The director of Pixar’s newest film Lightyear, Angus MacLane, addresses the possibility of the Toy Story spinoff receiving its own sequel. The movies in the Toy Story franchise are among Pixar’s best and most beloved in its catalog of incredible films. Toy Story was the first film the studio had ever made, and it has garnered the most sequels out of any of Pixar’s properties. The subsequent installments beyond the original films have been wildly successful with Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4 both capturing the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. The series' success has also led to it receiving a multitude of shorts featuring some of the franchise's fan favorite toys.
The newest project in the Toy Story franchise is Pixar’s upcoming film Lightyear. The movie will focus on the origin story of the real Buzz Lightyear who would go on to influence the creation of the familiar action figure within the world of Toy Story. The real life space ranger will be voiced by Chris Evans, replacing Tim Allen who voiced his plastic counterpart in the previous films. While many of the details of Lightyear's plot are still unknown, it appears Buzz will have to team up with a ragtag group of space rangers to face the evil Emperor Zurg after accidentally traveling over 60 years into the future.
In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, MacLane addresses the possibility of the Toy Story spinoff receiving its own sequel. Before he can give a comment, Galyn Susman, one of Lightyear’s producers, chimes in jokingly saying they promised not to discuss this topic until after the film has been released. However, MacLane states that he feels Lightyear is very similar to Star Wars in that Buzz’s story is open-ended outside of the events of the film. As for a movie that could cover all that, read on to see what he says below.
“To me, I look at it as what I liked about Star Wars is that it always allowed for the expansion of what the world could be. I think that that open endedness is often what's most exciting, it's when you start closing those doors and connecting those things that it becomes less compelling. So our focus right now is honestly finishing this movie, but it's meant to be this like island of a narrative that is very much we don't start when Buzz is born. It was very much this thing that you'd imagined stuff before and afterwards, I think connecting it is risky, but you know, who knows?”
Considering the longevity of the Toy Story franchise, it might not actually be too early to wonder about potential Lightyear sequels. The fact that this spinoff exists at all is still a surprise, and it shows that there are more stories to mine within this universe. Should Lightyear be a solid box office performer, Pixar just might find itself building upon Buzz's story in a new installment. MacLane's comments seem to make a Lightyear sequel less possible, but he also indicates there are more adventures that could explored. It likely all depends on how audiences respond to this first movie.
Lightyear is definitely an incredibly ambitious project on its own. Stepping away from the toy characters that audiences have come to love over the last 20+ years and rather focus on a new character who influenced one of those toys can be perceived as a big risk for the studio. However, a departure from the norm may be the exact thing that helps Lightyear freshen up the Toy Story franchise and breathe new life into it. Pixar will be uniquely challenged to balance the old and the new if they want this film to be a success, let alone spawn its own unique sequels. Fans can experience Lightyear in theaters this summer and decide for themselves if they’d love to see a sequel.