The Lightyear cast and filmmakers take us inside Pixar's new sci-fi adventure

Exclusive: Buzz’s big screen adventure with Buzz stars and directors, we discuss all things Lightyear

“There are certain things about Buzz and Toy Story we knew we hadto have,” Galyn Susman, producer at Total Film, tells Total Film. He had to wear the suit, his purple snood and have a large chin. We knew he would say “to infinity and beyond” and that there were elements from the first Toy Story episode that introduced that deluded Buzz we wanted to incorporate.

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This is Lightyear, the Disney Pixar film about Space Ranger Buzz. The Buzz you see in this film is not the same character you know. Susman explained that only the basic elements of Toy Story were used to create the Buzz. She continues, “From there, we needed to take an unimportant character and make him a protagonist – a leading male – and then go from there, give his flaws, and surround him with people who will help him face those flaws.”

The story of a toy

Lightyear is not a Toy Story spinoff in the traditional sense. The film’s opening text explains that Andy got Lightyear as a birthday gift in 1995 based on his favorite movie – Lightyear.

Director Angus MacLane says that he was always connected to Buzz Lightyear from the time he started at the studio in 97. He also worked as an animator for Toy Story 2/3. “But I felt that Buzz’s backstory hadn’t been explored properly, so I thought it would make a great movie. It would have a cinematic grandeur we hadn’t seen before.

MacLane has experience directing Pixar films. He previously directed Finding Dory and it was that film that led him to Lightyear. He says, “After I had done Finding Dory together with Andrew Stanton I was trying to find the next thing to do.” “And there was all that pressure to make a meaningful movie. And I was like, “I just want to make an awesome sci-fi movie.” Then, I thought, “Wait, I could make the Buzz Lightyear movie I’ve always wanted to see.”

It was really that easy. “And so it really was that simple. Why couldn’t we just make this movie? A sci-fi adventure story about Buzz Lightyear. That was our original pitch. We wanted to create a sci-fi action adventure about Buzz Lightyear that would leave the audience feeling like “Oh, that was fun.”

Lightyear is a great sci-fi movie that shows Buzz trapped on T’Kani Prime (a distant alien planet) with other interstellar explorers. They battle dangerous sentient vines and ginormous insects, as well as evil robots from the sinister Zurg, James Brolin. Buzz is determined to bring everyone home. In the hope of unlocking hyperspeed travel, he sets off on a series space flights. But the catch is that each time he goes into hyperspace, time passes differently. His first flight was four years ago on T’Kani Prime. Buzz sums it up: “The faster my flight, the further into future I travel,” he said. Buzz is speeding through time while everyone else enjoys their lives on the planet. This includes Alisha Hawthorne, Uzo Aduba, Buzz’s best friend, and commander.

Lightyear isn’t about Buzz, the toy. This time, Chris Evans, Captain America, has taken the role of the Space Ranger. MacLane says, “I assured Chris we didn’t want him impersonating Tim Allen, but I wanted him do his own version.”

It turned out that Evans was the right choice for the job. MacLane says that Evans relaxed quickly and got into the flow. We ended up using stuff from our first session. This is something we usually don’t do. Usually, the first session is like “Well, okay, let’s figure it out.” We used things right away and he quickly got used to the character to have the [ spot on Buzz impression]’sure Voice’. He would sound more formal when he was reading the Buzz Lightyear Mission Log. He would then say, “Hello, Alisha! He would become a little brother to Alisha as he grew older. It was those extremes that we played with.”

The voice is not the only thing that has changed. Buzz’s new version is more likely to make mistakes, and he still has much to learn.

Susman explains that there are many heroic, heroic, “Here I am to Save the Day” characters in the world. However, we were more interested in telling stories with flawed characters and opportunities for growth. “The message of the movie, in part is a message about teamwork. This doesn’t come naturally with an action hero like ‘Save the Day do it yourself’. That was a little flip of the coin.

Make new friends

Lightyear is a game where teamwork is the key to success. Buzz is joined by a vibrant cast of characters who make up the “Junior Zap Patrol”, a group of rookies that the Space Ranger must work with in order to get home. Keke Palmer’s Izzy Hawthorne is the most prominent of these characters, who is also the granddaughter Alisha.

Izzy and Buzz have such a great relationship because they are at two different points in their lives. Palmer says that this is why she likes her character. Buzz is someone who has been a Space Ranger for a long time and has an expectation of what it means to be a hero. You have Izzy, who is trying to take the place of Buzz’s Space Ranger partner Alisha. She’s also trying to figure out her identity beyond what it means for her to be a hero according to her grandmother’s legacy. So they teach each other that being a leader and a hero can mean two things at different times. Being a team player and knowing when to admit that you make mistakes is a key part of this.

Darby Steel (Dale Soules), another member of the Junior Zap Patrol, is Darby Steel (Buzz), an elderly convict who has a mystery past and Buzz’s cute emotional support robot cat Sox. She will surely win the hearts of all those who watch the movie.

Taika Waititi plays Maurice “Mo”, a character whose commitment problems tie in nicely with the film’s main themes. Waititi, who is energetic, says that Mo, who was very similar to me in my early 20s was trying to find focus and just trying to navigate the world as we all did when we were younger. It’s only later in life, if you are a late bloomer (and I can relate to Mo), that you find your way. In many ways, Mo’s struggle is about having the courage to fail, to persevere until you succeed. It’s okay for mistakes to be made, it’s normal. One day it will happen.

Space Rangers

Buzz and his new friends are on a wonderfulal galactic mission to Lightyear. Although the movie deals with sci-fi concepts such as time dilation, interplanetary traveling, and AI technology you may be surprised to learn that some of it is very real. British astronaut Tim Peake has a cameo appearance in the UK version.

Peake said that there were many nuances to it. Peake said that the weightless environment was very well modelled. You get that feeling of “Yeah that’s how bodies move in weightlessness,” that feeling of pushing away and floating.

The humor in the film is rooted in some reality. Peake laughs, “And then there’s the comedic element space food, for instance, being completely boring and boring, this horrible slab meat that Buzz is eating,” Peake says. “And Sox, the Sox character. Sox is an emotional robot. That’s because we have an artificial intelligence robot on the Space Station called C.I.M.O.N. It is not Sox but it was amazing to see. C.I.M.O.N. (AKA Crew Interactive Mobile Companion) is more cat-shaped than head-shaped.

Diversity is another hallmark of sci-fi. Lightyear was expelled in multiple countries for a same-sex kiss with Alisha, her wife. Both Alisha as well as Izzy are prominent Black characters.

MacLane states, “It was always part the design.” It is interesting to reflect on it. I had always imagined the world to reflect our world but I wanted to ensure that there was diversity, mainly because that was what I was used too as a child. The movie is meant to be the ideal sci-fi universe, ideal sci fi film. The first sci-fi that I was most familiar with was Star Trek: The Original Series. It was very diverse at the time. In keeping with that theme, the movie showed a broad range of cast members.

Palmer and Waititi also hope for more diversity. Palmer states that Taika makes an excellent point about how it would be great to have less to do with these issues, where it is expected to see LGBTQ+ representation and where it’s common to see women in the power positions, specifically Black women in power. The cool thing about our movie, is that it is supposed to have been the movie that made Andy fall for Buzz. Toy Story had Buzz as his character, and that was the only person you knew. Now you see that all these faces and all these people who have been part of our world are prominent parts of the story we get to read. That’s the most important part. They’ve always been there.

…and beyond?

It’s not spoilerish to say that Lightyear ends on an optimistic note. (And make sure you watch the credits). Buzz and his crew won’t be returning anytime soon. MacLane laughs, “Well, I know the next step, but I don’t think I’ve told anyone. This is a lengthy process. “If we had to make another one, we would have 95 when we finished it.

Susman smiles and says, “When they are five and a-half years old, each film, you take deep breaths before you make any commitments on your next project.

We may never see Buzz again, but Lightyear will continue to entertain us with its friendship and eye-popping animation. All together now: To infinity…

Lightyear will be in theaters on June 17. To fill in your watchlist, you can check out our list of the top movies on Disney Plus. You can also catch up on the Toy Story movies via Disney Plus.