For fans wondering what the “Toy Story” characters would look like in real life, there is good news: Buzz Lightyear exists and is an astronaut.
With the premiere of “Lightyear”, the new Disney and Pixar movie, the focus is on the space ranger, who started in 1995 as one of Andy’s toys, until today he is the protagonist of his own heroic adventure.
What many fans do not know is that the minds behind Commissioner Woody and his friends were inspired by a real person to create Buzz Lightyear.
“Lightyear”: the astronaut they relied on to create Buzz
Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr. was born in Montclair, New Jersey on January 20, 1930. His mother was the daughter of a U.S. Army officer and his father was an experienced pilot.
After graduating from high school, Aldrin entered the West Point Military Academy, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. After serving in the Air Force during the Korean War, he earned a doctorate in Astronautics from MIT. In 1963 he joined NASA, where he received the nickname “Buzz”.
On July 20, 1969, “Buzz” Aldrin and Neil Armstrong traveled to Apollo 11 to become the first humans to set foot on lunar land. An estimated 600 million people around the world have witnessed this scientific feat.
When he returned to Earth, Aldrin was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and one of the craters on the Moon was named after him.
According to the astronaut’s official website, Pixar was nicknamed Aldrin to name the space ranger who became Woody’s best friend in “Toy Story.” This information is confirmed in the additional material included in the DVD of the tenth anniversary of “Toy Story”.
The Adventures of Buzz Lightyear and Edwin Aldrin
In 2008, as part of NASA’s 50th anniversary, Disney asked “Buzz” Aldrin to give Buzz Lightyear some space travel tips.
The game traveled to the International Space Station, where it was for 15 months. Upon his return on October 2, 2009, a parade in honor of the spacecraft was held at Walt Disney World Park in Florida, attended by astronaut Aldrin. In 2013, Edwin was one of the guests of honor at the premiere of “Toy Story 3”, an event where he took pictures with his double.
Source: univision
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