Before I start I’m wondering now that the film has been out for a couple of months now, is it still necessary for me to use Spoiler Tags or are they not necessary? Well, I’ll just use them to be safe.
Ok, so this always really bugged me only after I saw Toy Story 3: [spoil]The original dynamic of the toys left in the Butterfly room was left very very vague at best. Yes, it is obvious that all of Lotso’s gang are given the top spot in that room, but we are shown that there are a ton of other toys that weren’t necessarily part of his gang in that room. How exactly did they get to stay there in the first place? Were they simply chosen by Lotso and his gang- if so what qualifications does a toy need to have in order to stay there? Is it simply a random selection, or must they have connections or something? Also, I kind of got the notion that none of the toys in the Butterfly Room (save Lotso’s gang) exactly knew what was being done in the Caterpillar Room. If you notice when Lotso’s introducing himself, the toys from the Butterfly Room seem to actually enjoy his presence. Also, Barbie seems to have no idea what was going on when she sees the toys being thrown in jail, is this the same with the other toys in the Butterfly Room?
Also, we know it’s obvious that the Caterpillar room was ruled by an iron fist. But what about the Butterfly Room? Were they horribly mistreated as well? And during the end credits scene, it’s shown that Ken and Barbie now make the decisions for who gets to stay and who gets to move out. How did The Butterfly toys react to this? Surely not all of them could stay there, if they were supposed to be fair, so wouldn’t they be unhappy or even angry at the changes?
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Sorry if this has already been addressed or something. Please redirect me to the correct thread if necessary.
You did the right thing. The custom here is that plot details beyond that revealed by the trailers are to be spoiler-tagged until the DVD release (the earliest date, which is usually the American DVD release). This is to give every member from all over the world (some live in Japan, which is usually the latest to receive Pixar films) the opportunity to see it in theatres first before we start discussing spoilers openly.
Regarding your queries, I too wonder what the [spoil]criteria is for being in The Caterpillar Room. I guess I would have to rewatch and observe whether Lotso had an unspoken rule for determining who goes and who doesn’t (maybe he doesn’t like Buzz and Woody’s forthrightness? Or maybe it’s like high-school/university where the freshies get bullied before being one of the gang?).[/spoil]
I think you’re right about the [spoil]Butterfly residents being unaware. Or maybe they are, but they don’t think too much about it since they are ‘safe’. I always thought of Lotso’ cronies like the Gestapos or KGB, in the way they operate (quietly imprisioning toys, totalitarian regime, etc.).[/spoil]
As for the ending, I think [spoil]the toys do a ‘tag-team’ system of rotation (as shown by Twitch and another toy I forgot in one of the shots). So it’s a fair system, and any toy that doesn’t like it will probably have to go through anyway cause it’s the best way to do it. Like reservist training, or jury duty, you know?[/spoil]
Another thing I ponder is [spoil]why don’t any of the daycare staff notice that certain toys not meant for toddlers (which I assume is the age-group for Caterpillar Room) are in the CR. I assume that Lotso is an ‘equal-opportunity-dictator’, so he wouldn’t be concerned with the toys’ appropriateness for the kids in the CR. I mean, Buzz and Mr Potato Head have small parts or projectiles that may be dangerous for the rugrats, so I wonder why the staff don’t notice that, or why some toys have been moved around (the last time the Sunnyside owner saw Woody’s toys were in their box, so why wasn’t she surprised they have suddenly materialised in the CR?).[/spoil]
I agree that it wasn’t very well fleshed-out, but the basic impression I had was as follows.
[spoiler]Everyone in the Butterfly Room knew what was going on. It helps explain why they were so excited by the “new toys”. If the daycare gets “new toys” then it means no-one in the Butterfly Room gets transferred to the Caterpillar Room. I presume it is Lotso and his gang who would choose who gets transferred, which would explain why everyone in the Butterfly Room is so nice to Lotso - they need to stay on his good side, otherwise once the Caterpillar Room is out of toys, then Lotso could select them to go in with the toddlers.
Basically, Lotso ruled through fear and intimidation. If you didn’t agree with him or his policies, then you would find yourself in the Caterpillar Room where you would more than likely be broken and then thrown out with the garbage.
As for Barbie and Ken’s “cool and groovy” regime, I had the impression that the toys had a roster system and each had a certain number of shifts in the Caterpillar Room and it was set up to try and minimise the number of breakages. If a toy was broken, then I’m guessing it would either be repaired of it could not be repaired, it would retire to the Butterfly Room where it may still be played with even though it was broken.[/spoiler]
Another interesting thing is that Lotso is very surprised when buzz manages to get out of the caterpillar room, what means that the toys that were found escaping by the monkey were toys from the butterfly room, what means life wasnt very good there either
Actually, I think Lotso actually punishes the attempted escapees personally, since none were seen again. But either way, Lotso is the one who chooses who goes and who stays. I guess there doesn’t have to be a pattern.
[spoil]Well the only criteria that makes Lotso let them in the butterfly room that we heard was “showing initiative”, which Buzz did. I wonder though, why didn’t the monkey catch Buzz going to the vending machine? I guess he didn’t worry since he wasn’t exactly leaving the building?[/spoil]
I would say the monkey might not’ve been informed that they were actually held captive, as a lot of the toys supported Lotso’s system because it worked, but were misinformed of some cruel details.