9. Billy Crystal As Buzz Lightyear In "Toy Story"
Everyone, and I mean everyone, loves
Toy Story (1995), and that is largely down to the superb characters and the amazing voice work that brings them to life. Out of all of them however, Buzz Lightyear voiced amazingly well by comic actor Tim Allen is, perhaps, the most beloved. It seems impossible to imagine him with any other voice, but prior to the casting of Allen a somewhat different approach to the character was being considered by Pixar which would have lead to some... "interesting" results. Originally the part of Lightyear was offered to none other than Billy Crystal, though thankfully for us he turned it down. Now don't get me wrong, I think Billy went on to do a great job as Mike Wazowski in
Monsters, Inc. (2001), but now try and imagine that voice working with plastic astronaut Buzz Lightyear, a character who demands the immediate respect of his peers. Crystal's is not a voice of authority as much as it is one of nasally irritation, and would have been better suited to playing a rubber duck toy rather than a space ranger. What makes Buzz funny is his delusion of grandeur, and Crystal's voice would have made this aspect of the character less believable. Billy described the decision to turn down the role of Buzz was one of the biggest mistakes of his career, and on the basis of this statement Pixar immediately hired him as Mike in
Monsters, Inc. for which he is perfectly suited, so we have two reasons to be thankful for the fact he passed on
Toy Story. You can find Billy Crystal's test screen for Buzz below;