I love talking about characters that I heavily enjoy and why, villains especially. I’ll be posting one of these threads per week, starting with the devil of Sunnyside himself, Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear. I think I’ll do either Dag or Frollo next.
He’s actually a villain. This is an obvious one in my opinion, because Pixar is so good at making movies without villains; they’re just antagonists or obstacles for the hero to overcome. Finding Nemo and Dory, Toy Story 1, Ratatouille, Inside Out…and don’t get me wrong, those are great movies. But as the late Roger Ebert once said, each film is only as good as its villain, and Lotso’s pretty great. In my opinion, some villains are best when they’re straight-up evil, because that way it makes it easier to actually call them…well, villains. Every other Toy Story antagonist either had no idea that toys were sentient (Sid and Al), redeemed themselves (Zurg, Ken and Big Baby), or at least had understandable goals (Stinky Pete and Gabby Gabby). Lotso however is a sadistic sociopath who’s taken 100% seriously.
He’s very charismatic. What more can be said about a strawberry-scented teddy bear? Before Lotso’s true colors are revealed to the audience, he’s shown to be a gentleman and even kinda grandfatherly; Ned Beatty’s Southern accent certainly helps. In-universe, he’s able to corrupt Big Baby, gather several followers to help him take over an entire daycare centre, and trick the heroes into thinking he’ll redeem himself only to betray them (which I’ll get to in a bit). Even Buzz understood Lotso’s point that there have to be some toys in the Caterpillar Room before being switched to Demo Mode, because otherwise the toddlers would have nothing to play with. To quote Buttercup: “The guy may seem plush and huggable on the outside, but inside, he’s a monster.”
He has a sad backstory. Yes. Really. While Lotso’s evil actions and atrocious personality are both irredeemable and inexcusable, he wasn’t always a bastard. According to Chuckles, he was really a nice guy who loved his kid Daisy more than anything in the whole wide world. Losing not just his owner but also his home due to being (accidentally) replaced by an exact duplicate broke both his mind and spirit, and he thought it’d be unfair if he suffered alone so he took Chuckles, Big Baby, and eventually many other toys down the road with him. And his motivation goes beyond just anger at being “abandoned” by Daisy; he generally doesn’t understand the meaning of love anymore. Do I blame Daisy for what happened? No, she has no idea that toys are sentient. Am I trying to justify slavery, brainwashing, physical torture, child abuse or attempted mass murder? Also no, nor will I ever forgive him. I’m just saying I understand why he’s so crazy.
The incinerator scene. Widely regarded as one of the saddest/darkest moments in any Pixar movie ever, and rightfully so. The heroes people had gotten to know and love over the course of 15 years in this franchise simply held each other’s hands and accepted their fates as they were slowly plummeting to their fiery deaths. Trying to kill the heroes that previously saved his life was when any sympathy test audiences had for Lotso’s past was officially dead and buried. Just imagine if the Little Green Men weren’t there to save the protagonists, and Lotso got away scot-free. “Where’s your kid NOW, Sheriff?!”
Final verdict: 8/10. Definitely in my top 5 Toy Story characters list.
