Like The LEGO Movie and 30 Rock, the film offers a critique of corporate culture but surrounds it with a shroud of nostalgia, advertising, and references, both paid and unpaid. As a Disney product, its meta-referential tone suggests that all of this is a bit silly, but also that these properties are our past, our memories, our childhood, even our friends. Disney’s unparalleled ability to ­commodify childhood includes its ability to reassure adults that their commodified memory is all in good fun. Spot the reference. Get the joke. Buy the ­merchandise. Bring your kids.

Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, loc. 415