Alright, let’s get one thing out of the way right now. The No. 1 most repeated thing at UT about Pixar’s latest offering and a sequel 11 years in the making, “Toy Story 3,” is that it’s a soul-crushingly sad movie that will make any viewer bawl their eyes out.

This assertion is false.

There are two fundamental flaws with the notion that “Toy Story 3” is inherently a sad movie (or even the saddest movie in recent memory). The most obvious one is Pixar’s movie before “Toy Story 3.” “Up” came out on May 29, 2009 and immediately soaked all the fluids out of millions of moviegoers’ eyelids. That first 15 minutes was hyped up beyond all measure and for good reason, it is perhaps the best 15-minute sequence in an animated movie of all time, one that remarkably manages to tell a story so quickly and one that is so fiercely emotional.

“Toy Story 3” is never as sad as “Up” is because its central storyline is not nearly as dark. Sorry but the inevitable realization that we all must grow up sometime does not even begin to compare with the loss of a loved one. Plus the movies in the “Toy Story” franchise are further into the realm of fantasy because of the obvious (toys can talk and have feelings!) That further departure from realism makes it also fundamentally “less sad” than “Up” on any sane person’s scale.

The bigger reason why so many around campus are saying “Toy Story 3” is a sad movie is because the college crowd responds to the plight of Andy. Andy is a protagonist that this generation has grown up with. The first two films came out about a decade ago, when the college crowd was Andy’s age. Now, in 2010, the college crowd is in college, and Andy’s headed to college himself. It’s an obvious parallel then that college viewers would put themselves in the shoes of Andy and bemoan the idea that they actually do have to leave the nest (or how much it sucks to have already left it).

But this upcoming grad student did not really identify with Andy as much, being four years removed from making the same transition to college. So it was easier to look at “Toy Story 3” outside of the characters, and when judged objectively and based on all the criteria and evidence presented, “Toy Story 3” is simply not as sad as “Up” in any real or meaningful way.

With all that said, “Toy Story 3” marks Pixar’s continuing trend toward providing a top-five or top-ten film of the year every single time out. While not as good as “Wall-E” or “Up,” “Toy Story 3” is at least on par with those films, showcasing Pixar’s mastery of storytelling in the animated medium for all ages. It’s fascinating that, in 2010, an animated film can have a midnight showing and be filled with college students attending without a trace of irony. It’s a testament to Pixar’s ability to cater not just to children or parents but everyone.

A recent article in Newsweek said the “Toy Story” franchise both saved and ruined kids’ movies. The article argued that “Toy Story” saved kids’ films by upping the quality for generations and making them more nuanced and complicated than the classic Disney musicals that had the requisite number of funny songs and furry animals. Yet their very nuance and complication ruined them because it made them no longer accessible to children.

It’s funny because the same arguments came up with “Wall-E” and “Up.” “Wall-E” had its slow pacing, limited dialogue and constant “2001: A Space Odyssey” references, making it hailed as perhaps the best Pixar film ever but not really identified as a children’s movie, per se. Then, with “Up,” that talking dog was often ridiculed as (no pun intended) throwing a bone to the traditional children’s audiences (though the gags were still hilarious, regardless of demographic).

But, at the end of the day, how can one really argue for dumbing down great film? Pixar is on an aforementioned roll right now, and so many other animated movies are being made with braindead scripts and concepts, all with the hope that a star-studded voice cast will save the day (which it never does).

Regardless of what one’s view of the movie was, “Toy Story 3” lived up to expectations and then some. It probably was not as good as the first two “Toy Story” movies, but the wait was worth it, and “Toy Story” was actually a Pixar franchise that people asked another movie from. God only knows why Pixar mediocre entries “Monsters Inc.” and “Cars” are getting sequels soon.