In each Toy Story movie, viewers are introduced to new characters like Woody and Buzz Lightyear from the first Toy Story, Jesse and Mrs. Potato Head from Toy Story 2 and dozens of new toys in Toy Story 3.
While the plot and focus is still on the original characters in Toy Story 3, there are several new characters that provide laughs, drama, scares and even some tears in Pixar’s popular sequel. Among all of the new characters, five of them stand out and here is a look at top 5 new Toy Story 3 characters.
Warning: This article contains spoilers from all three Toy Story movies.
5. Barbie’s Ken: Ken has been a pop culture icon for more than 50 years, but he has never had more charisma and character than Michael Keaton’s portrayal in Toy Story 3.
This metro-sexual doll lives in his dream house, walks stiffly and has never met a Barbie until around 20 minutes into the film. Their on and off relationship in the movie provided several laughs and a great payoff when Barbie turned on Ken and got him to reveal the way to fix Buzz Lightyear.
Eventually Ken redeems himself by choosing Barbie over Lotso and the classic Mattel love story is re-born again. Fans of the movie’s Ken can actually purchase a Toy Story 3 Edition Barbie and Ken set.
4. Mr. Pricklepants: As shown throughout the Toy Story trilogy, toys love being played with, but no one takes that role more seriously than Mr. Pricklepants.
First introduced as Woody arrives at Bonnie’s house, Mr. Pricklepants won’t even answer Woody’s questions because he is so into the role. The accent fits perfectly with the animal and he even stays in character when Bonnie spits a jellybean onto his forehead.
One of Mr. Pricklepants’ funniest lines came when Woody learned about the dangerous Lotso and he exclaims “And he smells of strawberries.” Another classic character has been added to Pixar’s digital toy box.
Look for a bonus scene of Mr. Pricklepants reenacting a scene from Romeo and Juliet during the credits of Toy Story 3.
3. Chatter Phone: Another classic toy has been transformed into a memorable character by the simple name of Chatter Phone.
The phone appears early in the movie when Woody and the gang arrive at Sunnyside Daycare. He lightly runs into Woody’s leg, but Woody has no reaction at that point. Later, Woody returns to Sunnyside Daycare to rescue his friends and Chatter Phone returns.
He flips the phone to Woody and what appears on the other end is a voice directly from a 1960s crime movie. The phone knows the ins and outs of Sunnyside Daycare and provides Woody with all the tips he needs.
The innocent eyes that appear on the phone suddenly have so much depth as they quickly glance around and feature a slight squint to them.
The informant gets beat up for talking to Woody, but worries fans can see him again during the Toy Story 3 credits where is repaired and happily moving around.
2. Lotso: Sid was always considered the ultimate Toy Story villain, but as soon as the big yellow dump truck pulled up and dropped Lotso off the back, history was changed for the Toy Story universe. Lotso looks friendly, but the big cuddly bear has obvious motives and even early on, you can tell he has a dark side.
Lotso is like a toy mob boss. He controls every aspect of Sunnyside Daycare and provided the toys with their biggest challenge yet. With his sidekick Big Baby, Lotso takes charge and can even frighten young children watching the movie.
The character provided the biggest challenges for the toys and was memorable for his sad back story, character change and small chance at redemption that he quickly ruined by sending Woody, Buzz and the other toys into a fiery pit of trash.
Lotso finally got what was coming to him when a garbage man tied him to the front of a garbage truck where Lotso will hang forever.
1. Grown-Up Andy: He’s not a new character, but the grown-up Andy has gone through a huge transformation that viewers look at him completely different. While he get rid of RC Car and Bo Peep, Andy still showed dedication to his toys by keeping a large collection of them.
His first scenes came when Woody and the toys were attempting to get Andy to play with them while hiding his cell phone in the toy box. Andy does not play with them but he shows his love for them by packing them up for the attic and keeping Woody for college.
Grown-up Andy’s best moments come during the final and saddest scenes in the movie. Instead of locking the toys away in a dusty attic, Andy decides to donate them after Woody placed a note on the box. Not forgetting the “friends” he grew up with, Andy introduces all of his toys and explains why each one is sos special.
If that is not enough, the Grown-up Andy proceeds to play with his toys one last time before heading off to college. While the toys questioned his dedication to them throughout the movie, he proved it by recreating the classic playtime he did so much as a child.
Andy’s last moments on screen were a heartbreaking wave from Woody (controlled by Bonnie) and a sad, upset look on Andy’s face. Never has a movie made toys seem so important as Andy drove off to college and the toys began a new chapter in their lives.
