Toy Story 3: Press reviews

'A kids' movie for grown-ups. A grown-up movie for kids. Exactly what you'd expect — and hope for — from the latest, and we're guessing final, Woody and Buzz adventure.'

'The welling-up started in my toes — or somewhere deep in my childhood — and rumbled upwards throughout the film, until, near the end, it showed itself as a virtual tsunami that washed over my crimson, clawed cheeks. I tried stuffing paper into my nose and into my mouth and in my ears to stop the flow. It was hopeless. Toy Story 3 is not only a masterpiece but is the most heart-rending film I have ever seen.'

'as sweet, as touching, as humane a movie as you are likely to see this summer'

'You can never be a child again, but for one hour and 38 minutes, Toy Story 3 gets you pretty close.'

'More gentle brilliance; more perfect eye, ear, mind and heart co-ordination. I understand how a film company can assemble the best techno-geeks, even the best craftsmen. I don't understand how they, Pixar, also get the people who understand great comedy, drama and storytelling wisdom. The Shakespeares of pixellation.'

'It is the film of this summer - of any summer. Its U certificate belies the fact that Toy Story 3 is a meditation on ageing, impermanence and mortality. Yet it's also a dizzyingly funny romp that honours and extends the glorious invention of the first two films.'

'It's a wonderful comedy, a superb prison thriller, even a pretty scary horror film - but most of all, the final instalment in Pixar's 'Toy Story' is an unashamed tear-jerker about the poignancy of ageing'

'Brimming with wonderful satire and lump-in-the-throat nostalgia, the final Toy Story film provides a fitting end to a classic trilogy'

'This is an almost flawless example of a movie that will keep pretty much any person of any age enthralled and entertained'

'One of the best films of the year, Pixar's long-awaited latest scores in every department. Funny, affecting and dramatically fearless, it's as fine a threequel as you could hope for. Bring tissues - lots of tissues.'

'we are reminded, beautifully and rather agonisingly, about how it's both possible - and sometimes vital - to let go of those whom we most love.'

'The humour, the drama, everything in the film seems targeted more at the parents than the children: certainly those cheeky hints at the metrosexual proclivities of Barbie's true love, Ken, with his scarf and blow-dried hair. That said, it's an effortlessly superior family movie. '

'Pixar's triptych on childhood and as a movie in its own right, this film works flawlessly, offering thrills and pathos, familiarity and closure'

'The film is in 3D but, hang-gliding escapades notwithstanding, in-your-face effects take a back seat to more subtle applications, such as environmental immersion, mock-heroic playfulness and suspenseful contrasts of scale'