The Angelotti Co., which is repping the Oscar campaigns (Best Picture) for “Toy Story 3” has just released this striking image of the film’s heroes threatened with extinction in a furnace. Which explains why some people, including me, have wondered if the film was intended, at least in part, as a Holocaust allegory.

Director Lee Unkrich told me this was not the filmmakers’ intention when he swung through town a few weeks ago. He said a Holocaust survivor did come up to him after the screening and asked if this was intended. “I was surprised, but I could see his point.”

 Given the motion picture academy’s longtime prediction for Holocaust-themed pictures, this interpretation probably couldn’t hurt.

Whatever the intent, “Toy Story 3” certainly succeeds far better as a Holocaust allegory than “The Nutracker in 3-D,” which is one of the worst-reviewed holiday-themed movies ever — and flopped during its opening weekend in wide release.