"To infinity and beyond" – one of cinema's most iconic lines, famously said by Buzz Lightyear. Yet, we don't really know Buzz; not the real Buzz, at least.
That's about to change. Pixar's upcoming movie Lightyear will introduce the world to Buzz as you've never seen him before, flying around space and saving the day. The Buzz we met in Toy Story – AKA the toy version – was a tie-in piece of merchandise for this movie. Because yes, the Pixar universe is getting meta.
"In the film, we say [Andy] got Buzz for his birthday, and [Lightyear] was his favorite movie," director Angus MacLane tells Total Film in the new issue of the magazine, featuring Obi-Wan Kenobi on the cover. "So I actually feel like this movie might be early ’80s, late ’70s. It’s more like his favorite movie that he saw on VHS, probably."
Adding to the meta-dimension of this endeavor, MacLane continues, "I imagined that this was a movie, and later there was a spin-off cartoon. And then the Toy Story toy was made off of that cartoon design..."
Hence the need for a new voice to differentiate from Tim Allen’s Buzz. Step in Chris Evans. "From early on, because the voice is so iconic, you run the risk of imitation," says MacLane. "I wanted it to be something that was different."
An essential to this Buzz was that he be at odds with his surroundings, and a little self-serious, to ensure an echo of the Buzz we know. But MacLane was keen that it not feel too much like a Toy Story movie. "If you remind the audience of it being a movie too much, then they stop caring about the peril of the characters... One of the things I learned from Brad Bird, working on The Incredibles, was, make sure the audience is worried about the characters’ safety."
Lightyear reaches cinemas on June 17. For much more on the new show, check out the new issue of Total Film when it hits shelves on Thursday, April 28.
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