"Play-Doh is a really good educational toy, " Ms. O'Hara said.

WSJ: The Evocative Power of Toys

Yet, in all, 2011 was a good year for toy sales.

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This is good news for the toy manufacturer, which has been having a bit of a rocky 2011.

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But if any film is going to break that barrier, Toy Story 3 has a good chance.

FORBES: Can Disney Score a Best Picture Oscar for 'Toy Story 3'?

Pixar - the producers of Toy Story 3 - have a good track record in the animated feature award, having won it five times since its inception in 2001.

BBC: Toy Story 3 makes animated Oscar longlist

What the company produces is a virtual good, the brand and the idea behind why you should buy that toy.

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With no movie technique (but a great cameraman, Ed Lachman), Simmons has assembled her interests as if in a toy chest: old movies and TV commercials, Broadway songs, good-to-feel-bad bathos, and the effluvia of domestic life.

NEWYORKER: The Music of Regret