- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: MVC (3D); AVC/MPEG-4 (2D)
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: (2D & 3D) English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Descriptive Video Service 2.0, French Dolby Digital 5.1 EX; (2D-Only): Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 EX
- Subtitles: (2D & 3D) English SDH, French; (2D-Only) English, Spanish
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Rating: G
- Run Time: 103 Mins.
- Discs: 5 (1 x Blu-ray 3D + 2 x Blu-ray + 1 x DVD + 1 x Digital Copy)
- Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: November 1, 2011
- List Price: $49.99
[amazon-product]B005GSVFAK[/amazon-product]
Purchase Toy Story 3 on Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:5/5]
The Film
[Rating:5/5]
Video Quality
2D HD: [Rating:5/5]
3D Effect: [Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
Editor’s Note: Portions of this review were previously published as our Toy Story 3 Blu-ray Review. All screen captures were taken from their respective releases.
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The Film
[Rating:5/5]
Pixar’s first animated feature Toy Story is back for a third go in Toy Story 3. The loveable toys are all back, including the popular Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and Woody (Tom Hanks) and the rest of the gang. The story picks up on the themes explored in Toy Story 2 where the gang’s owner, Andy (John Morris) began to grow up and didn’t want to play with them anymore.
Toy Story 3 is thus another journey of change and growth. Andy is off to college now and he hasn’t played with the toys in years. He’s had them stowed away in a toy chest and now the toys fear they are going to be thrown out. Rather than suffer that fate, they decide to donate themselves to a local daycare center.
Upon arriving at the Sunnyside daycare center, they are greeted by a group of friendly toys, including the leader, Lotso (Ned Beatty), a big, plush teddy bear. All seems well, until the gang realizes they’ve been relegated to the Caterpillar Room, where the kids are too young, play too rough, and Lotso’s friendly routine was just a rouse. He’s really a tyrant ruling over Sunnyside and forcing all the newly donated toys to suffer the torture of the Caterpillar Room.
Woody, who escaped to go back to Andy’s and go with him to college, but got picked up by a little girl, hears from her toys about the terrible conditions at Sunnyside, so he must go back and rescue his friends.
Toy Story 3 is a heartwarming story of growth and journeys that successfully continues the Toy Story tale. It’s not often that one can make such a comment concerning a sequel, especially for the third film in a franchise, but with the story reinvigorated by new characters and true to life situations, Toy Story 3 continues Pixar’s reign as the top animation studio.
Video Quality
2D HD: [Rating:5/5]
3D Effect: [Rating:4.5/5]
The 3D effect for Toy Story 3 is another excellent one, along the lines of what I saw with the Cars 2 release. There isn’t a lot of pop out, but the sense of depth and clarity is strong, detail is hardly diminished, and ghosting is very minimal.
Toy Story 3’s 2D transfer is identical to its previous 2D-only release. It has the same pristine AVC/MPEG-4 1080p encoding from Pixar, carrying on the tradition of reference quality high definition animated releases from the studio. Colors are vivid, detail is strong, and artifacts are nonexistent.
Audio Quality
[Rating:5/5]
The release comes with two lossless audio options, a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix and a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. I used the 7.1 mix as my reference for this review, switching every so often to the 5.1 version.
The mix is a typically aggressive one that makes full use of all the channels. It’s a fun, fully engaging experience with extended low frequencies, smooth highs and a good balance of ambient effects and discrete panning. The dialogue is clear and dynamics wide.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:4.5/5]
The supplements on the main 2D Blu-ray feature disc and separate Blu-ray special features disc remain the same as the previous 2D-only release. They are abundant, and the cine-explore picture-in-picture feature is still handed off to this second disc.
Disc 1 (2D Blu-ray Feature):
- Day & Night: Theatrical Short (1.78:1; 1080p/24; DTS-HD High Resolution 7.1; 0:06.02)
- Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs: The Science of Adventure (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:04.25)
- Toys! (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:06.39)
Disc 2 (Blu-ray Bonus Features Disc):
- Cine-Explore — Watch the film with picture-in-picture commentary, storyboards, and more.
- Beyond the Toybox: An Alternative Commentary Track Featuring Leads from Story, Tech, Art and Animation
- Roundin’ up a Western Opening (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:05.47)
- Bonnie’s Playtime: A Story Roundtable (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:06.31)
- Making of Day & Night (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:02.05)
- Paths to Pixar — Editorial (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:04.40)
- The Gang’s All Here (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:10.24)
- Goodbye Andy (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:08.04)
- Accidental Toymakers (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:03.59)
- A Toy’s Eye View: Creating a Whole New Land (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:05.29)
- Epilogue (1.33:1; 1080p/24; 0:04.22)
- Studio Stories: Where’s Gordon? (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:02.18)
- Studio Stories: Cereal Bar (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:01.38)
- Studio Stories: Clean Start (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:03.07)
- Toy Story Trivia Dash
- Beginnings: Setting a Story in Motion (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:08.15)
- Life of a Shot (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:07.00)
- Grab Bag (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:03.54)
- Ken’s Dating Tips (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:01.36)
- Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear Commercial 1 (1.33:1; 480i/60)
- Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear Commercial 2 (Japan) (1.33:1; 480i/60)
- Making of the Losts-o’-Huggin’ Bear Commercials (1080p/24; 0:01.27)
- “Internet Chat” (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:01.02)
- “Security Cam” (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:01.14)
- “Gadgets” (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:00.56)
- “Dancing with the Stars” at Pixar (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:02.23)
- TS3 Silence Trailer (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:04.38)
- TS3 Antipiracy Trailer (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:01.01)
- TS3 Trailer (1.78:1; 1080p/24)
- TS3 Trailer 2 (1.78:1; 1080p/24)
- TS3 Trailer 3 (1.78:1; 1080p/24)
- TS3 Japan Teaser Trailer 1 (1.78:1; 1080p/24)
- TS3 Japan Trailer 2 (1.78:1; 1080p/24)
- Character Intros (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:02.09)
- Poster Gallery (1080p/24)
- DVD
- Digital Copy
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:5/5]
Sure, this release may be a double-dip, but Toy Story 3 is a great story with beautiful animation and a reference quality Blu-ray with an abundance of extras. Surely the wise 3DTV owners among us withheld their purchases knowing that a 3D release of this must have been in the pipeline, no? In any case, this is pure home theatre reference quality and family fun all around.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product]B005GSVFAK[/amazon-product]
Purchase Toy Story 3 on Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:5/5]
The Film
[Rating:5/5]
Video Quality
2D HD: [Rating:5/5]
3D Effect: [Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:5/5]
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