Luca is a charming movie in its broad accessibility, though one can't help but wonder if it would have been a little better had it been a little more specific. The other universal feeling Luca captures is the feeling that it would be really, really nice to visit the Italian coast, swim in crystal clear water, eat lots and lots of pasta, and cruise around on Vespa. Luca ventures onto dry land against his parents' wishes and makes new friends, ultimately finding acceptance and an idea of who he wants to be as a person (err, sea monster). The first is that exciting, sometimes challenging early adolescence phase when most kids first start realizing they can take agency over their own lives.
![youtube toy story 3 incinerator scene youtube toy story 3 incinerator scene](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MuBDHKim5VI/TFhirfD4l1I/AAAAAAAADJY/iosAB3TAD-4/s1600/Slinky+1.png)
![youtube toy story 3 incinerator scene youtube toy story 3 incinerator scene](http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/adesE9eVIV4/hqdefault.jpg)
Luca charmingly captures a very universal feeling - two universal feelings, really. (Toronto is cool but it’s no Monsters University, for example.) That gives Turning Red some extra power, especially seeing as the universality of the story comes in a very specific package as it’s heavily inspired by Chinese-Canadian director Domee Shi’s own upbringing in early ‘00s Toronto - with some added red pandas, of course. It’s one of the most grounded, relatable stories that Pixar has ever told, especially since the setting is comparatively mundane. She loves her friends, she loves boys, and she especially loves boy bands - understandably so, because 4-Town has some bops. Meilin’s panda problems are really just an extension of growing up, and she’s caught between the child she was and her mother’s overbearing (but well-intentioned) love and the exciting things she’s just on the precipice of. That gives the movie a fun hook and some nifty visuals (the pink puff of smoke when Meilin Lee transforms is a nice touch), but it’s really just an exciting metaphor on top of a very relatable story. Okay, yes, it does feature a family of women who turn into giant red pandas whenever they experience intense emotions, and it does end in a kaiju-sized action set piece. Turning Red might be the most “normal” Pixar movie. And, as an added bonus, Toy Story 4 introduced Forky, who in turn went on to star in Forky Asks a Question, the most incredible and delightfully deranged show on all of Disney+. In some ways, making that conscious leap is scarier than Toy Story 3's more reactive themes, and the fourth and final Toy Story movie rises to the challenge of bringing it to life. No longer the top toy in the box, Woody finds a new purpose when he reencounters Bo Peep in an unexpected place, ultimately saying goodbye to his friends because it's time for him to move on of his own volition, rather than because things have simply changed around him. The trick is that, while Toy Story 3 (and to a certain extent, the first two movies, too), are about how to move on when the world around you is changing in sometimes scary ways, Toy Story 4 is about Woody responding to a change in himself. Luckily, it doesn't - or at least, not that much. I love the movie a lot but man does that scene drag down the rest of the film for me.Toy Story 4 could have so easily cheapened Toy Story 3's touching ending. These toys have been through everything, so what did the incinerator scene add but a few tears in the audience? These are the toys that grabbed onto the wheel of a fucking plane to get home to their owner, but an incinerator is too much? Where's the struggle? Why the hell do they just give up? And what does it say that they get saved by the biggest cop-out, deus ex machina in recent film history.Īlso what did that moment do for the characters? Strengthen their bond? That was already strong when they escaped the daycare. I guess what bothers me so much about it is that it completely goes against the spirit of the toys from the other two films. With everyone slowly holding hands and just accepting death, it's so painfully forced. It's a great scene but from an entirely different movie. I feel that the incinerator scene is insulating because it manipulates the audience into crying even though it makes no sense.