Buzz Lightyear was first introduced to audiences in the 1995 Pixar film, toy story. The adventures of Buzz, Sheriff Woody and their friends make toy story one of the best animated franchises. Bearing the title of the first computer-animated feature film, the toy story the franchise upped its game with Light year — a film which depicts the world of toys. It’s Andy’s movie, and his friends were obsessed with it. toy story. This is the movie that Al’s Toy Barn toys were based on. I understand Andy much better now. Being a Space Ranger is cool!
Light year is a sci-fi action-adventure that plays like an origin story for Buzz Lightyear. Directed by Angus MacLane (Finding Dory), the film focuses on the hero who inspired the toy. Light year follows Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear and his best friend, Space Ranger Alisha Hawthorne after they find themselves marooned with their crew on a hostile planet 4.2 million light years from Earth.
Buzz has the idea stuck in his head that HE alone must save everyone. He tries to find a way to get home by testing and retesting lightspeed jumps. Joining the mission are a group of young recruits and a robot companion cat named Sox. The arrival of space robots led by Emperor Zurg threatens the mission. Lightyear features the voices of Chris Evans as Buzz Lightyear, Uzo Aduba as Alisha Hawthorne and Peter Sohn as Sox.
The young recruits who hope to help save the day are voiced by Keke Palmer as Izzy Hawthorne, Taika Waititi as Mo Morrison, and Dale Soules as Darby Steel. The film also features James Brolin as Zurg and Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Commander Burnside. Written by Jason Headley and MacLane, the film is produced by Galyn Susman (Toy Story that time forgot) and featured a score by award-winning composer Michael Giacchino (At the top).
The voice cast in this film is fantastic. When Chris Evans was announced as the voice of Buzz, my first reaction was, why not Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor aka Tim Allen, who voiced the toy Buzz Lightyear. But, after seeing the movie, Evans was an excellent choice. The vocals are very close, especially with those signature lines.
The addition of Uzo Aduba and Keke Palmer as members of the Hawthorne family comes just three years after reports of Pixar’s racism and whiteness toy story 4. Alisha and Izzy Hawthorne are both black female characters in Light year who are physically present or at the very least mentioned throughout the film.
Aduba and Palmer bring out these characters. In Palmer’s case, her character Izzy is an instant fan favorite. She has the charm, the comedy, the determination, the general face, the natural hair and all, of a character that people can relate to. We already love Buzz and understand his character, so it was nice to have someone new that we could gravitate towards and added another layer to the story.
Pixar has always made great animated films. Their attention to detail is what makes their movies so fun. In Light year, attention to detail does not go unnoticed. There are subtle callbacks and references to the character Buzz in the Toy Story films. Nostalgia seems to be the name of the game these days. The team behind Light year teases us with throwbacks that make sense for the film. These are subtle dots to remind you that this is Buzz Lightyear, the same Buzz we grew up with. We have the costume, the ship and of course, the phrase “To infinity and beyond”. The science behind space travel is noted, and NASA is credited with helping the team make it as realistic as possible for an animated film.
For over 20 years, MacLane has thought about the world where Buzz Lightyear came from. Bringing Buzz’s origin story to life is fantastic, and the story we get makes sense. I immediately wanted to watch toy story after seeing Light year. Now we just need Woody’s Roundup of toy story 2 on the big screen.
I’ve seen every Pixar movie released, and I couldn’t help but see similarities between Light year and another Pixar movie, At the top. From the start, parallels were drawn between the talking animal sidekick and the laser-focused mission. Even the villains have similarities. The themes of the film are also very similar. Carl and Buzz aren’t that different when you think about it.
For both, there is an overarching theme of acceptance and friendship. It is not the same film, but substantially similar. This does not take away the fact that Light year is a fun, intergalactic adventure that kids and adults alike will enjoy. Especially those adults who grew up with Buzz Lightyear and his Star Command mission journals. There’s a slight lull in the middle, but Buzz Lightyear will forever be known as a hero and a very cool toy. Be sure to stick around for not one, not two, but three post-credit scenes.
Disney and Pixar Light year opens in theaters on June 17, 2022.
