Steve Jobs must be either one of the luckiest or the smartest businessmen in the world. After being sacked from Apple, I'm sure he didn't imagine the computer graphics company he bought off George Lucas would end up being one of the most consistently successful and popular animation studios in the world and he would end up being a major shareholder at Disney.

As with Apple, Pixar have always been about innovation, originality and quality. After producing some experimental shorts to show the capabilities of their system, the company produced its first full-length CGI animation in 1995 and changed the way animated features were made and perceived. TOY STORY was a massive success both critically and financially because of its broad and timeless appeal, and its built-in merchandising. Four years later a second TOY STORY was released and was generally reckoned to be superior to the original because of its storytelling and not for technological advances. Now, 15 years after Woody and Buzz first learned to be friends and share Andy's affections, they are back for their (apparently) final adventure.

Andy is getting ready to go to college and has to decide what to do with his old toys – the attic (not as bad as in Dollhouse), the bin or donated to the day-care centre. Through misadventure, all the toys from Toy Story 2 end up in the day care centre, which they see as a perfect solution as the donated toys are cared for and played with, with great affection. However, Woody, Buzz and the gang soon discover there is a tyrannical hierarchy and they end up in the playroom of the youngest children, who have not yet learned how to play nice and look after toys. There is only one solution – escape. Apart from the old gang, this latest adventure introduces some new characters, including a vain, self-centred Ken, who immediately falls for Barbie, and vice versa.

I don't imagine there will be too many people who watch this film who haven't seen the two previous outings, no matter what age they are, but, as with most sequels, it does help if you have seen them to fully appreciate the character interactions and the humour, a lot of which is aimed at the adults in the audience. Just as Andy has grown up, so has the story. There is a fantastic opening sequence as a game is brought to life, but as the story progresses it becomes increasingly dark and certainly a lot more scary than before as the toys face certain doom on more than one occasion. This could be to do with the fact that it was written by LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE scribe Michael Arndt. And the ending brought a tear to the eyes of many a grown man – thank goodness for the 3D glasses.

Speaking of 3D – don't bother spending the extra money, and see the 2D version instead. Strangely, the 3D was added post-production and doesn't really enhance the experience. Pixar's strength has always been its storytelling and characterisations and these are as strong as they've ever been, especially given our familiarity with the characters. You become so engaged with the story and the characters that it is easy to forget you are watching a computer-generated animation. Despite the huge leaps in CG animation techniques over the last 15 years, for the most part the animation looks much the same as the original. New character Lots-O'-Huggin'-Bear has benefited from the improved rendering to give his plushy fur a realistic synthetic look, and the humans are upgraded slightly, but everything else looks the same. Credit to Pixar for doing that, and it may explain why it was originally made in 2D, with the 3D conversion possibly added under pressure from the Disney bean counters looking to cash in on the current fad before too many bad 3D movies destroy it (again).

This latest adventure is equal, if not superior, to the previous movies and will have you on the edge of your seat enthralled as well as laughing and crying all the way to the end. If you don't have kids, go and see it anyway, and if you insist on seeing it in 3D, treat yourself to seeing at the Apollo Cinema with their 4K projector, which helps overcome the inherent problems caused by wearing the glasses.

Toy Story 3 is not only the best animation of the year, it is possibly also one of the best movies of the year.