Disney dropped the first trailer for the Buzz Lightyear origin film, Lightyear, that showed off the plot and first look at the space crew who helps him.
Get ready Toy Story fans! The new trailer for Lightyear just dropped this morning (Tuesday, February 8, 2022) and it showed off the amazing world and backstory of the titular character, Buzz Lightyear. No, it is not going to be Tim Allen’s version of the toy Buzz Lightyear but the actual hero who inspired the toy character.
The director, Angus MacLane (Finding Dory), described the plot being based on the question in a pitch meeting, “What was the movie that Andy saw that made him want a Buzz Lightyear toy?” And this is what brought this idea into animated reality. MacLane added, “In Toy Story, there seemed to be this incredible backstory to him being a Space Ranger that’s only touched upon, and I always wanted to explore that world further.”
Based on the trailer, it shows Buzz getting ready to go on a space flight but ends up being lost on a remote planet that is infested with an army of robots and mysterious creatures. Together with his talking cat robot, Sox, Buzz is in uncharted space territory and is most likely what builds the lore with his arch nemesis Zurg and perhaps the Green Pizza Planet Aliens, aka the Little Green Men as well.
We already knew that Chris Evans was slated to play Buzz, but now it has been revealed that Keke Palmer, Dale Soules (Orange is the New Black) and Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit) have joined the supporting voice cast—serving as budding recruits in Buzz’s camp. Peter Sohn (Luca) was shown voicing the robot cat companion to Buzz, Sox, which seems to be the next cute thing and comic relief for the film. The other notable cast members who have been listed included Uzo Aduba, James Brolin, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Efren Ramirez and Isiah Whitlock Jr.
MacLane commented on the casting, “The cast for Lightyear is truly a dream team… Each of the performers immediately inhabited their character, which gave us the opportunity to play a bit during recording sessions. This resulted in a level of specificity that elevated the material and brought additional depth to the characters’ relationships. It has been a privilege to work with such a talented and generous cast.”
Evans had already expressed his thanks in an October 2021 tweet following the film’s teaser release that read, “Animated movies were an enormous part of my childhood. They were my escape. My adventures. My dreams. They were my first window into the magic of storytelling and performing. To @pixar and @AngusMacLane ‘Thank you’ doesn’t even come close #Lightyear.”
The film’s score had the backing of the award-winning composer, Michael Giacchino, who recently worked on the scores for the upcoming movie, The Batman, and did the score for Spider-Man: No Way Home. In terms of animated films, Giacchino is credited for his exhausted list of works on Pixar films such as Up, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Cars 2, Inside Out, Coco and Incredibles 2 to name a few!
Lightyear is expected to launch into space on June 17, 2022—hopefully in theatres. It will be produced by Galyn Susman with Peter Docter, Andrew Stanton, Joe Ranft and John Lasseter as the writers.
