Check out this incredible stop-motion recreation of Toy Story 3

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The majority of the time sequels fail to live up to the quality of the original. As much as I love BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II it pales in comparison to the first. KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE doesn't even approach the originality or charm of KINGSMAN. And the less said about PET SEMATARY TWO the better. However, every once in awhile there are exceptions that prove the rule. While film is of course subjective and your mileage may vary, I believe such is the case with TOY STORY 3. The movie, which followed Buzz, Woody, Jessie, and others as they dealt with their owner Andy going off to college and the tyranny of a daycare overlord named Lotso, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and made over $1 billion at the global box office.

What's truly special about cinema is its ability to inspire. Guillermo del Toro for example, walked out of a screening of John Carpenter's THE THING and knew he wanted to be a filmmaker. While TOY STORY 3 and THE THING are vastly different movies, Pixar's animated masterpiece managed to inspired two brothers in Iowa to do something truly ambitious – create a stop-motion version of TOY STORY 3 in real life.

After seeing TOY STORY 3 on opening night in 2010, Morgan and Mason McGrew began collecting virtually every tie-in movie toy. Two years later the brothers decided to express their love of the film by making their own version, utilizing their toy collection. Shot entirely on their iPhones, the project took the McGrews eight years to complete. The film, shown above, reuses TOY STORY 3's original audio and music, including the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Ned Beatty. And lest you think Disney always acts like a soulless, financial conglomerate who only cares about the almighty dollar, the corporation graciously gave the McGrew's permission to release the film online.

Now some may question or make light of Morgan and Mason McGrew's obsession but I for one applaud it. The meticulous attention to detail and genuine passion for the project really shines through here. The fact that anyone with access to a smartphone can now produce this level of quality when it comes to filmmaking is astounding. Would be directors and creatives really have no excuses at this point. Who knows? Maybe this film ends up springboarding the McGrews into bigger and better things. How ironic would it be if Mason and Morgan actually end up directing a Pixar film someday?

So what about you guys? What do you think about this film? Do you admire the McGrew's passion? Does this inspire you to make your own films? Let us know in the comment section below!