Tim Allen finally breaks his silence on Pixar's latest Toy Story spinoff film, Lightyear. Allen starred as Buzz Lightyear in the original 1995 smash hit Toy Story, which was the very first completely computer-animated film. The family-comedy romp followed Woody (Tom Hanks) as the de facto leader of a group of children's toys when Buzz, a new hi-tech action figure, joins the fray. The immensely popular film is a story about acceptance and friendship. Toy Story spawned three direct sequels that follow Woody and Buzz's future adventures together.
Lightyear centers on Buzz within the character's fictional Buzz Lightyear action figure universe where the daring astronaut finds himself stranded on a distant hostile planet. With a rag-tag crew featuring Keke Palmer as Izzy Hawthorne and Taika Waititi as Mo Morrison, Buzz must find his way back home. Although audiences were excited to see Buzz return to the big screen, there was some controversy regarding the character's voice actor change. Captain America star Chris Evans was tapped to replace Allen in the latest film with the director Angus MacLane stating that he wanted a less goofy portrayal of the character.
In a recent interview with Extra, Allen opens up about the recast and shared his thoughts on Pixar's Lightyear. The actor revealed that he had talked about a similar film years ago but nothing came of it. Allen also admitted that he felt that Woody was an essential part of Buzz's personality explaining that there isn't "Buzz without Woody." Read the star's thoughts on the latest Pixar film below.
"We talked about this many years ago…but the brass that did the first four movies is not this. It's a whole new team that really had nothing to do with the first movies."
"There's really no Toy Story Buzz without Woody. I'm not sure what the idea—I'm a plot guy. If it was done in 1997, it would seem to be a big adventure story, and as I see, it's not a big adventure story. It's a wonderful story, it just doesn't seem to have any connection to the toy."
"It has no relationship to Buzz...There's just no connection. I wish there was a better connection."
It would seem that Allen feels that Lightyear may have lost the charm that made the original film so endearing. The theme of friendship between Woody and Buzz was the driving force behind the Toy Story films, an aspect that resonated with audiences around the world. Allen appears to believe that Lightyear perhaps misses the mark in regard to Buzz's new characterization as Woody is completely absent from the new film.
Buzz Lightyear's recast for the spinoff film has no doubt caused controversy amongst fans. This discourse and audience push-back may have led to Lightyear's underwhelming box office, only pulling in $156 million so far, lower than initial projections at this point. Allen's reaction to the film is not surprising as he was the voice of the character through four main Toy Story films, multiple television specials and appearances, and video games. With Lightyear struggling in theaters to make up its budget, maybe Allen's apprehension reflect those of the wider Pixar audience.
Source: Extra