For some reason, the confusion around “Lightyear,” Pixar’s new sci-fi adventure, remains. And Tim Allen, who voiced the toy version of Buzz Lightyear in four “Toy Story” features and several spin-offs and specials, has finally weighed in. (Chris Evans voices the new film’s iteration of the character.)
“The short answer is I’ve stayed out of this because it has nothing to do [with my character]. This is a whole new team that really had nothing to do with the first movies,” Allen told Extra.
But the actor’s claim that “a whole new team” created “Lightyear” is, perhaps unsurprisingly, categorically untrue. Angus MacLane, who co-wrote and directed “Lightyear,” has been at Pixar for many years. In fact, the first feature he worked on for the studio was 1999’s “Toy Story 2.” He worked on “Toy Story 3” and directed “Small Fry,” a “Toy Story” short that Allen starred in, as well as “Toy Story of Terror” (also co-starring Allen). “Lightyear” was green lit and championed by John Lasseter, the Pixar exec who directed “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2.” (He left the studio in 2018 after sexual misconduct allegations.) Composer Michael Giacchino scored “Toy Story of Terror” and “The Toy Story That Time Forgot.” And the list goes on from there.
Allen, who last voiced Buzz in 2019’s “Toy Story 4,” also claimed that he thought the “Lightyear” project was a live-action film and not an animated feature.
“It’s a wonderful story,” Allen said. “It just doesn’t seem to have any connection to the toy, and it’s a little … I don’t know. It just has no relationship to Buzz. It’s just no connection. I wish there was a better connection to this.”
To recap: “Lightyear” is the movie that Andy saw that made him want a Buzz Lightyear toy. The actual toy that appears in the “Toy Story” movies is actually from an animated series that probably followed in the wake of the “Lightyear” movie (as “The Real Ghostbusters” followed “Ghostbusters”). At the beginning of “Lightyear,” three text cards appear: “In 1995, a boy named Andy got a Buzz Lightyear toy for his birthday. It was from his favorite movie. This is that movie.” Simple enough, right?
But alas, confusion remains.
