Unlike most people, I found TS3 to be the weakest of the three. It seemed like a terrific idea for a short that got padded to make it feature length and the padding was pretty average. I wish they had made that short.
I think this might be due to timing. I saw TS when it first came to premium cable. Then I fell way behind on animated films. In 2012 I went on a binge to catch up, and re-watched TS, then saw TS2 for the first time a week later, then TS3 for the first time a week after that.
So for me I was watching TS3 while TS and TS2 were still fresh. Most people were seeing TS3 after a long gap so they may have forgotten details of TS2, and that gap also helped TS3 get a huge nostalgia factor. TS2 was fresh in my mind, and I had no nostalgia.
I'm not sure if I'd put TS or TS2 on top. TS had more novelty, but TS2 explored more weighty themes and had deeper emotional content.
I think this might be due to timing. I saw TS when it first came to premium cable. Then I fell way behind on animated films. In 2012 I went on a binge to catch up, and re-watched TS, then saw TS2 for the first time a week later, then TS3 for the first time a week after that.
So for me I was watching TS3 while TS and TS2 were still fresh. Most people were seeing TS3 after a long gap so they may have forgotten details of TS2, and that gap also helped TS3 get a huge nostalgia factor. TS2 was fresh in my mind, and I had no nostalgia.
I'm not sure if I'd put TS or TS2 on top. TS had more novelty, but TS2 explored more weighty themes and had deeper emotional content.