One Last Game

Man, this one really got me good. The first Toy Story came out when I was 8, and I must have watched it a million times. Now that I'm 36 and I have two young boys of my own, I found myself crying for my childhood long since gone, the sadness my parents must have felt as we all grew up and moved out, the thought of my own boys growing up and going to college, and the feeling of just losing that joy that used to fill up my whole life playing with toys and friends. This was a truly fantastic five minutes, well made and set perfectly to the music. Jeez.

One word... superb.

While still having preference for this series in the form of a trilogy, simply because it means we get a fuller and more detailed story for each character, if this had been its original form as a short it would be a fantastic and fitting short. Telling the story in flashback like this adds a whole new tragic angle, in which we already know (because of the bookend) this kid we're watching is going to eventually grow up and one day part with his childhood relics.

READ NO FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS, suffice to say it's highly recommended.
The other incredible element that's added by this framework is that the story is told in first-person POV. Restricting the story to Andy's perspective like this means we never see the toys come to life, like they do in the original films... making it more surprising and impactful when Woody comes to life at the end. In this version of the story, we culminate in it. It's like a slice of realism which ends with a jarring dream-sequence, in which the Toys get to say their goodbyes just as much as their child does.

An incredible and transformative edit. Well done, Masirimso.

I thought that a couple of visual edits/fades were a bit quick, but otherwise, this is a simple and well-executed short. Musical cues are timed well and a clear visual narrative is conveyed using footage from the Toy Story trilogy. Andy looks very different when we transition to later footage, simply due to the update in animation, but that's nothing the editor can help. I liked the focus on Andy rather than sentient toys, and there's a charming little twist at the end.