Toy Story 3: Final Scene Breakdown

It was Pixar or True Detective for my second breakdown but I couldn’t think of what scene to tackle from Cary Fukunaga’s masterpiece (to date, he has lots to offer still).

The final scene from Toy Story 3 was an obvious choice. On first viewing it seems like an epilogue, a nice tag to a great film. But after taking a closer look, I’m convinced it is actually the moment when all the character’s complete their arcs. Either way it is a tear jerking scene that could have been staged in any way the animators wanted, yet the chose to keep it simple. There is a lesson (or many) to learn from this.

Shot 1: This sequence begins with Andy driving in his car. Is he just heading off to college?

Shot 2: Cut inside the car. Low angle with a familiar box in the foreground.

Shot 3: Andy’s car pulls into frame. The camera rises and dollies to Andy. This exact move is certainly possible in live action but there is a bit of an “animated” feeling to how it was done here.

Shot 4: Over Andy’s shoulder we see where he has driven to, the little girl’s house from earlier in the film.

Shot 5: His plan is clear now. We may have assumed this to be the case but this shot verifies it. He’s decided to donate his old toys. He quickly grabs the box and we cut in time to the next shot.

Shot 6: Andy pushes the door shut with his butt and walks out of frame. The camera dollies into another box sitting in his trunk. We should know Woody is in this one.

Shot 7: Woody’s POV of Andy carrying out the plan he set into motion.

Shot 8: Andy walks up to the gate. Slight tilt up to reframe, almost as if the animators are appealing to what we’re used to seeing in films. They aren’t looking to reinvent the wheel, just drive home a point. Andy looks down at the box, he’s about to second guess himself when he hears the voice of the little girl. He looks up.

Is this the point where he completes his arc in the film? Near the start of the film he complains that his younger sister is getting into his stuff and now he is getting ready to give it away?

Shot 9: Cut to a wide with the girl and her toys in the foreground. Andy out of focus behind her. I’m not sure why they didn’t cut to Andy’s POV or an OTS shot but this works great.

Shot 10: Tight on Andy. He’s impressed with how she plays with her toys. Maybe it reminds him of how he used to.

Shot 11: Now we cut to over Andy’s shoulder. The girl notices and calls for her mom. Maybe waiting to reveal her mom and dad in this frame was why it was saved.

Shot 12: Andy talks to the girl’s mom as he walks into the yard. The camera dollies back and pans to the right to reveal the mom and little girl hiding behind her.

Shots 13–18: Through a series of shots, Andy tells the little girl (Bonnie) that he has toys and he needs someone special to play with them. None of the shots are clean, we always see that Bonnie is using her mom as a shield. The only movement is a slight tilt down when Andy squats. Very simple.

Shot 19: Cut to a wide profile of the scene with a slight dolly forward. The girl is starting to loosen up and Andy knows.

Shot 20: Close on Andy as he reaches in the box and pan as he 7pulls out Jessie.

Shot 21: Over Jessie’s shoulder, we see Bonnie. She is curious if not tempted.

Shots 22–42: Pretty simple back and forth with a couple pans and little movements. Andy pulls out all his toys and introduces them to Bonnie.

It’s important to see that he still cares for his toys. 13 minutes into the movie he calls them “junk” and he says how much they mean to him. This is pretty much all the toys have wanted to hear.

Shot 43: Bonnie moves to the box of toys and says, “My cowboy!”

Shot 44: With a cool dolly/boom/jib move tilting down into the box, Woody is revealed to be at the bottom. He must have snuck in as we’ve seen the toys do throughout the series.

Shot 45: Andy wonders what Woody was doing the box as he puts his hat back on.

Shot 46: Cut back to a two shot. Bonnie says, “There’s a snake in my boot.” to show she really knows who Woody is.

Shot 47: OTS of Bonnie as she reaches for Woody. Andy pulls back.

Shot 48: OTS of Andy. Bonnie makes puppy dog eyes.

Shots 49–56: Andy makes the tough choice to let Woody go. He describes what a good friend Woody has been to him through a series of pretty basic (but effective) shots that build to close up on Woody. It then cuts back the two shot where he asks if Bonnie can take care of Woody for him.

Shot 57: The camera punches in to cover the hand off. I think this is done to not let the moment go by too lightly.

Shots 58 & 59 — Bonnie stares at Woody and then gives him a big hug. Not sure to call this a clean shot and count Woody as a prop or call it an OTS a treat him as a character. Andy watches on and knows he’s made the right choice.

Shots 60–69: A little montage of clips showing Andy and Bonnie playing with the toys. This scene wouldn’t have worked if Andy left without playing with the toys. That’s their purpose and now it is fulfilled.

Shot 70: In a wide shot over Bonnie’s shoulder, we see Andy go to his car, open the door and wave back to Bonnie and the toys. There is a slight push in with a rising camera. I should note somewhere here too that this whole scene seems to be “shot” with a deep focus. Probably simulating somewhere around f5.6 or f8 but there is also a simulated filter that lets the highlights glow. I think the deep focus keeps the animation feeling like it is based more in the real world while the blooming highlights add a dreamlike quality to it.

Shots 71 & 72: Bonnie stands up and waves back. Then the camera punches in and she makes Woody wave back too. Every shot in this segment is pushing in to emphasis the emotion.

Shot 73: Seeing Woody wave back evokes an emotion in Andy he wasn’t expecting. He tries to cover it up and gets in his car.

Shot 74: Wide of Andy getting into car and putting seatbelt on. The camera continues to move up and in.

Shot 75: Andy looks back it his toys.

Shot 76: Sort of a cheated angle of Andy’s POV. By cheated I mean it uses a “wide angle” look as opposed to a longer lens from his distance. Good to know you don’t need to follow the most logical rules but opt for the better looking shot. He looks at the group of his toys and then floats his eyes up to Buzz and Woody. The camera has an almost handheld feeling here. Maybe like it was on a tripod but with a really loose pan and tilt. I think this helps it feel more like Andy’s POV and less a rigid computer animation.

Shot 77: Slowly pushing in on Andy he says, “Thanks guys.”

Shot 78: Andy drives off clearing the frame. I love these sorts of shots.

Shot 79: Bonnie’s mom picks her up to go get lunch. They clear the frame (did I mention I love these sorts of shots) to see Andy driving away. The camera slowly booms to reveal the toys watching him leave.

Shot 80: The toys come to life because no one is around. At first we see the whole group watching Andy leave but then…

Shot 81: …we cut in to over Woody’s shoulder. This is really his story. The whole trilogy has been. He’s constantly struggled with being selfish and finally given it all up. It wasn’t what he wanted but it’s what he needed. Oddly enough, it mirrors Andy’s arc of letting Woody go.

Shot 82: The final shot in the movie. We start close in on Woody as he says, “So long, partner” to Andy. We pull back to see all the toys rallying behind him. There is a sense of loss but also a sense that this was the right thing to do. Woody jumps to his feet to start introducing the two groups of toys to each other. The very thing he had trouble with in the first Toy Story was the entrance of a new toy and now he’s the bridge between them all. He’s grown.

The camera jibs up and over the house to show perfect puffy clouds against a blue sky. The real life version of the wall paper from Andy’s room and a near identical recreation of the first shot from the first Toy Story. The trilogy is complete and book ended.