To the joy of children and adults everywhere, Disney and Pixar announced an animated solo adventure for the ever-popular Buzz Lightyear. Lightyear will star Captain America himself, Chris Evans, as the voice of Buzz Lightyear and is described as a prequel to the first Toy Story but an in-universe narrative. Remember how Buzz thought he was a real Space Ranger of Star Command who dutifully opposed Evil Emperor Zurg? In Lightyear he will be. Will this Buzz Lightyear character be different from the one we love from the Toy Story Saga? Will it draw from any of the backstory given from the franchise? Or will it go its own direction and forge a new path to infinity and beyond?
The Toy Story franchise was an enormous success for Disney-Pixar. The Saga spanned four movies, launching with the first in 1995, a sequel in 1999, the third eleven years later in 2010, with the final entry coming in another nine years after that one in 2019. Toy Story was the first entirely computer animated feature film and the very first film of the now behemoth Pixar Animation Studios. To date, the movies combined have earned $3 billion dollars and have won three Academy Awards, two Best Animated Features and one Original Song. Buzz Lightyear became such a popular character that Disney launched an animated series called Buzz Lightyear of Star Command in 2000. The pilot movie starred Tim Allen as Buzz, and the series itself changed to the voice of Patrick Warburton for the remaining sixty-five episodes.
Derivative or Referential?
If Lightyear is to follow the Toy Story backstory given for Buzz Lightyear, it would resemble a Star Wars parody. If it will include elements from the animated series, it will be a lot like the Green Lantern.
The bulk of Buzz Lightyear’s history is told in Toy Story and Toy Story 2. In the first, we learn that Evil Emperor Zurg is building a weapon that can annihilate a planet, and that Buzz Lightyear has the info for the weapon’s only weakness. Therefore, he is driven to return to space in the first Toy Story and why he opposes Woody’s rationality. The fate of the universe rests on the success of his mission. This is an obvious reference to Star Wars: A New Hope where R2-D2 has the secret plans to the Death Star, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker and their friends must get the droid to the Rebel Alliance.
In Toy Story 2 the Saga even goes so far as the surprise reveal of Emperor Zurg being Buzz Lightyear’s father. A second Buzz is awakened in Big Al’s Toy Barn who, like the previous Buzz, believes he is a Space Ranger. This in-universe Buzz is known as Utility Belt Buzz. While Buzz, Hamm, Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, and Rex are trying to get up the elevator shaft to rescue Woody from Big Al’s apartment, Utility Belt Buzz battles Zurg in a manner like Darth Vader dueling Luke at the end of Empire Strikes Back. Much in the vein of Episode V, before Zurg falls to a supposed death, he reveals the secret parentage of Buzz Lightyear. At the end of the film, as the rest of the toys celebrate, Utility Belt Buzz and Zurg play catch together with a sincere father son relationship.
The Buzz Lightyear of Star Command is reminiscent of the Green Lantern Corps in that they are basically space cops protecting the galaxy from threats both foreign and domestic (intergalactically speaking). In the show, Buzz’s friend Booster Sinclair even resembles Kilowog from the Green Lantern Corps.
Lightyear could take cues from 1983’s The Right Stuff which follows the selection and training of NASA’s Mercury Seven, who were the first Americans to fly in space. There will likely be references to Top Gun, where Tom Cruise plays a maverick jet-fighter pilot, and to Apollo 13, which also stars Tom Hanks, this time as the astronaut, and came out the same year as Toy Story. Without more information as to which other characters will appear in the film, like Zurg, Mira Nova, or Booster Sinclair, it is hard to get a read on what direction the prequel will go.
All of these could be the source of the prequel Lightyear, and if so, the movie should be another hit for Pixar. If Lightyear leans too heavy into parody or references, however, it might end up being a derivative and empty narrative. Up to now, Pixar has been hesitant to retread old ground, so if they decided now is the time to revive old material there is the promise that it will be up to par and satisfy fans. Pixar has earned that level of support from all its other wonderful and popular outings. The Toy Story franchise alone gives them credence to try new things without worry of backlash.
Lightyear is scheduled for release on June 17, 2022.