Lightyear, admittedly, hasn’t been a slam dunk. When it comes to communicating to the general public, the Pixar spin-off has had a difficult time conveying that Buzz Lightyear depicted at its front end in this animated picture isn’t Tim Allen’s Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story series but rather Andy’s favourite 1995 film, “Lightyear.” Pixar used Chris Evans’ voice to distinguish between the two Buzz Lightyear. As seen by its mediocre critical reaction and box office earnings, the A-list casting move has produced more outrage and confusion than expected, resulting in an animated picture that has not won accolades or broad attendance.
To make matters worse, both Woody’s voice actor, Tim Allen, and the actor who replaced him, Tom Hanks, have come out against the new film, stating they don’t understand why Allen wasn’t called back to the booth. On CinemaBlend, Hanks said he was puzzled as to why Evans had been cast in Buzz Lightyear instead of Allen and quipped that he was looking forward to going head-to-head with Allen in his own summer blockbuster, Elvis, which was released in June. For the first time in this Toy Story-related feature, Hanks addresses the cast change and expresses dissatisfaction with the new path they took the film in.
Hanks retains his easygoing, conversational demeanour throughout the interview. The Oscar-winning actor, however, observed shortly after that he isn’t too angry so long as people keep coming back to cinemas, and he is looking forward to the day when Allen may once again be at the centre of a major movie. Even though Hanks teases Allen a little bit, he still loves working with him and doesn’t get why Lightyear made the drastic change he did.
Here is what Hanks said:
What do you think? Tim Allen was supposed to go head-to-head with me, but he wasn’t allowed to do so. … I’m baffled by this. One of my goals in going back into the theatre with strangers is to find something in common with each person I meet. That’s what I want to accomplish, and I’m looking forward to seeing a movie with [Allen]. In addition to Hanks, Allen has lately spoken out over the casting shift for Lightyear. According to his own admission, the actor who plays Buzz Lightyear in Last Man Standing preferred to remain “out of this [movie] ’cause it has nothing to do” with him. Allen recalls bringing it up in “one of the sessions” many years ago when they were discussing it. Aside from admitting “a nice movie,” Allen also said that the “brass who did the previous four movies” would not be participating, perhaps alluding to John Lasseter. This time around, it was “a brand new staff that has nothing to do with the earlier movies,” rather. In addition, he admitted that he assumed Lightyear would be a live-action film rather than an animated one, and that he didn’t expect to play a role in it. Toy Story’s Buzz would not exist without Tom Hanks’ Woody, according to the cartoonist. Despite its “great tale,” Allen conceded that it had “no resemblance” to his Buzz.
Allen said the following to Extra:
My Buzz Lightyear has no connection to this, therefore I’ve remained out of it. This was something we discussed many years ago. During one of the sessions, it was mentioned. I thought, ‘What a great idea for a movie.’ We discussed that as well. However, the crew that worked on the first four films… it’s a completely different group from the ones who worked on the first films… It’s hard to imagine Buzz Lightyear without Tom Hanks in Toy Story. This was done in 1997 by a plot man like myself. According to what it appears to be, this is a huge adventure narrative, however, I don’t think it is. It’s a lovely tale, but there’s no link to the toy at all.
In other words, it has nothing to do with Buzz. The two things are unrelated. It would be nice if the connection was stronger. Despite the fact that the newly released Toy Story spin-off, Lightyear, has not been criticised in the same manner that, say, Cars 2, it is clear that viewers are not responding to it, resulting in its lacklustre critical and financial reception. Regardless of who is to blame, this isn’t the Buzz that moviegoers have become accustomed to — even if it is the one Andy watched and adored in theatres. Following Allen’s remark, Hanks wrote, “This Buzz had enormous space shoes to fill.” When it comes to “infinity and beyond,” it’s safe to state that there are some significant upper bounds. There is now a screening of Lightyear in the cinemas.