Toy Story 3



The third movie of the Toy Story franchise.

A plot summary, courtesy of Wikipedia:

17-year-old Andy is about to leave for college, and his toys have not been played with for years. He intends to take only Woody with him, and puts Buzz Lightyear, Jessie and the other toys in a bag to be stored in the attic. Andy's mother mistakenly takes the bag to the curb for garbage pickup. The toys escape and, believing Andy intended to throw them away, decide to climb into a donation box with Barbie bound for Sunnyside Daycare. Woody follows them but is unable to convince them of the mistake.

Andy's toys are welcomed by the other toys at Sunnyside, and are given a tour of the seemingly idyllic play-setting by Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear ("Lotso"), Big Baby, and Ken, with whom Barbie falls in love. All of the toys choose to stay, except Woody, who attempts to return to Andy, but is instead found by Bonnie, one of the Sunnyside students. She takes Woody home and plays with him along with her other toys, which are well-treated. Meanwhile, at Sunnyside, a group of toddlers play roughly with Andy's toys.

Buzz seeks out Lotso to request to have them moved to the older children's room, but Lotso, who controls Sunnyside in a concentration-camp-like style, refuses, explaining that the newer toys need to be sacrificed to the younger children to protect the older ones, indifferent to damage or suffering they might endure. Seeing promise in Buzz, Lotso resets Buzz to his original space ranger persona, which also resets his memory. At the same time, Mrs. Potato Head, through an eye she accidentally left in Andy's room, sees Andy searching for the toys and realizes Woody was telling the truth. However, before they can leave, Andy's toys are imprisoned by Lotso's gang, guarded by Buzz...

""I told you kids, stay out of my butt!""
 * Accent Adaptation: Given the very clear nature of Buzz' Spanish dance moves, some of the Spanish-language dubs keep him Spanish, but give him a thick Andalusian accent, of the "huge lisp" variety (Like the one the Puss in Boots has)
 * Actionized Sequel: With this being number 3 in a trilogy fifteen years in the making, character introductions are almost moot point, with even more dramatic escape sequences taking place in comparison to its predecessors.
 * Advertised Extra: Stretch the octopus is displayed prominently on the DVD cover, despite having about ten minutes of screen time.
 * And I Must Scream: The ultimate fate of Lotso. He's advised by his new pals to keep his mouth shut.
 * And the Adventure Continues...: When Andy leaves his toys in the care of their new kid Bonnie.
 * Anachronism Stew: The opening scene. There's Woody and Jessie, the cowboy and cowgirl, chasing Potato Head on a 19th century style steam train. Then a pink sports car turns up, then spaceman Buzz Lightyear and later Slinky Dog is some sort of high tech forcefield dog contraption. Ham has a pig-shaped spaceship, with a cockpit filled with computers, lights and a teleporter and a Wave Motion Gun in the snout. Finally, there's Rex, the dinosaur. Justified in that this is all a story made up by a six year old and the ludicrous nature of it is clearly powered by his sense of Rule of Cool.
 * This scene is a retelling of the first two movies' opening sequences blended together.
 * Anvilicious: The film's delivery of its franchise's recurring "toys being treated as if they are slaves" theme.
 * Ascended Extra: The film enlarges some of the characters' roles.
 * Hamm, Rex, and Mr. Potato Head, after having supporting roles in the previous two films, become primary characters.
 * Mrs. Potato Head, after being mentioned two scenes in the first movie and having a minor role in the second movie, becomes one of the primary characters in the film.
 * Barbie, after having cameo roles in the previous film, becomes a primary character in this film.
 * Ass Shove: Done in the epilogue when Mr. Potato Head discovers the Peas-in-a-Pod popping out of his rear hatch.

"Mr. Potato Head: You know all those bad things I said about the attic? I take it all back. Hamm: You said it."
 * Badass Spaniard: Buzz, after he's switched to "Spanish mode".
 * Be Careful What You Wish For: At the beginning, the toys want nothing more than to be played with again. When they get to Sunnyside, they get what they want. Boy howdy, do they get it. And considering how disgruntled they were at the prospect of being stuck in the attic, by the end of the adventure attitudes seem to have changed somewhat in-between courtesy of Sunnyside :

"Barbie: Authority should derive from the consent of the governed, not from threat of force! (Hamm and Potato Head shrug in confusion)"
 * Bear Hug: From Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear.
 * Beary Cute: Lotso-o'-Huggin' Bear is a classy, gentlemanly pink teddy bear with a friendly disposition and acts as Sunnyside Daycare's kindly old caretaker.
 * Berserk Button: Lotso really should not have broken the name tag in front of Big Baby.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Lotso turns out to be the most vicious character in the film.
 * Do not threaten Barbie's friends if you know what's good for you.
 * Big Brother Instinct: At the end of the movie Andy gives all of his toys to Bonnie, with the prompting of Woody writing her address on a sticky note which he put on top the box of toys initially meant for the attic. When Bonnie is initially scared of the strange older boy approaching her, Andy kneels down at her eye level to introduce himself and describe all of his toys to Bonnie. The scene ends with Andy and Bonnie playing with all of their toys in Bonnie's front yard before Andy drives off to college.
 * Also with his own sister. After some light back-and-forth bickering, when Andy sees Molly having trouble with a heavy box he helps her out at once.
 * Big Damn Heroes: Two Words: Obvious Trope: "The claaaawww!"
 * Big No: Woody gets one when falling into the incinerator.
 * Bittersweet Ending: The ending appears to be this way.
 * Blind Seer: Mrs. Potato Head is missing one of her eyes for most of the movie. However, whenever she covers up her one eye she can see plot-important events from her missing eye's location such as Andy getting upset with his mom for throwing the toys away, since he meant to put them in the attic instead, contrary to what all the toys sans Woody believe.
 * Blowing a Raspberry: Big Baby does this to
 * Bolero Effect: Used in the music of the
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: Buzz, after Lotso forcibly switches him to "Demo" mode.
 * Brick Joke: Sarge and the army men.
 * "The CLAAAAAAAAW..." Basically, a Brick Joke that takes two movies and several years to set up and deliver on.
 * Especially awesome when you remember the line from the first movie, They were right!
 * The triceratops is one as well; at the end of the first movie, Rex was talking about how he would love for Andy to get an herbivore so he could play the dominant predator. Look who he ends up paling around with during the credits of the third movie?
 * Call Back: God bless the poor soul who watched this movie before the first two. Some references to the previous films are quick and may not even make sense without that context. A partial list:
 * 1) To the first movie:
 * Many lines in the film's opening are taken directly from the original film's opening, including One-Eyed Bart, his "ha ha ha, money money money!" line, his "attack dog with built-in force field", and the opposing "dinosaur who eats force field dogs."
 * Andy looks over Woody and Buzz, picks them up, and chooses one. The framing echoes when he was putting toys into the chest during the "Strange Things" sequence. This time he chooses Woody for college.
 * Woody's "It doesn't matter how much we're played with, what matters is that we're here for Andy when he needs us." is invoked in the beginning.
 * Woody hosts a staff meeting and asks Slinky to gather everyone (only this time Slinky doesn't have nearly as many toys to gather).
 * The Army Men (or what's left of them) go on recon missions for the other toys, this time getting Andy's cell phone.
 * Trixie reminds us about how Rex wanted a plant-eating dinosaur to be one of Andy's presents.
 * A little girl (Bonnie instead of Sid's sister Hannah) inserts a main character (this time Woody instead of Buzz) into a tea party she's having with other toys.
 * When hugs Woody and the toys after playing with them after the imaginary spaceship, Buttercup winking at Woody is a callback in the first movie when Andy picks up Woody and Buzz when they land in the car.
 * The garbageman with headphones? Sid, all grown up.
 * The truck Lotso, Big Baby, and Chuckles ride on the back of is the Pizza Planet delivery truck.
 * Buzz's dialogue after Woody and the others attempt to reset him is the exact same as his dialogue when he first came out of his box... except in Spanish. Also, he aims his laser right at the center of Woody's forehead... which is exactly what he did upon meeting Woody for the first time in the first movie. You can also see that the sticker that represents the radio he has on his wrist is no longer there, because Buzz himself peeled it off in the first movie.
 * One scene during Andy and Bonnie's playtime is Andy carrying Woody on his shoulders, which he did at the start of the title sequence for the first movie.
 * The last shot we see at the end of the film is a bright blue sky with clouds, the exact same as Andy's wallpaper which introduced Toy Story.
 * The wing section of the Buzz Lightyear manual ends with "NOT A FLYING TOY", a warning flashed in a Buzz Lightyear toy commercial that caused Buzz's Heroic BSOD.
 * The last toy Woody holds hands with during the Incinerator Scene is not Buzz, but Slinky, Woody's friend before Buzz showed up.
 * "THE CLAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWW!" was originally mentioned by the aliens in the first movie.
 * 1) To the second movie:
 * Evil Doctor Porkchop and Death by Monkeys in the opening.
 * Jessie commenting, "It's Emily all over again!"
 * Jessie yodels multiple times and calls for animals, which is mildly confusing without knowing those were her character traits on Show Within the Movie Woody's Roundup.
 * Woody tries to ride Buster to yet another rescue mission, but Buster has gotten too old and chubby to do this anymore.
 * Woody attempts to slide down the drainpipe in order to save the rest of the toys. He fails. Epically.
 * While Woody and Buzz are looking at a young picture of Andy, Woody comments that they'll be together "For infinity and beyond".
 * "You have saved our lives. We are eternally grateful," and the Little Green Men being the adopted children of the Potato Heads.
 * Hamm claims dibs on Barbie's Corvette car when she's thrown into the Sunnyside box. He enjoyed driving the car around the aisles of Al's Toy Barn.
 * Using Slinky as a bungee cord: When the toys reach Andy's house again, they climb to the roof of the garage, which leads to his bedroom window. The camera angle is the exact same as when the toys leave to rescue Woody in Toy Story 2.
 * Zurg was referenced in the first movie, but you wouldn't recognize him in his cameo unless you saw Toy Story 2.
 * Don't forget Jessie's panic attacks at the thought of going into storage, again.
 * A tiny one: Golf clubs are instrumental in the rescue of a toy in both films. With varied results.
 * A Freeze-Frame Bonus in the Buzz Lightyear instruction manual. The Accessories section mentions that the Buzz Lightyear Utility Belt is "coming soon!". The other Buzz from the second film had a utility belt.
 * If you look carefully at Woody's right arm, it's got red stitching different from the left along the shoulder, which is where Andy sewed his arm back on.
 * 1) To both films:
 * A very good portion of the film's soundtrack is itself a Leitmotif throwback to each of the films. The opening sequence, for example, uses Buzz's theme from Toy Story (Buzz's arrival uses a version of Buzz's theme and the climactic soundtrack from Toy Story.), while scenes like where Woody is found alive by his friends are from Andy's return home in 2, and when the toys finally arrive home.
 * Woody mentions that several toys from the previous two films (such as Etch and Bo Peep) have been given away in the time between 2 and 3. (The mentioning of Bo, in particular, appears to mildly dishearten Woody, due to the romantic relationship they shared in the previous two films).
 * The looping orange racetrack Buzz used to "fall with style" in the original and Jessie used to help Buster in the sequel is mentioned to be stored in the attic.
 * Lotso's backstory. Him getting lost on a trip out and having to make his way back home to the owner he is intensely loyal to: That's the plot of the first movie right there. Him being replaced and his If I Can't Have You: Hey, Woody, remember when you pushed Buzz out the window? His philosophy that all toys are destined to be treated as garbage: Remember when Woody was more willing to go to a museum than to Andy because he was afraid he'd be thrown out eventually? Lotso is Woody from a bad future.
 * 1) Other Pixar films:
 * The quick series of shots over which Chatter Telephone narrates all the obstacles the toys will face in their escape from Sunnyside recalls a similar sequence detailing the plan to escape the fish tank in Finding Nemo (both are Mission: Impossible parodies and visual shout-outs to the films of David Fincher).
 * Big Baby resembles the creepy baby who fell victim to the Uncanny Valley in the Pixar Shorts Tin Toy. In that short, a number of toys hide from said child. The same toys are also shown hiding from the toddlers of the Caterpillar Room before the kids return from recess.
 * Freeze-Frame Bonus: Andy's board has a postcard from Carl and Ellie of Up; his posters feature the Omnidroid of The Incredibles; fish from Finding Nemo are seen in stickers on his wall and in paintings at the daycare; Sunnyside has toy versions of Nemo's Mister Ray and some of the characters from Cars (non-anthropomorphic Snot Rod on Andy's calendar (August) and Finn Mcmissile from Cars 2 on a poster, also, when the children burst into the room for the first time, one of the them is wearing a "95" shirt). Buzz Lightyear is powered by batteries from Buy-N-Large.
 * The locomotive at the start of the movie is also numbered "95"; these are references to when the first Toy Story came out.
 * There's a little girl in the Butterfly Room who looks suspiciously like an older version of Boo from Monsters, Inc..
 * Note that she is playing with a purple and blue kitty.
 * The Cameo: A doll of Studio Ghibli's own Totoro is a minor character in the film, and the first Toy Story character to also be a character from another movie. And yes, he still has his trademark Totoro grin.
 * Camp Straight: Ken. From his frilly handwriting, to his many clothes, to his happiness when the army men parachute in the ending. Even dating Barbie doesn't help matters.
 * He really can't help it. He's a male character but a girls' toy. Made for and marketed to girls.
 * "I'm not a girl's toy! I'm NOT!"
 * "You're not a toy! You're an accessory! You're a purse with legs."
 * Captivity Harmonica: Hamm plays one.
 * It's also worth noting that Lotso's theme is played with a harmonica.
 * Casting Gag: In Hindsight. Pixar didn't realize that they actually casted the voice of the Spanish Buzz toy for Spanish Buzz until after the fact.
 * Celibate Hero: Woody in this movie as.
 * Character Development: Mrs. Potato Head. She went from a background character in the second movie to having a crucial role in the plot by having the ability to see through a missing eye.
 * The Character Died with Him: Everyone voiced by Joe Ranft.
 * Averted with Slinky Dog and Jim Varney though, likely because as Woody's sidekick, Slink was too crucial a character to just phase out.
 * Chekhov's Gun: becomes a Chekhov's Gunman, and eventually a
 * Bonnie can be seen playing with during the first scene showing her in the day care.
 * Heck, a second viewing of the film sees all the major characters in the first daycare scene, before they're active. Try to spot them!
 * There's also.
 * Children Are Innocent: Bonnie -- unlike the Caterpillar Room children at the daycare who harshly play with or deface their toys, she lovingly plays with and cares for her toys similar to how Andy did when he was younger.
 * The older children at the daycare are the same way.
 * Classically-Trained Extra: Mr. Pricklepants, played by none other than Timothy Dalton.
 * Bonnie's other toys asked Woody if he was classically trained, in regards to his "performance."
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: Blue is safe (Andy's room, the Butterfly Room, the conveyor belt off switch), red is unsafe (Caterpillar Room, Lotso, incinerator), and sickly green-yellow is corrupted (the vending machine "gambling parlor", the daycare dumpster). Bonnie's color is bright "happy" green.
 * Cool and Unusual Punishment: Barbie's way of interrogating Ken is by ripping each of his sets of clothes until he speaks.
 * Continuity Nod: A beautifully subtle one -- Woody still has the red stitches on his right arm from Andy's fixing him at the end of Toy Story 2.
 * Buzz is also still missing his arm readout sticker, which he peeled off during his nervous breakdown in the first movie.
 * Convection, Schmonvection: The incinerator is obviously really hot but the plastic toys remain unmelted. Considering how terrifying the scene was already, this is for the best.
 * Conveyor Belt O' Doom: And HOW!
 * Crap Saccharine World: Sunnyside Daycare seems like a bright, colorful heaven where there are always children to lovingly play with the toys, but actually it's a brutal dictatorship ruled by Lotso the bear. Most of the daycare's toys get subjected to rough playtimes with the toddlers rather than the loving playtimes with the older children, and any defiant toys get imprisoned in cubbies, forced to stay the night in the sandbox, interrogated, brainwashed, or thrown into the daycare's dumpster to go to the landfill.
 * Also possibly a case of Vile Villain, Saccharine Show; Lotso is revealed to be a genuinely monstrous villain, but once he's gone the daycare centre becomes a genuinely sweet place
 * Creepy Doll: Big Baby.
 * Cute Giant: Lotso and Big Baby are each considerably larger than the protagonists.
 * Cymbal-Banging Monkey: When night falls on Sunnyside Daycare, he sits at the front desk, watching all the surveillance screens. If a toy tries to escape, he turns on the center's P.A. system and screeches into it while banging his cymbals. Lotso and crew are on top of the poor toy in moments.
 * May be a Shout-Out to a Stephen King's The Monkey, or Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders, the infamous film featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 partially based upon it (a 1984 horror film called The Devil's Gift blatantly plagiarized King's short story was edited into Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders). The monkey looks just like the design from the cover of Skeleton Crew, the collection that contains it.
 * Darker and Edgier: Massively so when compared to Toy Story 1 and 2 (not to mention most other Pixar films in general).
 * Dark Reprise: Of 'You've Got a Friend In Me' at the beginning of the film. Just to clarify, the song ends at the line 'Our friendship will never die!' The background music stops, and we just hear 'never die' echo over and over.
 * Dance Party Ending: Stay for the credits. Set to a Spanish version of "You Got A Friend In Me." The choreography was done by Dancing With the Stars contestants.
 * Dance of Romance: When Buzz is in Spanish mode, he makes the move on Jessie with a dance. And they do it again in his normal form in the credits.
 * The Dandy: Ken
 * Demoted To Extra: Slinky. He is a supporting character in this movie and his only real standout scene is helping Woody defeat the Cymbal-Banging Monkey, as well as briefly jumping across the trash chute to the dumpster before being thwarted by Lotso.
 * Den of Iniquity: A humorous example with the 'bad' toys hanging around in a vending machine, betting with Monopoly money and triple A batteries. They use a "Speak-And-Say" toy instead of a roulette table.
 * Deus Ex Machina: THE CLAAAAAW! A literal example, as the DVD commentary points out.
 * Diabolus Ex Machina: Since it's considered a Deus Ex Machina in both Toy Story 1 and 2, the Pizza Planet Truck could definitely be considered this in Toy Story 3, since it is responsible for transporting Lotso to Sunnyside.
 * Dialogue Reversal: "You have saved our lives. We are eternally grateful."
 * Director Cameo: The Jack-in-the-Box who yells "new toys!" is voiced by director Lee Unkrich.
 * The Dog Bites Back: Big Baby to Lotso.
 * The Dragon: Big Baby. Heel Face Turns in the end.
 * Dropped a Bridge on Him: A great number of the toys have been sold, broken or lost in the time period between 2 and 3 making for a Darker and Edgier feel. Especially saddening is the absence of Bo Peep, Woody's love interest- when she is mentioned, Woody looks utterly miserable.
 * The Dulcinea Effect: Happens to "Spanish Buzz" once he sees Jessie.
 * It seems Buzz is naturally attracted to Jessie, as indicated by Brainwashed Buzz's claim that he is "immune to your... bewitching good looks."
 * Dumb Blonde: Barbie appears to be this at first, but later says two lines to Lotso that totally avert it.

"Hamm: (to Rex, while in cell, to distract Buzz) Hey! What're you doing?! (covers his cork) Keep your hands off my stuff! Rex: Ohhhh, come over here, Porky!"
 * Well, she was President once...
 * Don't forget she single-handedly subdued Ken, tore a confession out of him, then got the Buzz Lightyear instruction manual from Bookworm all via improvisation.
 * Barbie is very much a Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass in this movie.
 * Early-Bird Cameo: Bonnie's toys (minus Totoro and Chuckles) appeared in the Toy Story Midway Mania ride at least a month before the movie premiered.
 * Eureka Moment: When the toys are in the trash bag, Mr. Potato Head says "What's the point?" Buzz sees Rex's tail poking the bag and says "Point... point... point!" and realizes they can use Rex's tail to puncture the bag.
 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Big Baby regards his previous owner Daisy as his mom. You really shouldn't have broken that tag, Lotso...
 * Everyone Can See It: Buzz and Jessie. Well, everybody can see Buzz likes her. He even admits it twice. Too bad he is in demo and Spanish mode at the times.
 * Everyone Owns a Mac: There's an iMac at Bonnie's house. Andy owns a laptop that looks like a Titanium iBook. And his sister has an iPod nano.
 * Well, Steve had shares in Disney, so...
 * Pixar even points it out that he was an important reason the original Toy Story could even get out.
 * Everything Makes a Mushroom: The "Death By Monkeys" bomb set off by "Evil Dr. Porkchop" in Andy's playtime imagination in the beginning.
 * Everything's Better with Monkeys: Hilariously subverted with the cameo of the barrel monkeys in the opening, horrifyingly subverted with the monkey toy from Sunnyside.
 * Everything's Better with Sparkles: Barbie and Ken, of course, and also Stretch the octopus.
 * Everything's Worse with Bears: Lotso Bear plays this straight.
 * Everything Sounds Sexier in Spanish
 * Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Lotso cannot fathom Ken's loyalty to Barbie or Woody and Buzz's loyalty to their friends
 * Evil Counterpart: Lotso's resentment over being replaced and his extremely possessive feelings toward his owner (if he can't have her, no one can), mirror Woody's character arc in the first movie. Like Woody, he also becomes a leader of a "family" of toys, only kept in line through threats and bullying instead of friendship and love. Whereas Woody decides he wants what's best for Andy, Lotso has grown to hate children for their constant destruction and abandonment of toys. Like Woody, he also faced the prospect of being replaced (Lotso with a replacement Lotso, Woody with Buzz), but where Woody eventually found an accord with Buzz, Lotso sank into bitterness and maliciously took his rejection out on the world around him.
 * Face Death with Dignity: Andy's toys. Sure, they get out of it, but... come on, it counts.
 * Face Heel Turn: Demo Buzz. He gets better.
 * Face Palm: Andy
 * The Farmer and the Viper: For a moment, it looked like saving Lotso would pay off. No such luck.
 * Fake-Out Opening
 * Fate Worse Than Death: Lotso ends up crucified to the front of a dumpster truck working the landfill, implying he will be stuck that way for the rest of his existence. Even if he frees himself, he's still in that landfill with no way of getting back to 'his' daycare.
 * First Girl Wins: The first toy we see Andy playing with at the start of the first film was Woody.
 * Subverted at the end
 * Five-Bad Band:
 * Big Bad: Lotso.
 * The Dragon: Big Baby. Ken may also count.
 * The Brute: Twitch, Chunk, Sparks, and Stretch.
 * The Evil Genius: The Monkey and Bookworm.
 * The Dark Chick: Ken. May also be Co-Dragons with Big Baby.
 * Sixth Ranger: Demo-mode Buzz.
 * 555: Andy's cell phone number is 555-0112, written on Buzz's wrist for use in "Operation: Playtime".
 * Foreshadowing: When we first see Lotso, he's riding in the back of a toy dump truck -- and he's seen doing this several more times in the film. Lotso later causes the toys to get trapped inside a dump truck during the climax. His ultimate fate is to be tied to the front of a dump truck for the rest of his days.
 * Buzz says to one of the toys "Buzz Lightyear at your service" as a greeting. Guess what happens later?
 * "Death by monkeys?"
 * In the playtime scene, Buzz, Woody and Jessie being trapped and closing their eyes for the inevitable end.
 * Stinky Pete had warned and raved that if they continued on with Andy, the toys might end up at the landfill... Like that'll ever happen!
 * At the poker night, the veteran toys predict the new toys (Andy's) are headed for the "landfill," and are "toddler fodder." Obviously, the former proved correct, and you could interpret the latter as the toys eventually joining Bonnie.
 * Freeze-Frame Bonus: The usual A113 reference is on the license plate of Andy's mom's car, a Continuity Nod from the first movie. For others, see Call Back.
 * Freudian Excuse: Lotso was lost and replaced by his original owner. When Lotso discovered this, it made him believe that he hadn't been special to her and that the love between him and her hadn't been real. Thus (in his mind), all the love between kids and their toys isn't real. To him love is for suckers because for toys it eventually leads to abandonment and being thrown away.
 * Furry Confusion: Buttercup talks and Bullseye doesn't? Lee Unkrich acknowledged this on his Twitter account, saying "Goofy can talk, but Pluto cannot. Discuss."
 * Simple: Pluto and Bullseye are directly based on real animals (a horse and a dog). Buttercup and Goofy are a mythological creature and an anthro respectively.
 * Or maybe toys' ability to speak depends on if they could on their show. Bullseye couldn't talk on Woody's Roundup, so his toy can't talk. Buttercup, however, had no show, allowing him to talk. This would explain Totoro's silence as well.
 * Genius Ditz: Aside from her various awesomeness, Barbie gives a rather verbose and sophisticated critique of dictatorships, which weirds everyone else out. People might be forgetting that there's been a few President Barbie dolls over the years, so of course she'd know political science topics.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar:
 * Pixar sure is ballsy:

"Mr. Potato Head: It was cold and dark! Nothing but sand and a couple of Lincoln Logs. Hamm: Ehh, I don't think those were Lincoln Logs.."
 * Particularly disturbing, considering it might be a sly reference to another movie with Ned Beatty...
 * After being thrown in the box:

"Dolly: (after Woody tells her his name) You sure you wanna stick with that?"
 * When Woody meets Bonnie's toys:

"Nice ascot."
 * Barbie says this to Ken:

"Woody: "I don't think that's daylight...""
 * "Have fun at college, Woody!" "Yeah, but not too much fun!"
 * Apparently Chatter Telephone was tortured.
 * "I'm not a girls' toy! I'm not!"
 * A God Am I: In the first movie the aliens all worshiped the claw. By the third movie, they control the claw. And have become their own god, which is only fitting. See Deus Ex Machina below.
 * Golem: Chunk.
 * Goofy Print Underwear: Ken wears boxers with little hearts on them.
 * Gosh Dang It to Heck: "What the heck?"
 * Gratuitous Spanish: Buzz, after a partially failed reset attempt puts him into Spanish mode.
 * Gray Rain of Depression: The moment Lotso discovers Daisy has replaced him it starts to rain.
 * Great Escape: The entire plot.
 * The movie (not counting the credits) is about 90 minutes long. The escape scene itself takes up 30 minutes.
 * One of the posters for the movie included the tag line, "The Break-Out Comedy of the Year".
 * In Italy, its subtitle is "The Great Escape".
 * Green-Eyed Monster: Spanish-mode Buzz, after seeing Jessie hug Woody, becomes pretty jealous of him, and tries (successfully) to one-up him later.
 * Immediately followed by a great aversion. Having been so thoroughly upstaged, Woody cheers on his buddy's awesome stunt, showing just how far he's come from the jealously insecure toy of the first movie.
 * Gretzky Has the Ball: I don't care how many spaces you have, that is not how you play roulette. Players bet against the house, not each other.
 * Who says they're playing roulette?
 * Grumpy Bear: Taken to the extreme with Lotso, although he hides it behind a pleasant facade.
 * The Guards Must Be Crazy/Talking Your Way Out: Barbie and Ken prove the need for the Evil Overlord List's warning to never have captives of one sex guarded by members of the opposite sex.
 * That rule and this trope are averted by Demo Mode Buzz, who, though placed in charge of guarding Jessie, refuses to listen to her pleas of "Buzz, we're your friends" and tells her that he will not be swayed by her "bewitching good looks."
 * Then again, Demo Mode Buzz does fall for Hamm and Rex's "let's stage a fight so we can distract the guard" ploy, so maybe he isn't the sharpest knife in the... place where... they keep the knives.
 * Happily Married: Barbie and Ken after they make up to each other and Lotso is gone from the Daycare. They become the new rulers of a much happier Sunnyside Daycare since Barbie objects to dictatorships and prefers democracy and Ken believes "everyone is groovy." They even adopt Big Baby as their "child"!
 * Hannibal Lecture: Lotso gives one in the middle of a Villainous Breakdown. It comes with a Shut UP, Hannibal.
 * Held Gaze: One happens between Buzz and Woody after Woody is climbing back up through the trash and sees the others holding each other to give one another strength. Buzz meets his eyes and then extends his hand and then they hold the scene for a moment before Woody reaches out to grasp Buzz's hand and join the others.
 * Heel Face Turn/Love Redeems: Ken. And Big Baby.
 * Lotso subverts it; while he pleads for help and plays nice while the heat is on, at the decisive moment he abandons his saviors and escapes.
 * In a very, very abstract sense, the Claw. In the first film, since it was Sid who was controlling it, the Claw seemed much more menacing as it brought both Woody and Buzz to the danger zone, being Sid's House. However, in Toy Story 3 since it's the aliens who are controlling it, it actually saves the toys from danger, being the incinerator.
 * He Is All Grown Up: Andy
 * Also in his cameo, Sid.
 * Heroic BSOD: "What do you mean, escape?"
 * Hey, Wait!: When Barbie masquerades as Ken (in his face-obscuring "Mission to Mars" spacesuit) to get back Buzz's instruction manual, the Bookworm notices her high heels as she turns away... then rolls his eyes and sighs at "Ken's" effeminate fashion sense.
 * Hidden Depths: Barbie, she has them. Yes, this Barbie.
 * Hold Me: Done wordlessly as the toys all slowly fall toward certain doom. In the face of annihilation, they don't scream or shout, they just hold each other.
 * Hope Spot: The toys are on the Conveyor Belt of Doom, when Rex spots a light in the tunnel.

"Lotso: She replaced us! Woody: She replaced you! And if you couldn't have her, no one could!"
 * And it all goes downhill from here.
 * Hot Mom: Andy's mom, who even though it's almost a decade later looks better than she did in the previous two movies!
 * Humans Are Cthulhu: The kids on Caterpillar Room. Or did everyone miss one of them trying to swallow Buzz, while the others treated the rest just like the Eldritch Abominations in Lovecraft's stories treat humanity?! The only thing needed to turn Toy Story 3 into Lovecraft-Kids Version was them going mad from the revelation. Cue to
 * Hypocritical Humor: Chunk's remark that Buzz "ain't the sharpest knife in the... place where... they keep the knives."
 * One of the other toys immediately calls him out on this. "Neither are you."
 * Taken Up to Eleven when Hamm is playing Lotso's Theme while he's in jail with the others, when Buzz tells him to be quiet.
 * If I Can't Have You: Woody says this almost word-for-word as a Shut UP, Hannibal to Lotso:

"Buzz: Hold on. This is no time to be hysterical. Mr. Potato Head: This is the perfect time to be hysterical. Rex: (hysterically) Should we be HYSTERICAL?!? Slinky: No! Mr. Potato Head: Yes! Buzz: Maybe! But not right now!"
 * Implicit Prison: Sunnyside Daycare, in that toys donated there are locked up, required to stay, and security is tight to deter inmates from escaping.
 * Intergenerational Friendship: Andy and Bonnie
 * Ironic Hell: "Face it, we're just trash", Lotso says at one point -- and his ultimate fate is to spend his remaining days tied to the grill of a garbage truck.
 * It Is Pronounced Yid-NAY.
 * It's All Junk: Arguably, Andy putting his toys in the attic.
 * I Want Grandkids: Keeping with the toys-as-parents metaphor, Woody is initially optimistic about waiting in the attic until "someday, if we're lucky, Andy may have kids of his own."
 * Jerkass: Lotso.
 * Jump Scare: Woody causes a particularly traumatizing one when he tries to swing over behind the monkey.
 * It may seem like the monkey's Oh Crap moment.
 * Regardless, given everything else that happens in the movie, this is the one scene where you're bound to hear the kids in the audience start crying.
 * Kick the Dog: Lotso's henchmen are shocked when he shoves Big Baby in the stomach during his Motive Rant.
 * Kubrick Stare: In the commentary, Lee Unkrich describes using this expression for Buzz while in demo mode to indicate that this particular trip to Delusion-ville would have a darker turn.
 * Latin Lover: Buzz Lightyear's Spanish mode.
 * Which is kind of funny for Spanish-speakers because he's speaking it with a heavy Spanish (i.e. from Spain) accent.
 * In the Spanish (from Spain) dubbing, he speaks with a heavy Andalusian accent.
 * Light Is Not Good: Oh look, a light at the end of the tunnel at the dumping site. Oh, wait, it's Hellfire!
 * Living Emotional Crutch Daisy might have been this to Lotso, seeing how badly he handled being replaced by her.
 * The Load: One could interpret the LGMs in this role, as they pretty much exist either as superlatives or hindrances to the toys escaping from Sunnyside. From almost alerting Big Baby to getting stuck in the dumpster and (indirectly) causing the toys to get sent to the dump, they're neglected characters until they become Big Damn Heroes in their Crowning Moment of Awesome.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters: A poster for TS3 as well as the Toy Story website (character profiles) shows this.
 * Lost in Translation: Nice asssss...cot.
 * Love At First Sight: Ken and Barbie, Spanish Buzz with regard to Jessie.
 * Love Makes You Evil: Lotso's backstory.
 * Love Redeems: Played with for Buzz, Buzz rejoins the team because of being physically reset by Rex. However, Kens love for Barbia was key to getting the instruction manual. Buzz did eventually get back to his regular self through his love for Jessie, the television hit Buzz, giving him reverse amnesia, because he was more worried about Jessie's safety than his own.
 * Madden Into Misanthropy: Lotso.
 * Manly Tears: You must have a heart of steel NOT to cry leaving the movie theater.
 * Melancholy Moon: Both Big Baby and Chuckles gaze sadly at the moon. Fitting considering they both lost the same owner.
 * The Mentor: Dolly of Bonnie's toys.
 * Missing Trailer Scene: Compared to the Oct. 2009 trailer, a few lines were re-spoken in the final film, and Spanish Buzz doesn't spin around and jump immediately after pressing a button to make his voice box say a line. A few shots were done in different angles as well.
 * Mood Whiplash: Perhaps the first Toy Story 3 trailer uses this. It starts out sentimental, the middle is semi-serious, and then it ends with humor.
 * In a trailer, how a very heartfelt scene where Andy is praising Woody is suddenly cut short with Woody hearing a threatening voice from a telephone.
 * In the movie, the toys have joined hands, accepting that they are about to die a terrible, painful death, burning (or melting?) alive in a fiery pit of- ahahahaha, THE CLAW! WOOOO!
 * This scene really takes the cake for this trope: Any time where a scene from Bonnie's playtime is interspersed from scenes with the daycare. Examples: The Toys being utterly destroyed while Woody is having a nice tea time with Bonnie; Bonnie asleep and Woody looks up Andy's address while Buzz is being brutally deprogrammed by Lotso. Jeez, are we supposed to be heartfelt or seriously freaked out?
 * Happens unintentionally when Woody meets Chuckles. The mood was serious and sombre (Woody finding out his friends are living in a nightmare), and then the audience saw this morose little clown sitting on the windowsill and everybody cracked up.
 * The ending is kind of like this. It's very much a Bittersweet Ending, followed by a breather in the thankfully very cheerful closing credits.
 * Motive Rant: Lotso gets one just before he throws the toys into the dumpster.
 * Murder by Cremation
 * Musical Nod: During the scene leading up to the incinerator, one of the themes from Monsters, Inc. is heard.
 * Musical Spoiler: And as the years go by / Our friendship will never die...
 * Although at the point where that line is emphasized (The end of the prologue) it seems more like a tragic irony, contrasting youthful idealism with the onset of adulthood, one of the film's main themes.
 * Never Trust a Trailer: Most of the trailers and TV spots heavily imply that Buzz gets broken while trying to escape from hitting a window or wall too hard. Never happened. That was a shot of him getting used as a hammer on a wooden hammer-peg playset thrown WAY out of context.
 * A trailer implied that the telephone toy was one of the baddies. And the whole Andy's toy fantasy at the beginning of the flick looked like it would be the climax of the flick.
 * One of the trailers, in fact, shows Buzz attacking the bridge followed by Woody and the train falling into the canyon. Coupled with Rex emerging from the ground and Woody being pursued by plastic monkeys (both present in most trailers), it totally looks like Woody's having a nightmare where every other toy is trying to kill him.
 * Nietzsche Wannabe: Lotso comes off as a bit of one when saying how toys "are all just trash" in his Motive Rant.
 * Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Again, hello, MONKEY.
 * Ninja Pirate Train Robber: Mrs. Potato Head
 * Non-Ironic Clown: Chuckles the clown doll, who shared the same former owner as Lotso Bear and Big Baby, turns out to be the only one of the three toys not to turn villainous from the incident of being accidentally abandoned by their former owner. In a flashback he even tries to console Lotso Bear, but Lotso bear ignores him and turns evil. In the present, Chuckles is a Stoic Woobie despite being one of Bonnie's beloved toys. But by the end credits, he begins to smile again.
 * Non-Standard Character Design: The toys have a lot of variety in their looks, but Ken and Barbie are noticably less cartoonish than most of them.
 * Not So Different: Lotso's devotion to Daisy and his determination to get himself, Big Baby, and Chuckles back to her (as revealed in the flashback) is certainly reminiscent of Woody's love for Andy and his determination to get back home in all three movies. Additionally, Lotso at the beginning comes off as a benevolent ruler of Sunnyside much in the way that Woody basically is the leader of all of Andy's toys. Lotso basically is Woody gone bad. Not stated directly in the movie but Lee Unkrich points this out in the DVD commentary.
 * The Old Convict: Chatter Telephone has been at Sunnyside Daycare Center even before Lotso Bear took it over. To help Woody and his friends escape the daycare center, Chatter Telephone detailedly describes the layout of the daycare center and warns Woody that the only way for a toy to escape is to neutralize the Cymbal Monkey's surveillance system.
 * The Other Darrin: Slinky Dog, who was voiced by the late Jim "Ernest" Varney in the first two films, is voiced by Blake Clark (a friend of his, who was also Shawn's father in Boy Meets World) in Toy Story 3 due to Author Existence Failure.
 * In the game, Buzz and Woody are both voiced by Jim Hanks and Stephen Stanton, respectively. Wheezy and Stinky Pete also makes an appearance, but are instead voiced by Charlie Adler and James Patrick Stuart, although the former is also due to Author Existence Failure.
 * Oscar Bait: Pixar has decided to aim for a Best Picture nom, which includes running an ad campaign that make homages to previous winners e.g. Lotso as The Godfather and Woody as Forrest Gump.
 * Our Hero Is Dead: Woody loses his hat during his escape, which is taken to the trapped toys as a threat. Jessie and Bullseye have a split-second tear-jerking moment.
 * Outdated Outfit: Ken has a roomfull of them, dating from the late 50s to the early 80s.
 * Palantir Ploy: Let's just say Lex Luthor should have hired whoever installed Sunnyside Daycare's surveillance system.
 * Pan-Up-To-The-Sky Ending: An epic storybook ending, really.
 * Percussive Maintenance: It takes a TV falling on top of Buzz to get him returned to his normal self.
 * Also counts as Easy Amnesia.
 * Perspective Reversal: Earlier on, Woody and Buzz try to encourage the rest of the toys to get ready to go into the attic. Towards the end of the movie, Woody is more skeptical of the attic idea, while the rest of the toys are more open to it; though Buzz's attitude seems relatively unchanged.
 * The Power of Love: The scene where as seen above where Spanish Buzz was saving Jessie from the garbage, and gets hit with the tv and comes back to being normal Buzz by Jessie pulling him to the side of the truck crying in his chest.
 * Prison Episode: Toy Story 3 itself, or at least a significant portion of it, arguably counts what with being portrayed as essentially a prison. Bonus points for the shock value of having a prison episode in a G-rated Pixar series.
 * Punch Clock Villain: Lotso's minions are mainly following his orders because they're scared of him. Once Lotso is deposed from Sunnyside, they perform a mass Heel Face Turn.
 * Punishment Box: the sandbox at Sunnyside. Modeled after the box in Cool Hand Luke.
 * Put on a Bus: It's established that Bo Peep, Wheezy, Lenny, RC, and many of Andy's other childhood toys have been sold or given away. This is an interesting variation of the trope in that it would be very hard for any of them to ever come back.
 * Record Needle Scratch: Ken and Barbie are just meeting each other. "Dream Weaver" is playing, and then Lotso comes in [insert scratch] and says "Come on, Ken. Recess don't last forever."
 * Reset Button: Woody and the gang make it back to Andy's house with no toy left behind.
 * Played figuratively and literally with Buzz Lightyear, even though it's a falling television rather than his reset button that restores his memory.
 * Romantic False Lead: Spanish Buzz briefly viewed Woody as this when he sees Jessie hugging him.
 * Sad Clown: Literally, Chuckles.
 * Sadistic Choice: In the opening with Sheriff Woody and One-Eyed Bart (Mr. Potato Head.) One-Eyed Bart sets off some dynamite. "It's me or the kiddies, sheriff. Take your pick."
 * Save the Villain: Yeah, it doesn't go over too well.
 * Still deserves a Moment of Awesome, since both Woody and Buzz risk their lives in the process.
 * Scary Librarian: Bookworm
 * Scenery Gorn: The dump, the conveyor belt and finally the incinerator.
 * Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The last three Army Men (including Sarge) leave Andy's room in a hurry, knowing their fate will inevitably be the garbage.
 * Seductive Spy: Barbie
 * Shoo Out the Clowns: The Little Green Men being taken out (and apparently killed) early in the dump sequence. When they return, they save the day and things get much lighter and fluffier.
 * Also done with Barbie, when Ken keeps her from joining the others on the garbage truck.
 * Shout-Out: Bonnie has a Totoro doll.
 * Bonnie's Dolly, with her dark purple bob, hair barrettes, and yellow dress, looks strikingly similar to Coraline. Not to mention, whenever Bonnie plays with Dolly, Dolly is always the "witch"; a possible reference to the Other Mother??
 * And Dolly has buttons on her dress.
 * Bonnie's lamp looks similar to Coraline's as well, with its constant slow spinning, and shining stars all over the place. Even the color matches.
 * Really? Dolly always reminded me more of Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. She's a misfit ragdoll, wearing an obviously badly made outfit made from mismatched parts, but she still has a very sweet heart. Plus, if buttons on her dress=Coraline, then more than half of Dolly's name is a Shout-Out to Sally.
 * It's possible she's based directly on the old Dolly Dress-up toy (hence the buttons, ect.) She may even be a handmade version.
 * She could just as easily be Molly Coddle from Bump in the Night. There are similarities to quite a few characters there -- take your pick...
 * Bonnie wearing a tutu at the end, might be a shout out to the original Brave Little Toaster where the appliances are adopted by a Ballerina at the end of the story.
 * The bee on Bonnie's backpack is Wally B. from the very first Pixar short, "The Adventures of Andre and Wally B."
 * The scene where brainwashed and re-programmed Buzz is bossing around all the toys being held captive at Sunnyside Daycare is a clear reference to Cool Hand Luke. The film has a scene where any infraction (losing a spoon, wearing dirty pants, messing up laundry cycle) is punished with "A night in the box." The toys meet the same fate, except in this case "the box" is filled with sand. Befitting for a Great Escape movie.
 * Ken mentions macho rival G.I. Joe.
 * Mr. Potato Head's temporary cucumber body may be a reference to Family Guy's Mr. Zucchini Head.
 * Or, far more likely, one of the cast of Veggie Tales.
 * When Big Baby threw Lotso into the dumpster was anyone else reminded of Darth Vader killing Palpatine?
 * Was anyone not?
 * Big Baby might also be a shout out to the baby from "Tin Toy"... scary movements and all!
 * Woody being dragged into the dumpster by Lotso is a shout-out to Hudson's death in Aliens.
 * "Fly, you fools!"
 * Much of the film takes its inspiration from The Brave Little Toaster, which had many future Pixar employees working on it, including John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, and others. It even had the usual A113 moniker in it.
 * Mr. Potato Head: "And I would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling toys!"
 * The departure of the soldiers resembles how the baby spiders left at the end of Charlotte's Web.
 * The Cymbal-Banging Monkey, is based off of the Stephen King story "The Monkey".
 * And remember to believe in magic... or he'll kill you...
 * Barbie and Ken's outfits during the dance sequence at the end is a reference to Saturday Night Fever.
 * Lotso Huggin' Bear himself is a Shout-Out. Between the name, nature, appearance, and the Viral Commercial for the toy, he's obviously meant to be one of the Care Bears gone horribly, horribly wrong.
 * And he's paraphrasing a quote from The Bridge on the River Kwai.
 * In the "Art Of Toy Story 3" book he's clearly a Care Bear, baby face and eyelashes and all, which makes his grim, rain-soaked Start of Darkness look more disturbing.
 * A tower with a klieg that searches the playground. Doesn't ring a bell.
 * Rex being overwhelmed by the flood of monkeys in the intro is reminiscent of a background event in the Battle of Pelennor Fields, where the Dead Men overwhelm and devour an Oliphaunt.
 * Mission: Impossible!
 * This may just be reading WAAAAAAAY too much into the scene, but one of the scenes with Ken wearing a white gi, similar to a certain someone...
 * In the opening scene, when Woody and Mrs. Potato Head are fighting atop a moving train, Woody lands with his heels over the edge of the end of the train, tries to regain his balance but falls backwards, and then lands safely on his horse ridden by his female friend. Replace "train" with "truck", "horse" with "car" and "Mrs. Potato Head" with "Agent", and you get what happened to Morpheus in The Matrix Reloaded.
 * Woody reveals that Andy lives at 234 Elm Street. No wonder Sid was a psycho...
 * Shown Their Work: All of Ken's outfits are actual outfits released for the doll over the years.
 * For the record, Ken himself isn't based on the infamous Earring Magic Ken. He's an Animal-Loving Ken...
 * Buzz and Jessie's paso doble over the end credits was choreographed by Dancing With the Stars veterans Tony Dovolani and Cheryl Burke.
 * Shrinking Violet: Bonnie. Her toys and later Andy are pretty much the only people she opens up to.''
 * Shut UP, Hannibal: Woody gives Lotso pointing out how he's motivated partially by selfishness.
 * Sickeningly Sweethearts: Ken and Barbie ("I..." "...love..." "...you!" "See? That time I said love!")
 * Silence, You Fool: Demo Mode Buzz says this to Jessie when he captured the toys.
 * Smarter Than You Look: The Squeeze Toy Aliens. For all their times yelling "Ooohh!!!" and "The Claw" it turns out they are actually fairly intelligent. Not only can they learn how to operate heavy machinery within a matter of minutes, find and locate a small group of toys within an entire trash compound, but they actually do know that the "Claw" has to be manually controlled and is not self-choosing.
 * Also Barbie -- political philosophy out of nowhere!
 * Well, not completely out of nowhere...
 * Sorry I Left the BGM On: After the toys are locked in jail, the harmonica in the background turns out to be Hamm playing.
 * Split Personality: Buzz's "Spanish Mode", activated by pressing a reset button hidden in his back for more than five seconds, could be an example of this.
 * Start of Darkness: Chuckles the Clown's flashback segment outlines exactly why Lotso turns out to be the cruel despot of Sunnyside.
 * Stealth Pun: MR. PITA head anyone?
 * The preschooler believed to be Boo is playing with a blue "Kitty."
 * Stepford Smiler: Lotso bear turns out to be Type C, as he is the film's villain.
 * Chatter Telephone. His "mouth" sticker is in a constant smile, despite the fact that he is shown to be a very depressed toy.
 * That's what was so different about him in that scene! Part of what the toys did to make him talk was ripping off his mouth sticker!
 * The Stool Pigeon: Chatter Telephone is of the Lacerated Larry type: he truly did want Andy's toys to escape. Lotso and his mob just ruthlessly beat the information out of him.
 * Suddenly Shouting: "He was putting you IN THE ATTIC!"
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial: Brainwashed Buzz is immune to Jessie's "bewitching good looks."
 * Team Parents: Barbie and Ken to the toys of Sunnyside in the epilogue.
 * Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Subverted by Buttercup, who by all appearances should be female, but Jeff Garlin's voice is about as masculine as you can get.
 * Third Is 3D
 * This Is Gonna Suck: A nonverbal instance of this, started when the toys in the Caterpillar Room hide when recess ends, but cemented when Buzz flips his helmet up as the kids burst into the room.
 * This Is No Time to Panic: Could also be seen as a Call Back to the first film.

"Spanish Buzz: ¿Que vá alli? ¿AMIGOS? ¿O ENEMIGOS? Woody: Uh, Amigos! We're all amigos!"
 * Three Amigos: Woody, Jessie and Buzz in young Andy's playtime imagination.

"Mr. Potato Head: You would not believe what I've been through tonight!"
 * Time Skip: Essentially. None of the movies are sequential but Andy is still a boy in Toy Story 2 (maybe an early "tween", but that's it) and a young man about to depart for college in the third. Meant to reflect the long distance of time between 3 and its predecessors.
 * Together in Death: Expected in-universe but narrowly averted.
 * "The most important thing is that we stick together. No matter what happens, we stick together."
 * Too Dumb to Live: The LG Ms are dumped in a landfill and the first thing they do is run towards what looks like the claw. Immediately they get swept up with the garbage..
 * Town with a Dark Secret: Sunnyside is a Daycare Center with a Dark Secret (the Caterpillar room).
 * Trailers Always Spoil: If really was supposed to be a comedic twist, it was sure spoiled well ahead of time in many of the previews.
 * One TV spot even showed a clip of the epilogue, loosely spoiling . That scene of, instead, likely would've worked just fine.
 * Translated Cover Version: The movie ends with the Gipsy Kings performing a Spanish-language cover of "You've Got a Friend in Me".
 * True Companions: If the scene in the incinerator where Andy's toys hold hands to be together in their final moments isn't a great demonstration of this, then what is?
 * Earlier in the film Buzz refuses to join Lotso and the older toys in the more pleasant Butterfly Room if the rest of his friends can't join him... though, less heartwarmingly, Lotso and the other toys just pop open Buzz's battery case and reset him instead.
 * Buzz even says that he and the rest of Andy's toys are "a family."
 * And at the end of the film Woody decides not to go to college with Andy; he decides to join his friends with Bonnie as their new owner instead.
 * Underside Ride
 * Ungrateful Bastard: Lotso.
 * Used to Be a Sweet Toy: Lotso, according to Chuckles.
 * Villainous Breakdown: Lotso is cheerfully calm until Woody mentions . After that, he slowly becomes less charming and more furious until he goes too far and pushes 's Berserk Button.
 * Viral Marketing: There was a Lotso toy in the 80s?
 * For more viral effectiveness on the marketing's part, take a look at the videos of the English commercial's uploader.
 * Not to mention the three ads they made aimed at college-age kids.
 * Ken's Dating Tips!
 * The Voiceless: Totoro can make growls and roaring sounds in his original appearance, but he's completely silent in this movie.
 * We Can Rule Together: To Buzz and, to a lesser extent, Barbie.
 * To their credit, the bad guys make an effort to be as nice as possible while doing this. You don't even realize that Lotso is a villain until Buzz rejects his offer.
 * Wham! Line: When Slink reveals that
 * Two more in rapid succession: "I don't think that's daylight..." and
 * Earlier:.
 * Whip It Good: Woody in the intro.
 * Wimp Fight: Between Hamm and Rex during the escape plan. Understandable since only one of them actually has arms.
 * Women Prefer Strong Men: Played for laughs [[media:prefermuscle_2893.jpg|when Mrs. Potato head meets Twitch]].
 * You Wouldn't Believe Me If I Told You: When Mr. Potato Head walks up to the group with a cucumber for a body.