Producer Galyn Susman opens up about how Chris Evans is committed to his Buzz Lightyear movie role and his sweet interactions with the crew. The latest installment in the Toy Story franchise serves as both a prequel and spinoff to the Pixar movies, exploring the origin story of the in-universe fictional character who would go on to inspire Tim Allen's beloved character. Lightyear sees Buzz and a large group of Star Command workers marooned on an alien planet and struggling to escape as their hyperspace fuel has been damaged and efforts to recreate it have failed multiple times.
Evans is leading the ensemble cast of Lightyear as Buzz alongside Dale Soules, Taika Waititi, Peter Sohn, Uzo Aduba, James Brolin, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Efren Ramirez and Isiah Whitlock Jr. Though only officially announced in late 2020, the Toy Story prequel has been in development for nearly 6 years, having first kicked off in 2016 after Finding Dory when the sequel's co-director Angus MacLane pitched the concept to Pixar to make his solo feature directorial debut with. Lightyear is set to take off in theaters this summer and one creative behind the project is sharing some insight behind its development.
In anticipation of the film's release, Screen Rant attended a special presentation for Lightyear taking an in-depth look at the Toy Story spinoff. When discussing the cast of the movie, producer Galyn Susman opened up about Chris Evans' work as the titular hero, recalling how committed he was to the role and how closely he worked with the Pixar crew to develop the character. See what Susman shared below:
"We needed a new voice for Buzz. He needed to have a nice, rich sound, able to be both dramatic and comedic, and most importantly, he needed to be heroic without coming off as arrogant or dense. That's a tall order, and we immediately knew we had to ask Chris. What we didn't know is that he is a huge animation fan, and would bring the love and passion into the project as well as his myriad acting talents. He even attended in animation dailies and gave the team a pep talk. It's really been with wonderful collaboration, and we couldn't be happier."
Evans' casting as Buzz Lightyear was met with some initial skepticism and criticism from Toy Story fans for Pixar seemingly doing away with original star Tim Allen in favor of the Captain America actor. The filmmakers behind Lightyear have since come out in defense of the casting decision, noting that the character seen in the new film is not the toy of the original movies, but rather the fictional hero who would inspire the toy. As Susman notes, capturing the essence of a real-life Buzz Lightyear in comparison to the toy version seen in the original Toy Story movies would require an actor familiar with such a task, and given Evans' success in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's understandable Pixar would look to him.
It should be nice for audiences to hear that Evans brought the same level of commitment and charm to his Lightyear movie role as he did to his tenure as Captain America in the MCU, namely in his love for the animated genre. Interestingly, the Toy Story spinoff marks his first return to the animated world in 15 years after starring in both the CGI TMNT and Battle for Terra movies in 2007, both of which received mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike upon release. Only time will tell how his animated return fares with both when Lightyear hits theaters on June 17.