Pixar’s Lightyear has created problems for the Toy Story canon, raising more questions than it attempted to answer - but the title character’s previous Disney spin-off explains inconsistencies created by the movie. Buzz Lightyear is a character of multiple origins, and in the Toy Story series, they conflict in tone, aesthetic, and narrative. The release of Lightyear confused audiences about the action figure’s origins; however, it seems the lore of Buzz Lightyear doesn’t begin and end with Pixar’s movie.
Developed alongside 1999’s Toy Story 2, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command attempted to give the Space Ranger an origin similar to Woody’s in Toy Story. Framed as a canon Saturday morning cartoon within the world of Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear’s first solo title explored the series that inspired the action figure. Focusing on tongue-in-cheek sci-fi-inspired adventures, Buzz battled the evil emperor Zurg alongside a team that consisted of android X-R, alien princess Mira Nova, and former custodian Booster. Yet despite a memorable run on Disney cartoon blocks, 2022’s Lightyear retconned the character’s backstory as a movie his owner Andy saw in 1995.
Despite its attempt to act as a quasi-prequel, Lightyear shared little with anything referenced throughout the Toy Story franchise. With Lightyear’s more mature tone, different cast, and mismatching gritty visuals compared to Andy’s toy collection, it raises the question of how the film fits into the Toy Story universe and if Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was even canon at all. However, even though Pixar’s two Buzz Lightyear origin stories have little in common, not only are they both confirmed to be canon, but they also explain inconsistencies created by Lightyear’s multiple retcons.
Why Buzz Lightyear of Star Command Actually Explains Andy's Room
Upon release, Lightyear had a conflicting origin story with everything fans had learned about him in 27 years. Before the film, Buzz was a Space Ranger rooted in a Tomorrowland-inspired civilization rather than a single hostile alien world. Unlike the movie, Buzz’s squad of rookies was less human, consisting of a colorful cast of aliens. Additionally, Lightyear’s Zurg had a different origin from his animated antecedent. However, Lightyear director Angus MacLane confirms that despite how unalike both were, the cartoon was still canon in the Toy Story series. However, the director insists that in their mind, the animated series didn’t air yet, coming after Lightyear’s in-universe release.
Yet despite Lightyear being canon, it still doesn’t explain why Toy Story seems more in line with the TV series than the strangely more mature Lightyear, which the prologue cited as Andy’s favorite film. Adaptations of various ‘80s and ‘90s cartoons often evolved from adult-oriented movies. At a time when Beetlejuice became Lydia’s mischievous best friend; and Conan the Barbarian mentored young adventurers, Buzz Lightyear probably received a more child-friendly aesthetic. Also, not unlike the cartoon itself, which completed production before Toy Story 2, it’s likely that Buzz Lightyear of Star Command tie-in material preceded Lightyear's premiere. After all, the prologue mentioned Andy saw Lightyear, but it never said it was his first exposure to the character. Like Marvel, Star Wars, or other sci-fi properties, Buzz Lightyear wasn’t supposed to be defined by a single adaptation. Buzz Lightyear was an entire franchise, accessible to different audiences of all ages.
When considering Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and Lightyear, then, there’s enough room for both to be canon. Whether audiences preferred Buzz’s television adventures or his 2022 nostalgia-driven film reboot, both are now part of his character. Additionally, despite how different Toy Story’s spinoffs are, they’re now intertwined, relying on each other to validate new retcons and explore a larger world destined to go to infinity and beyond.