The video you just watched above is Pixar’s official teaser trailer for Lightyear, the highly-anticipated prequel to the world of Toy Story starring Chris Evans as the titular animated hero. Buzz Lightyear is a character we all know and love ever since the first Toy Story movie hit theaters and Tim Allen seemed to be irreplaceable in the role. But, Pixar opted for an all-new approach to the character, recasting the role and refreshing the character’s design.
The movie is currently set for a June 17, 2022, with Angus MacLane directing off a script written by Pete Docter, one of Disney’s most-acclaimed writers and directors. The movie is going to be an origin story set before the events of Toy Story, and so far, the only known cast member is Chris Evans. The trailer is set to break at least some records when views are concerned, which says enough about how excited fans are for this movie.
In a recent talk, director Angus MacLane reaffirmed his enthusiasm and also connected Lightyear to the Toy Story franchise: “There’s a core idea about Buzz that we noticed when we really drilled down looking at all of the Toy Story movies: That Buzz has a disagreement over the nature of reality. In the first Toy Story, he believes he’s a space ranger when Woody says he’s a toy. In the second movie, they had to bring in another Buzz Lightyear to kick jumpstart that again. And he had to convince his other self that HE was a toy. And there’s Spanish Buzz in [Toy Story 3], and then the inner monologue in [Toy Story 4]. That was a bedrock for something we knew we needed to pay off. Buzz is somebody who takes his job very seriously, and is very much a rule follower,” the director added. “And has a steadfast belief in himself. There’s these tropes of that kind of hero that we’re recognizing, feeding on, and playing with. But he’s such an amalgam of weird sci-fi cliches. How do you make that more than a punchline? That was really the charge of [the] film.”
As stated, Lightyear is set for a June 17, 2022 and we can’t wait for it to come out.