‘Lightyear’: This is how Pixar’s new adventure was conceived

In 1995, Buzz Lightyear was the toy that every kid wanted. One of them, Andy, the owner of Woody, Rex, Mr. Potato and all the other protagonists of ‘Toy Story’ (J. Lasseter, 1995), the first Pixar feature film that launched animation to infinity and beyond . But where did I get that doll who wore a space suit, dealt karate blows and fell with style more than he flew? That’s the question Angus MacLane asked himself and ‘Lightyear’, his solo directorial debut, “The film that seeks to respond without falling into parody or satire, but rather giving the viewer a genuine and exciting space adventure. The kind of movie Andy would have loved.”tells in a chat via Zoom with producer Galyn Susman.

A Buzz for eternity

A twist to the action that is evident in a small but powerful change: Tim Allen was the original voice of Buzz in the ‘Toy Story’ saga. Here, it’s Chris Evans, Captain America himself, who lends his vocal cords to the hero Lightyear. “Because it’s an animated movie, but above all it’s an action movie, a sci-fi movie full of emotion,” says Susman. “When we presented the idea we had to make it very clear that we didn’t want to do ‘Toy Story’ in space. And the change of voices was a first step”. MacLane takes over: “It is clear that it has elements of the Buzz that captivated us,” he says, agreeing with us when we point out that it is something similar to when Bond passed from the hands of Pierce Brosnan to those of Daniel Craig. “The essence is the same, but it is presented differently”, he agrees.

Up to the canon and beyond

With Hitchcock and his classics as surprising references in the narrative –“I think that films like ‘The 39 Steps’ (1935), ‘Alarm on the Express’ (1938) or ‘With Death at Your Heels’ (1958) paved the way Which brings us to today’s action thrillers,” says MacLane, “the script for ‘Lightyear’ has to deal with an enemy as powerful as Zurg, Buzz’s nemesis: according to franchise canon, he’s also his father. … and here we know him as a robot. “We are entering dangerous territory,” MacLane warns with amusement of the door that opens the role that James Brolin voices… Thanos’ father, nothing more and nothing less. “In his recording sessions he already told us that it was quite an irony that his son Josh and now he were facing Chris,” says MacLane. “But as far as the canon is concerned, let me say that it is something that we have taken into account. And that’s where I can read”. What they have no qualms about telling is the firm commitment to taking the film to theaters and fleeing from nostalgia itself: “Our intention has been to recover the feeling we had when we were kids when we saw our favorite movie.”