"So Long...Pardner..."

And with that line, one of the best movies I have ever seen was summed up in such a way that if you did not tear up just a little, you may not be actually human inside. Do Not watch the clip above unless you have seen the movie as I do not want to ruin what may be a defining moment in your life. Yes, I was that moved by it all.

Toy Story 3 is actually being hailed as a possible Best Picture Oscar winner and deservedly so. I can't believe it's been eleven years since TS2. TS3 does a very good job of filling in the gaps since then which is not an easy thing to do. But here is why it moved me so...

***SPOILER ALERT***

The whole movie was just so well put together and voiced, and only Pixar could make
3-D rendered models of toys look so life-like ot the point that when they laugh, we laugh, when they cry, we cry. If you haven't sene it yet, and judging by the billions of dollars this movie has made, should be physically impossible, Andy is now 17 years old. Emmy actually argued with me that he was 17 as I kept saying he was 18. How on Earth did she know that? Freak of nature she is. Anyways...he still has all of his toys since he was a kid but he must now make up his mind if he wants to put themin the attic, throw them out, or take them with him to college. He decides to keep Woody and store the rest in the attic. Well, the bag everyone is in ends up getting taken out for trash mistakenly, they hitch a ride to a daycare, actually get imprisoned in said daycare, but manage to break out and get a ride back home on a garbage truck. Yes, there is a LOT I left out because this post is not about being in-depth. As they get home, Woody climbs in the "college" box and the rest of the toys wish him well and get into the "attic" box. After thinking about what had happened over the last few days, he decides to join his friends in the attic box but not with the intention of being stored in the attic. He writes a note pretending to be Andy's mom asking him to donate everything to a 4-year old girl, Bonnie, who took care of him while he was at her house and treated all her toys great. So, Andy takes the box of toys to her house and one by one introduces them to her. Then...he gets to Woody. As he does not remember putting him in the box, he is surprised to see him in there. He initially holds onto it, but seeing as how Bonnie knows what he says when you pull his string ("There's a snake in my boots!"), he tells her that Woody is about the best friend anyone could ever have, and decides to give him to her, knowing Woody will be well-taken care of. The look...in Andy's eyes...as he gives Woody to Bonnie...if you can picture bittersweet, this is it. As Andy gets in his car he looks at Woody one last time, and it looks like Woody is waving goodbye. Andy says "Thanks buddy" and as he drives off, Woody says, sadly, "So long pardner...". That...that is the moment where a little piece of all of us gets lost forever.

I didn't have too many toys growing up I don't think. I used to think it was worth my time to cut out any funny picture I saw, say, on a cereal box or in the newspaper. Had a whole bag of them. Not that they're worth anything, but it would be cool to look back through them, like a trip through time. My Transformers were like my kids back in the 80's. To this day I really regret either selling them or taking them apart with a screwdriver or whatever numbskull things I did with them. Maybe that's why I have bought so many over the last four+ years and kept them unopened. A small way to remember the past and also to preserve it.

My mission in life was to not miss spending time with Zach and Emmy and to look back knowing I did everything I could to give them a great childhood. Looking back...part of me feels like I missed out...just a small part. The majority of me knows I rocked it. Knocked it out of the park. And I'm only half-done...