A ‘Toy Story’ sequel was recently announced by Disney CEO Bob Iger during the Q1 earnings call, along with ‘Frozen’ and ‘Zootopia’. “We’ll have more to share about these productions soon, but this is a great example of how we’re leaning into our unrivaled brands and franchises”. This will mark the fifth installment for the Pixar franchise, the third for ‘Frozen,’ and the second for ‘Zootopia.’
Shortly after the announcement, actor Tim Allen took to his personal Twitter account to express his excitement and hinted at the reunion with Tom Hanks:
“See ya soon Woody, you are a sad strange little man and you have my pity. And off we go to a number 5! To infinity and beyond!”
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Allen originated the voice of the space commander action figure in 1995 alongside actor Tom Hanks, who plays Woody. Since then, Allen has been a part of every ‘Toy Story’ sequel except for ‘Lightyear’, the origin story of how the Buzz Lightyear toy came to be.
‘Lightyear’ cast Chris Evans to voice the title character, mainly because that Buzz isn’t exactly the same Buzz that we know in ‘Toy Story.’ Spoilers ahead, so you’ve been warned. ‘Lightyear’ is about space ranger Buzz Lightyear who is trying to find his way home after being lost in space travel and his adventure along the way. The “fictional” movie is the movie that Andy saw as a child, and that movie inspired the toy version of the Buzz Lightyear we see in ‘Toy Story.’
The movie opened domestically at $50.5 million and has grossed $226.4 million worldwide. Many fans were disappointed that Allen was not cast as the voice for Buzz in ‘Lightyear’. The actor finally broke his silence on the topic in an interview with Extra:
“The short answer is I’ve stayed out of this ’cause it has nothing to do (with my Buzz Lightyear).”
The first ‘Toy Story’ opened in November 1995 to $223.2 million. It was the first feature film by Pixar, and also the first film to use computer animation entirely. The toys belonged to Andy, a boy who loved playing with his toys but especially Woody – a pull-string cowboy (voiced by Tom Hanks). When new toy Buzz Lightyear was introduced to the group, chaos ensued because Buzz did not believe he was a toy but in fact, a real Space Ranger. Being the new toy with all the bells and whistles, Buzz got a lot of attention from Andy and fellow toys making Woody jealous.
‘Toy Story’ received three Academy Award nominations including Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Song, and Best Original Score. The film was a hit across the board and today, it remains at a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The follow-up ‘Toy Story’ films continue to receive praise and win awards, including Academy Awards for ‘Toy Story 3‘ (Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song).
No word yet on who else will return to ‘Toy Story 5‘ or when the film will begin production.
See ya soon Woody, you are a sad strange little man and you have my pity. And off we go to a number 5! To infinity and beyond! pic.twitter.com/bwRzE487Vi
Directed by Angus MacLane (‘Finding Dory’), the new movie is a representation of the in-world blockbuster film that inspired the Buzz Lightyear toy Andy played with in the ‘Toy Story’ franchise, and stars Chris Evans (‘Avengers: Infinity War’) as the voice of Buzz Lightyear.
In addition to Evans, the voice cast also includes Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Uzo Aduba, James Brolin, Dale Soules, and Taika Waititi. The result is a fun movie that doesn’t recapture the magic of the ‘Toy Story’ franchise but is still an entertaining animated adventure.
The film begins by introducing us to Buzz Lightyear (Evans), a Space Ranger exploring a new planet with his commanding officer Alisha Hawthorne (Aduba). When danger strikes, Buzz does his best to save his spaceship full of civilians and escape the planet but they are ultimately marooned. Blaming himself, Buzz and Alisha work with the survivors to build a new civilization on the strange planet and rebuild their spacecraft so they can go home.
However, when Buzz tests the new ship he realizes that every time he attempts to leave the planet, he is thrusted into the future by four years. Refusing to fail, Buzz attempts to leave again dozens of times, until eventually, Alisha grows old and dies. After Buzz’s latest attempt, he realizes the planet has been invaded by the evil Emperor Zurg (Brolin). Now, Buzz must team-up with Alisha’s granddaughter Izzy (Palmer), Mo Morrison (Waititi), Darby Steel (Soules), and a robotic cat named Sox (Sohn) and learn to work together in order to defeat Zurg and free the planet forever.
As a standalone Pixar animated adventure, ‘Lightyear’ completely soars, but is undermined by the filmmakers’ choice to shoehorn it into the ‘Toy Story’ franchise. The film opens with a title card that explains ‘Lightyear’ is the in-world movie that inspired the Buzz Lightyear toy, which Andy played with in the original ‘Toy Story’ movies. The idea that this movie is Andy’s ‘Star Wars’ or even ‘Independence Day’ is laughable, and it’s hard to see how young Andy would fall in love with this movie.
Another question that arises from making ‘Lightyear’ the movie that inspired the Buzz Lightyear toy is why doesn’t the character in the “movie” sound like the toy? Typically, when a voice-activated toy is release from a movie, that toy has the voice of the actor that played him in the movie. So, why isn’t Tim Allen the voice of the real Buzz Lightyear? Also, since ‘Lightyear’ is the movie the toy is based on, it means Chris Evans wasn’t actually playing Buzz, he was really playing an actor playing the title character. Best not to think about that one too much.
That being said, whoever Evans is actually playing, he does a great job of making the role his own, while honoring what Tim Allen did before him. It’s also clever casting because there are a lot of similarities between Buzz and Evans’ signature character, Steve Rogers/Captain America. Both characters are government heroes, lost in time, just trying to get home to their loved ones. There is also a comparison to be made to his “Old Man Steve” character from ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ but to talk too much about that would give away spoilers.
An overall issue I’ve had with Pixar in the past is that they come up with great concepts, and then abandon them halfway through to introduce a cute character that will sell a lot of merchandise. ‘Soul’ is a great example of that, with a truly original concept, but then introducing an adorable cat halfway through. So, I was skeptical when Sox (voiced by Peter Sohn) was introduced about 30min into ‘Lightyear.’ However, I’m happy to say that Sox really works and is a great addition to the story. Yes, it’s another example of Pixar adding a cute animal to its cast, but it doesn’t feel out of place at all and the character definitely steals every scene he’s in.
Rounding out the supporting cast are some really lovely performances from Uzo Aduba and Keke Palmer, as Commander Alisha and her granddaughter Izzy, respectively, who are really the emotional core of the movie. Taika Waititi and Dale Soules are also scene stealers with their wonderful characters of Mo and Darby, who bring the funny with their off-the-wall performances.
James Brolin is fine as the voice of Emperor Zurg, but it’s the characters final reveal that bothers me. Again, to say too much would lead to spoilers, but let’s just say that I saw the film’s big twist coming from a million lightyears away. It’s an interesting idea, but I feel like we’ve seen that twist before and it doesn’t lead to the ‘Empire Strikes Back’ moment that was probably intended. The reveal also puts the integrity of the movie’s lead character in jeopardy.
Don’t get me wrong, ‘Lightyear’ is a really fun and exciting adventure movie, with beautiful animation and a cast of really interesting characters, but in the end, suffers from its desire to remind you its set in the ‘Toy Story’ universe.
Opening in theaters on June 17th is the spinoff to Pixar’s popular ‘Toy Story’ franchise entitled ‘Lightyear.’ The new movie is a representation of the in-world blockbuster film that inspired the Buzz Lightyear toy Andy played with in the ‘Toy Story’ franchise.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Chris Evans about his work on ‘Lightyear.’
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You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Evans, Uzo Aduba, Keke Palmer, James Brolin, Taika Waititi, producer Galyn Susman, and writer/director Angus MacLane.
Moviefone: To begin with, when you first saw an image of Buzz’s cat Sox, did you think he looked like your dog Dodger, because they both have white feet?
Chris Evans: Yeah, I liked the coloring on the cat. I was like, “I wonder if that was a little tribute to Dodger.” Whether it was, or it wasn’t, it made me happy. I had seen some images. I kind of knew it was coming. It seems like he steals the movie. So, I was really happy for him.
MF: Can you talk about the pressure of taking on the iconic role of Buzz Lightyear?
CE: Oh, yeah, enormous pressure. I mean, I’m a fan first. So, I love what Tim Allen did. We all did. I mean that’s why the character is so iconic. It’s why it’s worthy of a standalone movie. So, you have to acknowledge the great work he did.
The truth is this isn’t James Bond where I’m just taking a character we know but making a completely new interpretation. This character is supposed to be the character the toy’s based on. So, you have to acknowledge that overlap and use what Tim Allen did as a compass, and I’d be a fool not to. I mean, he did such a good job. It’ll never not be Tim Allen. But that doesn’t mean it’s not terrifying and intimidating.
MF: Were there any aspects of Tim Allen’s version of Buzz Lightyear that you adopted for your performance?
CE: All of them. I mean, I think my first recording session was just a shameless Tim Allen impression. You can’t help it. It’s what I know. With the dialogue, you just hear Tim Allen’s voice in your head. I still hear his voice in my head. I mean, he’s Buzz Lightyear! He is. So, you have to, not just pay your respects, but again, steal from him whenever you can.
The goal is to make a good movie. Tim set the bar. So, I’m going to borrow as much as I can. Because, again, it’s supposed to be the same character, so I can at least do it with the justification in my mind that I’m not being a lazy actor.
MF: The movie deals with a lot of themes including the importance of working together as a team. What was one the film’s themes that really resonated with you?
CE: That the mistakes you make in life don’t define you. That when you do make mistakes, it’s an opportunity for growth, as opposed to something to just feel shame and spiral into this sort of stagnant stillness. It’s actually a chance to evolve.
MF: Finally, did you create a backstory for Buzz’s life on Earth before the events of the movie begin?
CE: Good question. I mean, of course. It’s pretty clear from even Tim Allen’s interpretation the type of man he was, probably the type of man he was since he was a child. I think Buzz is probably a character that when he was a little kid, he was the hall monitor. He’s probably class president. He’s a natural leader.
I imagine him to be a pretty austere, quotidian sort of guy who has a very regiment lifestyle. I just think there’s always a mission, and I think his goal is to climb a certain ladder to achieve a certain level of authority in order to help people. But I would picture him as a man that doesn’t have much time for relationships or pets or things like that, which is why the Sox dynamic is so funny.
Chris Evans voices Buzz Lightyear in Pixar’s ‘Lightyear,’ which opens in theaters on June 17th.
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With each new trailer for Disney and Pixar’s ‘Lightyear’, we learn a little bit more about this latest animated release. And that continues with this third promo for the movie, which reveals that Buzz’s mission has a bigger twist than we imagined.
Pixar describes this new movie as “the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear, the hero who inspired the toy.” In case you’re still wondering how this all connects to ‘Toy Story’s plastic Star Command toy, ‘Lightyear’ is a movie that Andy in the ‘Story’ world would have seen and craved the toy from.
The plot follows the legendary Space Ranger (Chris Evans) after he’s marooned on a hostile planet 4.2 million light-years from Earth alongside his commander (Uzo Aduba) and their crew. As Buzz tries to find a way back home through space and time, he’s joined by a group of ambitious recruits and his charming robot companion cat, Sox (Pixar veteran Peter Sohn). Complicating matters and threatening the mission is the arrival of Zurg, an imposing presence with an army of ruthless robots and a mysterious agenda.
It’s Palmer as Izzy who is one of the key elements here, as the latest promo reveals that Buzz’s mission sends him hurtling, ‘Buck Rogers’-style into the future. Perhaps not as far as Buck, but Buzz certainly ends up a distance from his own time and working with people years ahead of where he took off (62 years and change, to be exact).
Izzy is the granddaughter of Commander Hawthorne, while the others are either part of a prison release program or sign up for the adventure. And Buzz will need all the help he can get with Zurg’s rampaging robots hunting them down.
Director Angus MacLane has been doing the rounds for the movie, talking about his influences for this latest Pixar adventure. “The visual aesthetic is a collection of different things, just stuff that I think is cool and fun and tactile,” MacLane tells The Wrap.
“You can see in the design of sci-fi, well there’s ‘Star Wars’ and then ‘Aliens’ combines real-world tactical military stuff with an industrial design functionality, that’s really interesting,” Maclane continued. “And, then when you get to ‘District 9,’ how it brings in more anime influence into that design aesthetic. And that’s pretty much a straight line from ‘Star Wars.’ And, then before that it’s ‘2001.’ There’s a lot of those feelings, but there’s a pocket in there in the ’80s of consumer electronics and there was just this wonderful sense of goofy push button chunk that I’ve always enjoyed.”
‘Lightyear’ will be in theaters – initially, only in theaters unlike other recent Pixar movies – on June 17th.
While trying to avoid overloading on sequels, Pixar has found an interesting way to keep exploring the ‘Toy Story’ universe with this new movie about the “real” Buzz Lightyear. And there’s a new trailer for the adventure featuring the character, with the movie simply known as ‘Lightyear’.
Chris Evans provides the voice for Buzz here, marking this as a distinct, human take on the Star Command hero so memorably brought to life with the vocal tones of Tim Allen in the four ‘Toy Story’ movies. Here, the basic concept is that we’re watching one of the movies that the confused Buzz astronaut toy is based on.
The new trailer does shed a few more details on ‘Lightyear’s story, revealing that he and his Star Command team are stranded on an alien planet and looking for a way off, spending lots of time working on a craft that can escape the place, with the heroic Buzz in the pilot’s seat.
But even if he does manage to blast off safely, there are other challenges to be found, including a threat that very much looks like Emperor Zurg from ‘Toy Story’, which makes us wonder whether the toy’s comical reveal that he’s Buzz’s dad will hold true here. It’s still unknown, not least because the version of Zurg presented here mostly seems to be a dangerous android and not quite the Darth Vader-style baddie we’ve seen.
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Also new is more of a cast list for those around Evans. Keke Palmer, Dale Soules and Taika Waititi voice a group of ambitious recruits, while Pixar veteran/’The Good Dinosaur’ director Peter Sohn plays Buzz’s robot companion, Sox (who could be this movie’s answer to Baby Yoda).
Plus, there’s Uzo Aduba, James Brolin, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Efren Ramirez, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. “The cast for ‘Lightyear’ is truly a dream team,” says director Angus MacLane in a statement released alongside the new trailer. “Each of the performers immediately inhabited their character, which gave us the opportunity to play a bit during recording sessions. This resulted in a level of specificity that elevated the material and brought additional depth to the characters’ relationships. It has been a privilege to work with such a talented and generous cast.”
As for why MacLane decided to tap back into ‘Toy Story’s mythos but in a fresh way? “In ‘Toy Story,’ there seemed to be this incredible backstory to him being a Space Ranger that’s only touched upon, and I always wanted to explore that world further,” he says. “So, my ‘Lightyear’ pitch was, ‘What was the movie that Andy saw that made him want a Buzz Lightyear toy?’ I wanted to see that movie. And now I’m lucky enough to get to make it.”
Finally, we also now know that Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino, a long-time Pixar collaborator, is back again to provide the ‘Lightyear’ score.
‘Lightyear’ will be headed to infinity – and theaters – on June 17.
