Lightyear director Angus MacLane has revealed that the new film was heavily influenced by Star Wars. Lightyear is the much anticipated Disney Pixar film that explores the backstory behind the Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear. The film is set to follow Buzz on his adventures as part of Star Command, where fans will finally get to see the character go to infinity and beyond. This time around, Buzz is set to be voiced by Captain America actor Chris Evans, and will also feature an all-star cast including Keke Palmer, Taika Waititi, and James Brolin. Currently, Lightyear is set to release in theatres on June 17.
Lightyear is a somewhat meta film, an unusual move for Pixar. As most fans know, Buzz Lightyear originally appeared in Toy Story (voiced then by Tim Allen), though in those films, Buzz was a toy owned by the child Andy and based upon the popular in-world TV show starring the character. While fans have heard a lot about the world that Buzz supposedly hails from over the course of the four Toy Story films, they will finally get to see it fully realized in the new film, including the popular character of the evil Emperor Zurg.
During the Lightyear press junket, MacLane revealed some of his inspirations for bringing this iconic, yet under-explored world to fruition. Not surprisingly, MacLane has revealed that a huge inspiration for the space-centered Lightyear was Star Wars. During his talk, MacLane recalled the day he first saw Star Wars as a child, and how his whole life became about the series after that. While Star Wars began MacLane's long interest in sci-fi, MacLane has also recalled the first time he saw Toy Story in 1995, and how he wondered "what movie was Buzz from?" MacLane has stated that he often wondered why no one had made Buzz's movie before, and in turn, he decided to set out to make a film that would have changed the character of Andy's life the way Star Wars changed his. See his full quote below:
"One day after eating corn on the cob of my father, I saw a movie that changed my life: Star Wars. And after I saw Star Wars, all I wanted to play was Star Wars. All I wanted draw was Star Wars. Star Wars was my religion. And it lasted for years. But Star Wars is only the beginning of a string of sci-fi classics that defined my childhood. It seemed like every year there was another genre defining classic and then, in 1995, I saw another film that changed my life: Toy Story. Now you remember in Toy Story, Andy had a birthday party, his favorite gift was a character that he loved, Buzz Lightyear the Space Ranger, it was a toy that would redefine playtime for Andy. I've always wondered what movie was Buzz from, why couldn't we just make that movie? So that's what we did presenting Lightyear, the movie that Andy saw that changed his life, Andy's Star Wars."
Of course, Lightyear is not the first time that Toy Story and Star Wars have come together. Many fans will remember the classic scene in Toy Story 2 in which Buzz comes face to face with a toy version of Zurg, and in a delightful homage to The Empire Strikes Back, Zurg reveals to Buzz that he is his father. Since then, Buzz's character has long served as a parody of the world of Star Wars, which makes MacLane, who has both directed several Toy Story shorts and is a huge Star Wars fan, the perfect director to take on this new film.
After waiting nearly twenty-seven years since the release of the original Toy Story to finally get a look at the world of Buzz Lightyear in movie form (there was, of course, the TV series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command which ran for two seasons), Lightyear certainly has some big space boots to fill. With that said, MacLane definitely seems very excited for the film, and passionate about the material which bodes very well for the film. It seems all fans can do is wait for the release of Lightyear to witness the final product.