Toy Story, you see, is a tale of coming to terms with atheism. It’s an atheist allegory. Buzz Lightyear, of course, is a member of the dominant group (the masses of identical Buzz Lightyears) who fervently and insistently believes that he is in intimate contact with a higher power—Star Command (namely, God). Woody, the atheist, spends the duration of the movie trying to convince Buzz that Star Command not only isn’t real, but does not communicate with him. Instead of Star Command, Woody advocates that Buzz believe in other people (Andy) who he should focus on interacting with rather than a non-existent higher power. When Buzz finally does realize that Star Command doesn’t exist and that he is just a toy, he becomes deeply depressed until Woody points out the wonderful nature of life and that he can derive as much meaning from being a meaningless toy as he did from being under the control of Star Command.
And then there’s Toy Story 3, which is about coming to terms with death. With all kinds of metaphors—pleasant but bland afterlife in the attic, utopias (both false and real) created by toys that took matters into their own hands, literally staring into infernal and facing oblivion with grim acceptance, and eventual reincarnation into a similar life to the one you had before.
Toy Story
And then there’s Toy Story 3, which is about coming to terms with death. With all kinds of metaphors—pleasant but bland afterlife in the attic, utopias (both false and real) created by toys that took matters into their own hands, literally staring into infernal and facing oblivion with grim acceptance, and eventual reincarnation into a similar life to the one you had before.