The last time we saw Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Bullseye, and more toys from the Toy Story series come together was in its fourth installment back in 2019. Before Disney announced Toy Story 5 was on the way, we’ve had spin-offs to keep our anticipation under control like the Disney+ shorts Forky Asks a Question and two Toy Story shorts featured in Pixar Popcorn. In terms of recent theatrical Toy Story releases there was the controversial spin-off Lightyear, which tanked at the box office. That project left audiences shaking heads, including Buzz Lightyear voice actor Tim Allen who gave his opinion on the “confusing” spin-off-- especially since a fifth movie is happening.
When the news came out that Pixar was making a Buzz Lightyear solo film, you probably expected Tim Allen to come back to one of his iconic roles hearing him triumphantly declare “to infinity and beyond.” But Chris Evans ended up voicing Buzz Lightyear because he was portraying the man who inspired the toy compared to playing the toy himself. The Home Improvement actor broke his silence about Lightyear to DailyMail as well as what was “confusing” to him about this Buzz Lightyear spinoff.
They were two completely different movies. And Chris did a great job doing an ancillary part. It was very confusing to all of us on the Toy Story movie side, which was real? I'm a script guy, so if Buzz is real, then Chris's version of it was, as an actor doing it, real confusing to me.
I can understand the confusion. When questions first arose of what Lightyear would be about, you might have theorized the plot would be about the toy we’ve known and loved for 27 years. But this spin-off's only tie-in with the Toy Story series was that Lightyear is the movie that a young Andy was watching in the first film that inspired him to buy the toy. According to director Angus MacLane’s explanation for casting Chris Evans, his serious action-hero version of the man who inspired the toy differs from Allen’s Buzz, who was a comic relief toy who imagined himself an astronaut. Buzz felt real to us since this was a live toy with personality and a toy family to team up with whenever trouble came. But then again, Evans’ Buzz Lightyear is also a real character now too. So it’s like we have two Buzz Lightyears now to remember in Toy Story history.
It's no surprise that Toy Story 5 is underway considering the franchise's massive fanbase, and what a success it's been for Pixar. Tim Allen wasn’t surprised about this news as well, as his thoughts on a fifth Toy Story movie before the news was announced claimed he saw no reason why there wouldn’t be another sequel. After it was confirmed that a fifth film would be coming our way, The Santa Clause actor gave his response towards Disney’s news to DailyMail about the time this upcoming animated movie was in talks.
Toy Story five had been kind of laid down quite a while ago, but we just couldn't get into it. Then Disney announced it about two months ago.
Our suspicions on the fifth installment were coming up when Tom Hanks and Tim Allen were seen having a meet-up. But that moment in particular actually wasn’t between two co-workers but two buddies as tight as Woody and Buzz are. Getting an opportunity to collaborate again should make these two actors really look forward to the making of Toy Story 5. It’s a shame that so many people had negative thoughts about the greenlighting decision who felt they’ve seen enough stories about these dynamic action-packed toys and that it’s time to lay the movies to rest. But these fans need to realize that each Toy Story film has been a critical and financial success. So, I have no doubt this fifth installment will exceed expectations.
Here’s an interesting fact about the talking stages of Toy Story 5- it’s been secretly in the works for quite some time now. Tim Allen revealed when Lightyear premiered how he had to keep things on the hush.
So none of us could mention any of this. Even when all the ancillary Buzz or Lightyear movie was coming out, this was all in play. So it was kind of peculiar. That's all.
That must have been incredibly frustrating knowing that news of the makings of what is sure to be one of the biggest animated films in the coming years couldn’t be broadcasted yet. For Toy Story 5, there should be no confusion on what we’ll see as it was confirmed that toy Buzz Lightyear is returning as well as Tim Allen’s legendary vocal talents for the role. You can see the entire Toy Story film series, shorts, and spin-off Lightyear on your Disney+ subscription.
