Lightyear (film)

This article is about the Disney-Pixar Toy Story universe film. For other films, see Light year (disambiguation).

 Directed by
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* John Lasseter
* Pete Docter
* Andrew Stanton
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***Lightyear*** is an upcoming American computer-animated science fiction action film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures. It is a spin-off of Pixar's *Toy Story* series, serving as an origin story for the fictional human character Buzz Lightyear, who inspired the action figure of the same name. It is being directed by Angus MacLane in his solo directorial debut, written by Pete Docter, and stars the voice of Chris Evans as the title character.

*Lightyear* is scheduled to be released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on June 17, 2022.

## Contents

* 1Premise
* 2Voice cast
* 3Production
	+ 3.1Development
	+ 3.2Casting
* 4Marketing
* 5Release
* 6See also
* 7References
* 8External links

## Premise

*Lightyear* revolves around the fictional origin story of Buzz Lightyear, the character that the action figures in the *Toy Story* series were based on.

## Voice cast

Main article: List of Toy Story characters

* Chris Evans as Buzz Lightyear

## Production

### Development

Development on *Lightyear* started after finishing work on the *Finding Nemo* (2003) sequel *Finding Dory* (2016). After co-directing *Dory* with Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane was allowed to pitch the idea of making a Buzz Lightyear film, having always wondered what movie Andy Davis saw in the original *Toy Story* (1995) to get interested in a Buzz Lightyear action figure. MacLane, also a science fiction fan, had felt attracted to the Lightyear character since he started working at Pixar, feeling that the film's story was very "personal" for him. An aspect present in the *Toy Story* films that *Lightyear* explores is Buzz's disagreement over the nature of reality, which, coupled with his heroic ideals, made an amalgam of sci-fi clichés that MacLane intended to make more than just a punchline.

On *The Ellen DeGeneres Show* in May 2019, Tim Allen, who voiced Lightyear in the films, said that *Toy Story 4* (2019) would be the final installment in the franchise, but producer Mark Nielsen disclosed a possibility of a fifth film, as Pixar was not ruling out that possibility. In February, Allen expressed interest in doing another film as he "did not see any reason why they would not do it".

In December 2020 at a Disney Investor Day meeting, *Lightyear* was announced as a spin-off film depicting the in-universe origin of the human Buzz Lightyear, with Chris Evans providing the character's voice.

### Casting

Chris Evans was announced to have been cast as Buzz Lightyear upon the project's announcement in December 2020, taking over the role previously played by Tim Allen and Patrick Warburton. Evans was the first choice MacLane and the crew had for Buzz. He visited Pixar's offices one day and they pitched him the project during a visit. Evans accepted the offer immediately, given his love for animation.

## Marketing

The marketing campaign for *Lightyear* began on October 27, 2021, with the release of a teaser trailer that received 83 million views in its first 24 hours. Compared to other Pixar films, the teaser's viewership ranks second behind a teaser for *Incredibles 2* (114 million).

## Release

*Lightyear* is scheduled to be released in the United States on June 17, 2022.