metaphor in toy story 3

There are spoilers in this post from Toy Story 3. My assumption is that at this point you will have seen the movie or you won't care if part of the movie is spoiled. This is a heads up nonetheless.

Over the last nine months or so I have watched Toy Story 3 countless times with the kids. After seeing it so many times, I have come to the conclusion that it is meant on some level to be a metaphor for Old Testament Israel or Judah, which does make some sense if there is near the Jewish influence in modern media that a lot of people believe there is.

By my interpretation Woody is a prophet, akin to Isaiah or Jeremiah. Also, Andy is God, Buzz represents the nation's ruler, the rest of Andy's toys represent the nation, and the kids at daycare represent other nations' false gods. One representation that I think is intentional, but that I am less sure of, is Lotso Hugging Bear as Satan.

As the story is introduced the toys (the people of the nation) are trying to find ways to get Andy's (God's) attention. This is because they (the nation) have needs that aren't getting met and they feel like Andy (God) is ignoring them. Events occur to exacerbate that feeling, and so all of the toys (the nation) except Woody (the prophet) want to turn their back on Andy (God) and stay at Sunnyside Daycare with all of the younger kids (false gods) until they understand the implications of their decision. Buzz (the king) ultimately makes the decision that the toys (the nation) are not Andy's (God's) any more in the face of Woody's (the prophet's) argument that they will always be Andy's (God's).

Lotso (Satan) makes the children in the Caterpillar room (false gods) sound like an appealing option, then traps them in their decision to stay with the children (false gods). The children (false gods) mistreat the toys (the nation), but the toys (the nation) are stuck because they have forsaken Andy (God). In the process, Lotso (Satan) corrupts Buzz (the king) who in turn holds the toys (the nation) hostage.

Woody (the prophet) appears with information from the outside and hope for freedom. He also has information on Lotso (Satan) that he is a fallen toy (demon) because of what happened between him and his kid (God). The toys (the nation) agree that Woody is right (repent) and decide to attempt to escape the daycare (false gods) and return to Andy (God). During this time Buzz goes through his own transformation (repentance) process.

Toward the end, the toys (the nation) are almost condemned to destruction at the dump (Hell) as Lotso (Satan) taunts them with the question, "Where's your kid (God) now?" While the concept of Hell is more New Testament and Christian than Old Testament and Jewish, it could also represent destruction at the hands of the Assyrians or Babylonians. Regardless, the toys are ultimately saved.

The metaphor is not perfect, and so there are a lot of holes you could poke in my theory if you wanted. For example, once you introduce Bonnie you are introducing polytheism, which is stridently inconsistent with Old Testament theology. While the kids in the Caterpillar room are representative of false gods, what about the kids in the Butterfly room? If you follow the metaphor too strictly, it sounds like Ken and Barbie stayed with the false gods, and this wasn't portrayed as a bad thing. Perhaps most importantly, Andy (God) plays only a very minor role in ultimately assisting the toys.

I understand that you can make almost any story fit into any structure you want to illustrate whatever point, but I have to believe that at least one of the writers was attempting to implement either a Christian or Jewish perspective into the framework of the story by including a series of related Old Testament themes. That's what it looks like to me at least.