Lightyear: 5 Reasons It's Not The Movie Andy Watched In Toy Story (And 3 Reasons It Is)

When we first met Buzz Lightyear, the toy, in Toy Story, he is every parody of the larger-than-life hero in most action space adventures. It stands to reason that when we get to meet the man that inspired the toy, he would be somewhere in-between. Yet, the Buzz Lightyear we meet in Lightyear is nowhere near the larger-than-life figure we got to meet in Toy Story.

Where the toy Buzz Lightyear always had a dramatic speech to shout, the human Buzz Lightyear never had the opportunity to do one. Where the toy version always had a memorable quip meant to be quoted by children everywhere, the human version does not.

In the rare times the human Buzz Lightyear gets to act more like the toy version, other characters mock him for it - like this is a modern Marvel movie where everyone needs to point out how ridiculous some movie tropes are. If this is a movie from the ‘80s or ‘90s, every over-serious line Buzz says should be delivered straight and sincere.

The biggest departure is that Buzz’s catchphrase in the Toy Story “to infinity and beyond” was always portrayed as if it was a battle cry, shouted to the heavens as loud as possible. Here in Lightyear, Buzz never used it as a battle cry - he only says it gently as a saying he and Alisha share with each other.

It would be more accurate to say that this is not Buzz Lightyear, but Chris Evans portraying Buzz Lightyear and bringing some of his Steve Rogers energy into it. Regardless, it becomes very obvious that the toy in Toy Story was not a very good representation of the retro movie character.