on the version that was ultimately included in the film. Includes interviews with the following Pixarians: Darla K. Anderson, Lee Unkrich, Jason Katz, Bud Luckey and Ken Schretzmann.
Both commentary tracks (a Cine-explore (i.e. Picture in Picture) with Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson) and a technical commentary (with Bobby Podesta, Jason Katz, Mike Venturini, Bob Pauley and Guido Quaroni) are informative, well-researched and very entertaining. They aren’t done there, you also get a slew of additional featurettes, three amusing Pixar: Studio Stories, the cool interstitials, Internet promos, trailers (even the “vintage” Lotso commercials) and much, much more! In addition, all the featurettes and extras are presented in HD (including Day & Night). A detailed breakdown of all the disc contents and extra features can be found on my Toy Story 3 Blu-ray page.
Missed Opportunities: A new Pixar short would have been cool. I’m not quite sure why the Cine-explore commentary and technical commentaries were not included on Disc 1 of the Blu-ray (like they were for Cars, Up, WALL-E and Ratatouille). It seems they could have moved some of the extras from Disc 1 to Disc 2 to accomplish this. I would have also liked to see more extras for Day & Night (including a Teddy Newton commentary), but I’m sure they’re saving that for the Pixar Short Films Vol. 2.
Summary: Another home run by Pixar and certainly one of the finest Blu-ray releases of the year. The picture and sound are top notch and there’s some wonderful (and unique) extras to see. Bring on Finding Nemo and The Incredibles! Another great excuse to join the Blu-ray bandwagon, if you haven’t done so already. Players are available for $100 – $150, so it’s time to get on board!
