"Toy Story 3" is a prison break movie — and prison break movies have always juggled laughs and jolts. A Newsweek writer has raised the question of whether "Toy Story 3" is too frightful for small children. But children have always loved to be scared, whether by reading fairy tales or watching "The Wizard of Oz."
As screenwriter Michael Arndt says, "There's nothing wrong with strong emotions — you go to a film to feel strong emotions. And the only time that doesn't work is if the emotions are cheaply earned or are made gratuitously. The emotions to this story are integral to the story — they are actually what the story is all about. If children feel strong emotions, that just means the story is working for them."
As for specific prison-break movies, "we screened a gazillion prison-escape movies. Not Just 'The Great Escape' but also 'Cool Hand Luke' and also Robert Bresson's 'A Man Escaped.' "
Here's a quick rundown of those three:
"Cool Hand Luke" (1967) Paul Newman created his last screen character for Pixar when he gave voice to the retired racing car "Doc" Hudson in John Lasseter's "Cars" (2006). "Toy Story 3" returns the honor by paying homage to one of Newman's best-loved vehicles, about a decorated World War II veteran and peacetime ne'er-do-well who can't conform to save his life and lands in a Southern chain gang. This film might be where the Pixar team got the idea to have Mr. Potato Head thrown into "the box."
"The Great Escape" (1963) In the best of all prison-break films set in World War II, Steve McQueen, an American officer in a top-security Nazi POW camp, repeatedly occupies "the cooler" — this film's version of "the box." The toys in "Toy Story 3" hilariously echo the clever covert signals of the escaping POWs. This film was also a key influence on Aardman Animation's "Chicken Run."
"A Man Escaped" (1956) In this existential drama, Robert Bresson bears in on the fortitude, concentration and ingenuity of a French Resistance fighter who uses a spoon as a wood-shaver and fashions hooks from the wiring of his bed. No laughs here — but powerhouse intensity.