Toy Story 3 – 4K UHD Blu-ray Review

Posted on June 24, 2019 by Brandon Cortez

Film Title: Toy Story 3
Release Date: 2010
Rating: G
Runtimes: 103 minutes
Region Coding: Region Free
Studio: Disney / Pixar
Audio Format: Dolby Atmos
High Dynamic Range: HDR10
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Formats Available: 4K UHD Blu-ray | Blu-ray
Version Reviewed: 4K UHD Blu-ray
Release Date: 6/4/19
Director: Lee Unkrich
Voice Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, John Morris, Erik von Detten, Laurie Metcalf, R. Lee Ermey, Wayne Knight, Estelle Harris, Ned Beatty, Blake Clark

Jump to Sections: Movie | Video | Audio | Bonus | Closing | Screenshots
Full 4K Tech Specs can be found at the very bottom.

click to view a 4K Screenshot

The Movie

This is almost bittersweet as I am wrapping up my trilogy of reviews for the “Toy Story” Franchise. Starting at “Toy Story” then progressing to “Toy Story 3” has been an absolute joy from a technical and cinematic standpoint. I’m seeing these characters grow and develop at the same time as the technology is advancing which becomes very obvious with this film [Toy Story 3] in comparison to the first film. The locations are large, vast and highly detailed something that just wasn’t possible with the previous film’s. In fact, the team had to redo the character models and tone down what they were capable of to make the films appear more in line.

My reviews on this series have up until now been highly detail and often takes about this awful harrowing production that took vast skill and pure luck to overcome to make the film’s deadline… There is little to none of that here.

The decision to make this new film came almost 7-8 years after the previous film’s release. Disney’s then studio head Michael Eisner still had his deal with Pixar to create 7 movies (sequels not counting to this total) and with negotiations going poorly with Pixar he created an entirely new studio called “Circle 7 Animation.” Circle 7 was a group of animators who would be in charge of Sequels to hot Disney properties that Pixar was creating. They had worked on many films and scripts such as “Monsters Inc 2 Lost in Scaradise,” “Finding Nemo 2” and “Toy Story 3.”

You may be asking yourself if this team was created to work solely on Pixar sequels why haven’t they been created with anything and why have you never heard of them much. Well, Disney ended up just buying Pixar and placing John Lasseter and Edwin Catmull in charge of all Walt Disney Animation. The first order of business was to shut down Circle 7 and move the team into various other projects. Keep in mind “Circle 7” had created a script that Disney heads loved for “Toy Story 3” which saw “Buzz Lightyear” getting a recall and “Woody” and the gang traveling to Taiwan to come to save him. Here there would encounter new and defective toys. This script was written by “Meet the Parents” screenwriter Jim Herzfeld but it never saw the light of day. In fact, when Lasseter appointed Lee Unkrich as the director he never read the script and did as Pixar does… go on a brainstorming retreat to hammer out a story which of course they did. Production on the movie went as smooth as one could ask for and the movie was released on June 8th, 2010 to rave reviews and huge box office. It was also released in 3D along with the other films which looked great in theaters if you were lucky enough to catch it.

The movie is a straightforward plot. Andy is older and going to college. Woody and the crew are mistaken with a trash bag and end up at daycare. Here they encounter other toys and the villainous “Lotso” (voiced by Ned Beatty) and overcome his schemes and iron-fisted rule. This is movie was my favorite of the series because it felt so much like the swan song of the series. The ending was perfection and I won’t even lie, I cried on first viewing in theaters. It’s that emotional and brilliantly written. This is perfection on film. I cannot recommend this movie enough. I’ll show it to my son and it’ll always be in my family. Thank you to Pixar and Disney for this film.

Movie Rating: 5 (out of 5)

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Video Quality

The film is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio with the HDR10 form of High Dynamic Range.

With a sourced 2K DI (Digital Intermediate) transfer, this 4K UHD Blu-ray version is downright reference quality. The HDR grade is bright, punchy, and an absolute treat for the eyes. It is the pure definition of “eye candy” – that much is for sure. The image “pops” off of the screen on my OLED display and was very sharp all throughout. A real standout is during the arrival at the daycare where all the various toys and the bold color palette really seem to come alive.

By far this [“Toy Story 3”] is the best looking out of the first three films in terms of 4K video quality and benefits of HDR. This is the impressive picture quality that you associate with a Pixar film, especially this particular franchise.

Video Quality Rating: 5 (out of 5)

click to view a 4K Screenshot

Audio Quality

Audio here is presented in Dolby Atmos, with a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core included for those without the proper equipment to decode the Atmos format.

I’ll say this again this is a reference quality mix with great immersion in all channels, This isn’t “AtMouse” by any means. The Dolby Atmos mix has great use of the surrounds and deep thundering bass for a non-action movie. The overhead channels are engaged many times and added to the feeling of being in the “Toy Story” world. The Atmos mix here was enough to leave me feeling the most impressed by this film out of the three released on the 4K format. I’ll put it as simple as this: “Toy Story 3” in Dolby Atmos on 4K UHD Blu-ray sounds downright excellent, especially for an animated film.

Audio Quality Rating: 5 (out of 5)

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Bonus Materials

Bonus materials physically included on this release include:

A Digital Copy of the film is included via Movies Anywhere which is compatible with services like Apple’s iTunes and VUDU. Here you get a paper insert inside the packaging that contains a code you put in at the URL listed.
A Blu-ray Disc of the film and a second Blu-ray Disc is included which both have all of the bonus materials.

As mentioned, bonus materials are found on the two Blu-ray Discs. The first Blu-ray Disc, which contains the film, also includes the following extras:

“Day & Night” Theatrical Short (6 minutes, HD)
“Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs: The Science of Adventure” (5 minutes, HD)
Toys! (7 minutes, HD)

The second Blu-ray Disc contains nothing but extras and those consist of the following:

“Family Play” (33 minutes, HD) includes:
- “The Gang’s All Here”
- “Goodbye Andy“
- “Accidental Toymakers”
- “A Toy’s Eye View: Creating a Whole New Land”
- “Epilogue”
“Film Fans” (41 minutes, HD) includes:
- “Cine-Explore” is a PIP (picture-in-picture) experience. This is hosted by the film’s director Lee Unkrich and producer Darla K. Anderson. This plays as you watch the film and will pop-up videos and photos showing original sketches, artwork, and such.
- “Beyond the Toybox” is an alternate audio commentary track with the lead folks at Pixar from the Story, Tech, Art, and Animation departments. It plays as you watch the film.
- “Roundin’ Up A Western Opening”
- “Bonnie’s Playtime: A Story Roundtable”
- “Beginnings: Setting a Story in Motion”
- “Life of a Shot”
- “Making of Day & Night”
- “Paths to Pixar – Editorial”
- “Studio Stories: Where’s Gordon?”
- “Studio Stories: Cereal Bar”
- “Studio Stories: Clean Start”
“Games and Activities” include:
- “Toy Story Trivia Dash”
“Publicity” (27 minutes, HD) consists of the following materials:
- “Grab Bag”
- “Ken’s Dating Tips”
- “Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear Commercial”
- “Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear Commercial 2 (Japan)”
- “Making of the Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear Commercials”
- “Internet Chat”
- “Security Cam”
- “Gadgets”
- “Dancing with the Stars at Pixar”
- Silence Trailer
- Antipiracy trailer
- Teaser Trailer
- Teaser Trailer 2
- Teaser Trailer 3
- Japanese Teaser Trailer 1
- Japanese Teaser Trailer 2
- “Character Intros”
- Poster Gallery

Overall the bonus materials here are just the original Blu-ray Discs and their contents. No new materials have been added, which is a slight bit of a knock considering that it would have been nice to have some new content added. Still, this set of extras proves to be very informative and entertaining for the entire family.

Bonus Materials Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)

click to view a 4K Screenshot

Closing Thoughts

“Toy Story 3” was a movie that offers a brilliant story, one so good I plan to share this with my son as he grows up. This 4K UHD Blu-ray release offers great PQ (picture quality) and Audio (Dolby Atmos) as well as all the usual supplements from the beloved original Blu-ray Disc release. I wish it had maybe included some new content here but it’s a small knock. This 4K title is Very Highly Recommended for All.

In terms of 4K UHD Blu-ray release, this gets:
5 (out of 5) for video quality
5 (out of 5) for audio quality
4.5 (out of 5) for bonus materials