Ever since the trailer for “Lightyear” was released, Disney and Pixar fans have been thinking about the changes that the filmmakers will make to the iconic character Buzz Lightyear. With so much material to create Buzz’s origin story, fans were expecting to see some snippets of toy story and a fresh take on the character.
The film, which is currently only in theaters, tells about Buzz Lightyear and his fellow space rangers, who are sent home from a hostile planet on which they made an emergency landing. The movie humanizes Buzz and changes many things related to the iconic character.
Voice
For those who don’t know yet, the voice of Buzz Lightyear was played by Tim Allen in all the Toy Story films, which made fans skeptical about how Lightyear would turn out. However, Chris Evans took over the role in this film. The voice change makes the character appear younger and helps viewers distinguish Buzz’s toy from Buzz’s human space Ranger.
Since Lightyear is the origin story of toy Buzz, having two different voices adds depth to the character’s knowledge, as if Tim Allen’s voice was a toy voice actor, as it would be in real life.
Space Ranger Weapons
In Toy Story, Buzz is equipped only with his fighting skills and a laser to defend against enemies. In Lightyear, Buzz has a full arsenal of weapons that he uses to fight robots and space bugs. At the beginning of the movie, Buzz has a laser sword and a blaster pistol.
Providing Buzz with additional tools gives the impression that the character has completed the entire training course to become a space ranger. This may be a hint that this is the “man” who inspired Buzz’s toy, and emphasize that Buzz is just a toy in other movies.
Equipment changes
Most cartoons only wear one outfit throughout their existence, but Pixar broke the pattern with Lightyear and gave Buzz a full wardrobe. The Toy Story spin-off tells how Buzz introduces and loves Space Ranger costume fans, but also reveals that the entire Space Ranger uniform is a problem.
The new uniform not only gives Buzz a fresh look, but also expands his humanity. Many of the uniforms mimic the clothes NASA astronauts wear on the space station.
Buzz has feelings
In Toy Story, Buzz is initially portrayed as cold and insensitive, like the plastic he is made of, but in Lightyear, Buzz is a sentimental character. Buzz doesn’t need to learn the value of friendship in the film; he already has a close relationship with Hawthorne and considers her his best friend. Buzz quickly comes to the idea that Sox will become his companion.
In the first Toy Story, much of the story centers around Buzz having to understand his feelings as a toy, rather than acting like a robot. This detail in the new film further separates the two versions of the character and makes the new protagonist more attractive from the very beginning of the film.
buzz’s chin
Buzz’s famous upturned chin is no longer in Lightyear. Buzz still has a noticeable dimple, but it’s more realistic than the curl that the toy designers chose for the action figure. Although this is a minor character change, it is perhaps the most noticeable after Buzz’s voice change.
Some other features of human Buzz and toys differ, for example, the structure of his face, eyebrows and eyes. The filmmakers have made great efforts so that new and old fans can easily distinguish between the two versions of Buzz.
The origin of Buzz
For a long time it was believed that the origin story of Buzz Lightyear was taken from the Disney animated series and the movie “Buzz Lightyear from Star Command”. The actors of Toy Story watch their friend’s adventures in space as a space ranger in the original Buzz movie.
Lightyear’s version of events is much more complicated and focuses more on Buzz as a person than on his adventures. This change refocuses the chronology of events in the Toy Story universe and raises more questions about why toy Buzz does not know about the events of Lightyear.
Buzz is not in charge
No matter how much he protests, Buzz is not in charge in the first half of the film. In Toy Story, it is assumed that Buzz has always been in charge of all his space missions. This is not the case until he is appointed as the leader of his own team in Star Command.
In another movie, Buzz can take charge of the missions, but in this movie, Buzz reports to Hawthorne and, eventually, Burnside about his goal – to get off a new planet. Buzz’s lack of responsibility at some point makes him a rebel and a fugitive, which is a significant difference from a toy obsessed with following procedure.
Buzz has the rank
In none of the other films does Buzz Lightyear refer to himself by title; he’s just a space ranger. Lightyear assigns Buzz the title of captain, and he is often referred to as such. Buzz is never deprived of his status in the film, although he feels that he should no longer carry this title.
