Get ready to bring Lightyear home. Fans of Pixar’s latest film can soon go to infinity and beyond and complete their collections of the Toy Story world as Lightyear comes to digital platforms on August 3. This is the same day it will be coming to Disney+, as announced last week. Physical media aficionados can look forward to September 13, when the film comes to 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD.
The digital and physical releases of the film will include seven exclusive deleted scenes, three features on the making of the film, and an audio commentary with the filmmakers. Described as the "definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear", the film acts as the "film-within-the-film" that young Andy watches in 1995 and sees our favorite space ranger on a mission to rescue his team from difficult terrain and attempt to overcome the loss of time, friends, and defeat the mysterious enemy known as Zurg.
Buzz Lightyear was first introduced in 1995 as a toy in Pixar's first feature film Toy Story. The toy version of the character has subsequently appeared in all three of the sequels, two television specials, and several shorts. This is the second time the "real-life" version of the character has been explored in a separate spin-off of the Toy Story films. In 2000, Walt Disney Television Animation released a direct-to-video film promoting the then-upcoming animated series, featuring Patrick Warburton as the action hero. To bring it closer to the Toy Story films, original voice actor Tim Allen was brought in to record the lines for the film which itself was simply a reedit of episodes from the series. Titled Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, the show had little creative input from Pixar and has never been officially released anywhere, including Disney+.
As Pixar's first theatrical release since before the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022's Lightyear has had a few bumps along the way. The film opened to lower-than-expected earnings at the box office, likely due to its competition in Jurassic World: Dominion and Top Gun: Maverick, and the fact that families may have been accustomed to Pixar films simply streaming on Disney+.
Lightyear arrives on digital and streaming on August 3, and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on September 13. Check out the full list of bonus features below:
Deleted Scenes
- Deleted Scenes Introduction – Director Angus MacLane introduces six scenes that are all drawn, set to music, timed and voiced, but are not included in the final version of this amazing film – which took five and a half years to make!
- The Dump – In one of LIGHTYEAR’s original opening scenes, we explore Proxima B, with its carnivorous plants, sulfur pits, weird bugs, hot climate, and lack of coffee! A familiar Space Ranger volunteers to risk all in an effort to return to Earth.
- Polly – Buzz relives childhood memories when he visits an aeronautic museum in which his father is memorialized. There, he finds Polly, his dad’s robot companion bird, who possesses a very revealing recorded message meant for Buzz!
- Meet Izzy – After young Izzy and her family (including her brother Maurice) move in next door to Buzz, the adorable, talkative girl bursts into Buzz’s home, warms up to Sox, and asks Buzz a lot of questions.
- Up in the Lair – After his spacecraft crash-lands and he winds up in the bunker of fledgling Space Rangers, Buzz is introduced to cheesy snacks and a character whose role was cut due to time. He also receives shocking information about his father.
- Tilted Ship – Star Command Space Rangers of the 56th Airborne Alpha Quadrant meet Buzz and the Space Ranger students. Buzz is given a truth serum so he’ll expose whatever he knows about his father’s connection to the aliens who have taken over Proxima B.
- Fathership – Buzz wakes up in what he thinks is his childhood home, where he meets his father, who was a time travel pilot, just as he is. But it turns out he’s on the mothership of the aliens who are destroying Proxima B – and hope to vanquish Buzz as well!
Featurettes
- Building the World of Lightyear – Visits to the Johnson Space Center in Houston and a very familiar cinematic archive gave the filmmakers inspiration as they embarked on the exciting journey of creating Lightyear’s breathtaking production design.
- The Zap Patrol – Meet the actors who gave voice to Izzy, Mo and Darby, the untrained, unprepared rangers who join Buzz on the adventure of a lifetime. While the misfits may not seem ideal for the mission, their unlikely friendship helps see them through challenging times.
- Toyetic – Learn why Lightyear is one of the most “toyetic” films ever. Join director Angus MacLane and others on the meticulous, fun process of creating toy models for spaceships and other production elements that led to the film’s richly textured animation.
Audio Commentary
- Lightyear Filmmaker Commentary – Join director Angus MacLane, writer Jason Headley, and director of photography Jeremy Lasky as they provide insight into the making of this remarkable animated feature while you watch it.
Check out the official trailer of Lightyear below.