Toy Story 3 and Act Structure

Not only does a closer examination of Toy Story 3 provide good insight into genre conventions, it is also a very good example of the act structure that Blake wrote about in Save the Cat! He described Act 1 as the thesis, Act 2 as the anti-thesis and Act 3 as the synthesis.

Act 1, the thesis, sets up what the story is about. In the case of Toy Story 3, it is about growing up and moving on with life. We see this both from the perspective of the toys and from Andy’s mother. We are shown the world of the story, and see that if the status quo is maintained, there can be no growth and life for the characters.

At the beginning of Toy Story 3 it has been years since the toys have been played with. They desperately try to reconnect with Andy, but it is no use. They are going to be bagged up and placed in storage, when they unexpectedly enter the world of Act 2.

Act 2, the anti-thesis, takes place in an ‘upside down’ version of the world in Act 1. Here, the toys arrive at Sunnyside Day Care. It is, however, exactly the opposite of the idyllic life they had as much loved toys at Andy’s house in their prime. They are exploited and abused, the inverse of what they were expecting.

Not only is the world twisted and upside down, there are ‘upside down’ versions of the characters. Consider Lotso, for instance. He is a twisted, upside down version of Woody. Having been mistakenly abandoned by his owner, Lotso has lost any sense of love, compassion and decency. He is what Woody and the gang could end up like if they don’t successfully deal with their life problem. Even Buzz becomes an upside version of himself when the bad toys alter his settings. In Act 2, things need to go terribly wrong, and they certainly do for the toys. It is only when they learn to accept their fate, and embrace their demise that they are able to enter the world of synthesis.

Act 3, the synthesis, crosses the worlds of Act 1 and 2. Woody and the gang put what they have learnt in Act 2 into practice to put the wrong things right – not only for themselves, but for the other toys at Sunnyside Day Care. They toys are appreciated and loved, and can fulfil their purpose. They are not trying to cling to someone who has outgrown them. For one of them, however, an extra special purpose awaits, and it is a glorious moment of synthesis indeed when Andy plays with Bonnie and the torch is passed to a new owner for Woody. The worlds have completely synthesised, as evidenced when we see a note transported between Woody’s new home and the day care centre.

The characters have successfully moved from the static, decaying world of Act 1, through the terrifying ordeal of the upside down world of Act 2, and into the better world of Act 3.

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