Abstract

The captivating premise of the Toy Story movies is that toys have secret lives of which people are completely unaware. People can learn a lot from toys, as it turns out, including what it means to be free. Each of the first three movies explores a different way of thinking about freedom, and together they help people learn that, paradoxically, freedom is choosing the good of another over one's own good. One way of defining freedom is in terms of stability and control. To be free means to have control over one's life and environment. In Toy Story 2 people make a fresh discovery about freedom: its connection with their sense of their own identity. Toy Story 3 embraces a further dimension of freedom: freedom from loss and pain. In so many ways, the human narrative is a story of people desperately trying to escape suffering.