A large cardboard box covered in neon flyers approached Barton Robison and Mark Olsen on the Tempe campus a few weeks ago and started talking to them.
The film and media production sophomores were a bit surprised by the spectacle, but they were more curious.
“It’s definitely unusual and it caught your attention from far away,” Olsen said.
“I thought it was a religious thing,” added Robison.
But this wasn’t the usual sort of campus solicitation that students face on a daily basis —this was about “Toy Story 3.”
The flyers on what was called a “robot box” were the same ones that have littered ASU campuses for a month advertising Señor Buzz’s Spanish and Flamenco classes, Slinky’s Yoga sessions, Ham Financial services and job opportunities at Pizza Planet.
The pull-tabs on the bottom of the flyers lead to BuzzCampusASU.com, a page with special college- and social media-themed trailers for “Toy Story 3,” which links to a Facebook page about an advanced screening of the anticipated movie set to come out on June 18.
That screening was held Wednesday at Harkins Tempe Marketplace, drawing a crowd of around 200.
The “Toy Story 3” cliffhanger screening showed only the first 60 minutes of the 98-minute film. The event was one of 40 that will take place through May 6 near college campuses nationwide.
The type of under-the-radar marketing scheme and extended teaser type of screening struck many attendees as unusual. However, it seemed to work, as many of the attendees said they would come back to see the whole movie in 3D when it is released.
“It’s a cliffhanger … it’s a marketing ploy and we’ll fall for it,” said Chad Stafford, a media arts and animation student at the Art Institute of Phoenix.
Only college students with a valid ID were allowed into the screening that brought out the most dedicated fans of the “Toy Story” series.
“I think we’re kind of more excited than little kids,” said communications freshman Kristina Bransfield, wearing a “Toy Story” t-shirt and sitting next to a “Toy Story” tote bag.
In “Toy Story 3,” the owner of the toys, Andy, gets ready to go to college, a detail in the plot the college age audience identified with.
“Andy’s always been our age. When we were five, he was five,” elementary education student Sarah Weltsch said.
It was a thought the director, Lee Unkrich, also expressed in a pre-recorded introduction made specifically for the cliffhanger screenings.
When the first few chords of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” played, the college students seemingly turned into the young children they were when the first “Toy Story” was released.
By the time the 60 minutes were over, the audience had become so engaged in the movie that they forgot it was supposed to end early.
The groans of displeasure triggered by the black screen made it clear the group in attendance would be back for the full-length release.
