The storyline of Pixar’s Lightyear, a Toy Story spinoff based on the legendary Buzz Lightyear action figure, has sparked discussion about whether Woody and the other toys will feature in the movie. The only known crossover characters so far are Buzz and his arch-nemesis Emperor Zurg; however, these are fictional in-universe characters, not toys based on them. With its space setting and an all-new cast, it’s unclear if Buzz’s toy companions would make sense in this new world. Lightyear is taking the wildly popular 27-year-old Toy Story franchise in a whole new sci-fi direction. To read the review roundup for Lightyear, visit here.
What We Know Of The Characters, Setting, and Plot
Lightyear focuses on the origin tale of Buzz Lightyear, the Space Ranger who inspired Toy Story’s Buzz toy. In the film, Buzz is stranded on a dangerous planet after getting lost in space and time. With the help of a bunch of eager recruits and his robot cat buddy, Sox, Buzz must face Zurg and his robot forces, which prevent him from returning home. The prequel is clearly attempting to separate itself from the previous four Toy Story movies with its high-stakes scenario, which is one of the reasons why Chris Evans is voicing Buzz rather than Tim Allen this time.
Lightyear is not a precursor to the Toy Story series, even though it follows the “real” Buzz Lightyear rather than the toy. Instead, director Angus MacLane (known for Finding Dory) has indicated that the fictional film is very much from the Toy Story universe. Lightyear is a movie that will center around a fictional Space Ranger that Andy might have seen and which went on to inspire a video game, a TV show, and a line of toys. MacLane explains that the story would have been set in the 1980s, before Andy was even born, which explains the retro sci-fi look.
Will Woody and The Other Toys be in Lightyear?
Because of the differences between Lightyear and the original films, it’s tough to imagine Woody the cowboy, Rex the dinosaur, or any other non-space-themed Toy Story characters showing up on Buzz’s mission. There will presumably be Easter egg references, as Pixar is known for, but Buzz and his Toy Story friends are unlikely to interact. The key reason for this is that Lightyear is set in a completely different world than Toy Story, as mentioned before.
Despite its film-within-a-film setup, Lightyear keeps its layers of fictionality hidden. MacLane wanted to develop an animated feature that concentrated on a group of adult characters instead of focusing on the kids and toys like in earlier Toy Story films. Although Buzz’s Toy Story buddies will not appear in the movie, Lightyear’s success may open up many possibilities for the Toy Story franchise and Pixar in general, as it might lead to more spinoffs for the other characters, such as a Woody’s Roundup film.
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