One of the bigger announcements from yesterday’s Disney Investor Day, was Lightyear. A spin-off of the beloved Toy Story franchise, this is a really-for-real sci-fi epic, directed by the extremely talented longtime Pixar vet Angus MacLane (who has experience in his universe, having directed a Toy Story short and the Halloween special Toy Story of Terror). And the announcement came with an interesting reinvention – instead of longtime voice of Buzz Lightyear Tim Allen voicing the character, Chris Evans would step in and perform the task.
But don’t worry, if you’re confused, Evans took to Instagram to clear things up.
“Working with Pixar is a dream come true. I’ve been a massive fan of their films since the very beginning. My team could barely contain their excitement when they told me that Pixar had a pitch for me. All they said was Buzz Lightyear. I didn’t know what that meant, since Tim Allen is Buzz Lightyear, and no one could ever touch his performance,” Evans wrote.
He went on: “I needed to know how this character was different and why this story was worth telling. I can say 2 things with absolute confidence:
1.. I didn’t stop smiling through the ENTIRE pitch. Ear to ear.
- Everyone can rest easy. And get very excited.
Trust me when I say that they REALLY know what they’re doing over there. This one is gonna special, and it doesn’t step on a single thing. I can’t even put my excitement into words. I smile every time I think about it.”
So there you have it – this doesn’t monkey with the continuity of the Toy Story films or divert things to some wildly different path. Yesterday during the presentation, Pixar chief creative officer (and director of the studio’s upcoming masterpiece Soul) Pete Docter, described the project briefly. “"At first glance, you might think, This is a Toy Story film. Well, not so fast! Back when we created the first Toy Story, we designed Buzz Lightyear with the idea that he was a toy based on some really cool character from an epic blockbuster film,” Docter said. “Well, all these years later we decided it's time to make that film.” Lightyear feels like the story of how Buzz became Buzz and will undoubtedly be an out-of-this-world spectacular.
Lightyear hits theaters on June 17, 2022.