Lightyear, the brand new Buzz Lightyear origin story from Pixar Animation Studios and Disney, will be released in theaters this Friday, taking viewers on an animated interplanetary voyage.
The film, a spin-off of Pixar’s renowned Toy Story film series, will star Buzz as the astronaut the toy is based on, who becomes stranded several lightyears from Earth and embarks on a desperate attempt to return home.
Development began in 2016, when filmmaker Angus MacLane suggested the concept to Pixar executives of making a ‘in-universe’ short about Buzz Lightyear that Andy Davis (Woody’s owner from the original series) would watch in theaters.
Here’s everything you need to know about the person who voices Buzz.
In the Toy Story films, who voices Buzz Lightyear?
Buzz is well known in the Toy Story story as Woody’s adversary-turned-best-friend (Tom Hanks).
Woody, introduced as a new toy in the 1995 Pixar film, is initially unfriendly to Buzz, but the duo become fierce friends over the course of the next three films.
Tim Allen, the 69-year-old American actor and comedian (save for the humorous Toy Story 3 segment featuring “Spanish Buzz”), has been the voice of Buzz since 1995.
Allen also played Buzz Lightyear in the 2000 direct-to-video film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and the TV series of the same name.
Has he come back for Lightyear? The answer, sadly, is no. Speaking to Vanity Fair, director MacLane said: ‘Tim’s version of Buzz is a little goofier and is a little dumber, and so he is the comic relief’.
‘In this film, Buzz is the action hero. He’s serious and ambitious and funny, but not in a goofy way that would undercut the drama.’
As a result of Tim Allen’s leave, large shoes have been left behind for someone else to fill.
In Lightyear 2022, who is voicing Buzz?
Chris Evans, the star of Marvel’s Iron Man, voices Buzz in Lightyear.
Evans, 40, is just three years removed from playing Captain America for the final time in Avengers: Endgame, and he’s eager to take on the role of another action hero who holds a special place in the hearts of numerous generations.
While speaking to Vanity Fair about his latest role, he said, ‘I used Tim Allen as a guideline. He did such a good job, and I’d be a fool not to acknowledge the work he did. But I couldn’t just do a shameless impression.’
‘I had to somehow create my own understanding of the character, and try to make some fresh tracks in the snow while paying homage to the great work that he did.
MacLane was also praised Evans for his work by stating that, ‘[he] has the gravitas and that movie-star quality that our character needed to separate him and the movie from Tim’s version of the toy in Toy Story’.