Warning: The article contains spoilers for Lightyear.
With Lightyear currently playing in theaters, Chris Evans described his challenges of voice acting for Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear as he must fill in Tim Allen's shoes. But his portrayal is important because the movie introduces Buzz's origin story of embarking on intergalactic missions - the inspiration behind the Buzz Lightyear toy in the Toy Story series.
In true Pixar form, the film includes several references to the previous Toy Story movies. These callbacks feature his famous line "to infinity and beyond" and his narrations on the mission logs - explaining why Buzz does the things he does as a toy.
The most apparent callback to Toy Story happens in the opening sequence that explains the following film is the one Andy watched before he got the Buzz Lightyear toy. Even though it references Andy, this is the first time fans find out how Andy found out about Buzz.
It was assumed that Andy learned about Buzz from Disney's animated series about the Space Ranger. However, this callback to Andy provides a canon origin for not only the toy but much of the Toy Story franchise surrounding Buzz.
Of course, Pixar had to include some of Buzz Lightyear's best quotes from previous films when writing the new movie's dialogue. This reference changes the meaning of the line in Toy Story - which fans took as an insult to the other toys' lack of knowledge - as an essential part of Space Ranger protocol when landing on an unexplored planet.
The inclusion of this line and others confirms that this is indeed the Buzz fans have come to know and love, just the human version who will soon become the classic toy.
This line initially comes from an argument between Buzz and Woody when Andy first gets his new toy. However, Lightyear created a more lighthearted scene for this line to be used. Hawthrone, Buzz's partner, is picking on Buzz for his uptight by the book way of handling missions and his general overly serious demeanor.
When Buzz realizes she is picking on him more than agreeing with what he said, he says the line from Toy Story. Fans could easily miss this line as it is peppered into a conversation, but true Toy Story fans will hear it immediately.
As a long-running franchise, Toy Story has significantly impacted Disney and Pixar fans, and they anticipate certain things from new films. This includes Buzz's most famous and repeated line, "to infinity and beyond," and fans would have been confused and disappointed if this line were not included in the film.
The quote has held special meaning to fans for various reasons, and the filmmakers chose to make the line a sign of friendship and love, which fans have interpreted for years.
The Evil Emporer Zurg has been the main villain in the Buzz Lightyear universe since the first Toy Story film. Fans questioned whether the known antagonist would appear in Lightyear, and to their delight, Zurg is the biggest villain in the movie. Zurg is the only human antagonist in the film, as the rest of the film focuses on the terrain and situational obstacles.
The film functions as an origin story for Zurg, which has never been addressed in the series. It also gives a particular shock value when his identity is revealed.
In the original movies, Buzz has to learn to work with a team to finish his mission; the same theme also applies to the new film. Unlike in Toy Story, where Buzz and Woody are frenemies for much of the movie, Buzz doesn't dislike his team members in Lightyear.
However, Buzz still feels reluctant when working with others and seems to think he must get the job done alone for it to be done right. Ultimately, Buzz learns the same lesson in both movies: having a friend is better than facing a challenge alone.
In the Toy Story films, the toys often form a chain by holding onto one another to reach one of their friends in peril. This same plan is deployed in Lightyear by the Space Rangers in training to save Buzz from falling from a cliff. This small detail could easily be overlooked, but upon rewatching the other films in the franchise and Lightyear, it is easy to see the similarities between the scenes.
The impact of these scenes always makes fans think all hope is lost, but the daring rescue makes them cheer when it works out.
Buzz Lightyear is always ready to do battle with an enemy. In Toy Story, his first line of defense is the laser attached to his arms, leading to the iconic Buzz Lightyear pose that fans recreate often. There is a brief moment in Lightyear where Buzz puts his arm up to shoot a laser but quickly realizes there is no laser.
This puts him in jeopardy, and he has the laser by the end of the film. This is another callback to Toy Story that wasn't overtly obvious, and audiences must pay close attention to see it. This moment in Lightyear also provides a backstory to the laser and makes it more significant than initially thought.
Mission logs are integral to Buzz's character in the first set of films. Buzz keeps recording mission logs before he realizes he's a toy, and once Buzz stops, fans know Buzz has accepted he is not the Space Ranger he thought he was in real life. Mission logs become just as crucial in Lightyear.
Since the plot involves significant passages of time, the mission logs remind audiences where Buzz is in the timeline of events. The mission logs eliminate the need to play out every event from the first crash scene to the first test flight and aids in the film's flow.
One of the last references to Toy Story lore comes toward the end of the film as Buzz embarks on his next mission. As he takes flight, Buzz starts a mission log and references the Galactic Alliance for the first time. Buzz often talks about serving the Galactic Alliance, but until now, audiences never knew how the Alliance formed or why Buzz was a part of it.
This not only sets up the background for the toy Buzz Lightyear but serves as an origin to the former Buzz Lightyear cartoon series, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.
Lightyear maybe Buzz Lightyear's backstory, but there are several callbacks to the Toy Story series in the new Pixar film.Cailyn Szelinski