MOVIE STUDY GUIDE: TOY STORY 3 by Deborah Kram

Home , Toy Story (franchise), Toy Story 3

MOVIE STUDY GUIDE: TOY STORY 3 By Deborah Kram

I. INTRODUCTION This study guide aims to provide material to help prepare a movie discussion about the 2010 Disney-Pixar film Toy Story 3. Studying this animated film with your students will engage them and increase their ability to find Jewish values all around them. . In Toy Story 3, third in the Toy Story series, 17-y e a r -old Andy has outgrown his childhood toys and is leaving for college. Andy plans to bring his favorite toy Woody along, but the rest will be packed away in a garbage bag and stored in the attic. When the garbage bag is accidentally set out on the curb for trash pick-up, the toys conclude that Andy doesn’t want them anymore and sneak into the box of toys to be donated to Sunnyside Daycare. The daycare center, however, turns out to be a prison for toys. Throughout the film, Woody goes to extraordinary measures to return his fellow toys to safety from various misadventures, including finding themselves accidentally trashed, caged at Sunnyside Daycare, and headed for fiery destruction at the dump. In addition to looking out for his friends, Woody goes so far as to endanger his own safety on the conveyer belt at the garbage dump incinerator in order to save Lotso, a selfish and controlling pink teddy bear. Ultimately Woody orchestrates a satisfying resolution, allowing Andy to thoughtfully pass down his treasured childhood toys—including Woody—to Bonnie, a shy but imaginative kid from the daycare center.

II. QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION 1. Andy originally intended to hold on to Woody as a keepsake when he left for college. Are there special childhood objects you hope to hold on to as you mature into your teen years? 2. Previously dear possessions can be acquired through inheritance, and might or might not carry any special significance to the receiver. Have our families passed along objects of meaning from one generation to the next? How do stories of their journey to our hands play a part in appreciating their value? 3. How might the story have turned out differently if characters tried to judge each other more favorably and not jump to conclusions? 4. How do Woody’s heroics align themselves with Jewish ethical values and legal code? Are we obligated to help anyone in trouble? 5. How do you think Ken feels when he is teased for being a girl’s toy? 6. Woody’s altruism ultimately extends beyond his inner circle. Are there boundaries or priorities on who we help? 7. To what extent can or should we endanger ourselves to save another?

BabagaNewz.com PAGE 1OF 5

III. LESSON IDEAS

1. JEWISH VALUES IN ACTION

Before showing the film, distribute a list of Jewish values. Fifty such values are listed at the footer of BabagaNewz.com. As they watch, ask students to jot down notes about scenes in which Jewish values are seen in action. After the movie is over, ask students to share some of their notes with the class. What Jewish values did you notice in the movie? List some student- generated answers on the board. Some possibilities:

Tzedakah (righteous giving)—Andy donates toys to a daycare center Manhigut (leadership)—Woody leads his friends Re’ut (friendship)—relationship between the toys Hatzalah (the power of rescue)—Woody’s extraordinary measures to save his friends Hakhnasat orhim (hospitality)—the toys’ warm welcome at Sunnyside Teshuvah (returning)—of Ken and even Lotso Geulah (redemption)—of Buzz Other possible answers include courage, freedom, hope, kindness, perseverance, and so on. The list goes on and on.

2. JEWISH SOURCES ON YERUSHA (INHERITANCE)

The following texts can be studied together as a class or in small groups. Another option is to divide students into small groups, giving each group one of the sources and asking each to prepare a short presentation to share with the rest of the class. Source sheets with the corresponding Hebrew text are available to print at BabagaNewz.com.

A. The Tablets and the broken pieces of the Tablets both rest in the Ark (Berakhot 8b).

• What are the “broken pieces of the Tablets”? (When Moshe came down from Mount Sinai with the Tablets, he saw the Golden Calf and threw down the Tablets, breaking them. Later he went back up the mountain and God gave him another set of Tablets.) • Why do you think that both sets of Tablets were placed in the Ark? • How do we show our respect for worn ritual objects that we no longer use? (We often bury them.) • Are you successfully able to find a new home for clothes, toys, and books you’ve outgrown? • How does this text apply to Toy Story 3?

B. This man will not be your heir; only the one that will come from within you will be your heir (Bereishit 15:4). Moshe commanded us with the Torah, a heritage of the Congregation of Jacob (Devarim 33:4).

BabagaNewz.com PAGE 2OF 5

• The first verse uses the word for yerusha, inheritance, which may be acquired without effort on the part of the recipient. Meanwhile, the second verse uses the word morasha, heritage, which is acquired by commitment and effort on the part of the recipient. How is the Torah a morasha, as opposed to a yerusha? • Those objects, ideals, and people for which we have worked and sacrificed are the ones we treasure the most. Have you ever saved up your allowance to buy something you really wanted? Does it mean more to you than something you got with no effort on your part? • How does this text apply to Toy Story 3?

C. All of Israel is responsible for one another (Shevuot 39a).

While we may have favored people or objects, we need to look out for more than our inner circle of friends and family, or possessions. • The toys in the movie—especially Woody—are constantly looking out for each other. Is loyalty important in friendship? In a community? Why or why not? • How is assuming leadership taking responsibility for others? • How are we responsible for other Jews? • How else can this text apply to Toy Story 3?

3. JEWISH SOURCES ON HATZALAH (THE POWER OF RESCUE)

A. Do not stand idly by while your neighbor’s blood is shed (Vayikra 19:16).

• This text is the primary biblical source for the obligation to save lives. • What does the term “neighbor” (rather than brother or stranger) imply here? • Our sages learn from this verse that if a person sees another person drowning, being attacked by beasts, or being attacked by robbers, the one witnessing is required to save the life of the person in danger. What does this teach us about the value of a single human life? • How does this text apply to Toy Story 3?

B. Two people are walking along a road, and one of them has a canteen of water. If both drink, they will die. If only one of them drinks, he will reach a town. Ben Petura taught: It is better that both should drink and die rather than one witness the death of the other; until Rabbi Akiva came and taught: “That your brother may live with you” (Vayikra 25:36). Your life takes precedence over the life of your friend (Bava Metzia 62a).

BabagaNewz.com PAGE 3OF 5

• Should you endanger yourself in order to help another? To what extent must you expend your resources? • W h y do you think Ben Petura rules as he does? • Why do you think Rabbi Akiva rules as he does? • Rabbi Akiva’s opinion, that your life comes first, has become the halakhic consensus. But how much risk do you think is permitted? • How does this text apply to Toy Story 3?

C. Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falls, for he has not another to help him up (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).

• According to the text, why are two better than one? • Can you give an example of this teaching from your own experience? • Are there situations when it is better to be alone? When and why? • How does this text apply to Toy Story 3?

Note: There is debate as to whether you need to place yourself in uncertain danger in order to save someone from certain danger such as in the case of a healthy person donating a kidney. You are not obligated, but you may choose to take this risk to save another’s life.

IV. WRITING ACTIVITIES

1. Write a newspaper article exposing Sunnyside Daycare and the “inhumane” treatment the toys receive. Give examples from the movie of the ways that the children at the center abuse and torture the toys. What good elements are there, if any, at Sunnyside Daycare?

2. Write a journal entry as if you were Andy. Describe your feelings about leaving for college and parting with your childhood toys. Explain why you packed some away and donated or threw away others.

3. Create a print ad for one of the toys from the film (Buzz, Woody, Ken, Lotso, etc.), providing an overview of the toy’s features, qualities, and fun factor. Be sure to include a discussion of some of the Jewish values exhibited by the toy in the movie. These may include leadership, loyalty, heroism, or other relevant values.

4. Write a story that includes one of your own favored childhood toys as the voice of the narrator. Alternatively, rewrite a scene from Toy Story 3 with your own favored childhood toy as one of the main characters. How does your toy’s presence affect the plot, dialogue, and dynamics between characters?

V. PROJECTS

BabagaNewz.com PAGE 4OF 5

Any one of these projects can be done together or as a stand-alone to further explore the concepts and characteristics of values in the movie.

• Bring in an object or a picture of an object you (or your family) have inherited. Discuss its significance to you and to the person who passed it on to you.

• Organize a toy drive for a local daycare center, hospital, or homeless shelter. Sort through your own childhood toys and pick a few special ones to pass on to another child who will love them as much as you did.

• Interview someone who has saved another person’s life. What were the circumstances? What did it feel like to save a human life? Was the person doing the saving scared or exhilarated?

BabagaNewz.com PAGE 5OF 5