Didn't director commentary deconfirm that idea?

@Accounty the Sequel Yeah, they literally used the furnace scene to make him more unlikeable. The original idea was scrapped because they didn’t want to make him sympathetic.

They literally made the Incinerator scene just to make him Beyond Redemption. So no.

Hard no, especially with the furnace scene

Up until the furnace scene maybe but ultimately no

Obviously not. He was meant to be despised through and through.

Honestly, yes. As someone who has loved bears since childhood, I felt so bad for him when learned his backstory.

@Dylan Pietz The question here is not whether he’s sympathetic or not.

It’s whether he was meant to be such. He wasn’t. They literally confirmed they wanted him to be Beyond the Redemption with the furnace scene.

If you find him sympathetic it’s fine, it’s an opinion, but the fact that he wasn’t meant to be sympathetic isn’t an opinion.

Even if he is tragic or sympathetic to some people his decision to leave Woody and his friends to die after saving him proves that he is far from redemption.

My answer is NO. Despite Lotso's tragic experience which he falsely interprets as being replaced by Daisy along with Chuckles and Big Baby, he cannot justify his actions. Daisy never intended to replace Lotso, but his misplaced feelings of rejection led him down a dark path. He became far worse: harsh, merciless, and ultimately irredeemable. Instead of moving on, he chose to grasp to his bitterness, turning Sunnyside Daycare into a prison under his control, consumed by his hatred and unable to let go of his past.