I’ve been hearing things about this movie since it was first released; things like, it gets under your skin, it’s emotionally powerful, and it will make you cry.  Well, it did.  And then some.

The film struck me in a way I didn’t expect.  Quite frankly, it deals with themes much deeper than a kid growing up.  The whole of the movie – and the final scene in particular – tackle the concepts of loss, separation and one’s own self worth.  For me, personally, it brought up issues of death and grief, the idea of never seeing someone you care about ever again.  It makes me wince to recall the images of the baby doll (“Big Baby”) left outside in the rain; walking away sadly, animated in a way that was so life-like, it seems too real.

The movie wrung me out, physically drained and emotionally exhausted.

It’s hard for me to judge at this point whether or not I actually liked the film.  I wasn’t as blown away as I expected to be – apart from the heart-twisting ending.  I had hoped that the villain would have been a bit more different from the Prospector of Toy Story 2.  I was aware going in that they didn’t “die” in the landfill, so the sequence in which they all are headed for the fiery furnace didn’t have much of an impact.  I did feel the use of 3D in this movie and it left me a little disappointed.  Even Pixar has succumbed to it, sadly.  Granted, it wasn’t nearly as bad as some other films have been.

I know that I should probably see it again, but I’m not entirely sure I can.  It hit very close to home and I’m not sure I want to be that emotionally raw or depressed again anytime soon.

Meanwhile, I  thought the Pixar short film before the movie, Night and Day, was absolutely fantastic.  One of their best.  I applaud it and it’s cleverness, of uniquely combing hand-drawn animation with the CG animation.  Brilliant.