Tim Allen is finally weighing in on the continued discussion surrounding Pixar’s recent film Lightyear, which tells the origin story of the human Space Ranger who would inspire the Buzz Lightyear toy that Allen voiced in the four Toy Story films.
During a video interview with Extra, Allen explained that he has “stayed out of this” but went on to recall a years-ago conversation with Pixar creatives about potentially exploring Buzz’s origins. “As I’ve said a long time ago, we talked about this many years ago,” Allen said. “It came up in one of the sessions; I said what a fun movie that would be.”
Lightyear, featuring the voice of Chris Evans as the title character, was directed by Angus MacLane, who wrote and directed the 2011 theatrical short Toy Story Toon: Small Fry and the 2013 ABC Halloween special Toy Story of Terror! Lightyear marks the first feature film in the franchise that does not credit John Lasseter, the Pixar co-founder who directed the first two Toy Story films and did not return to the company following a sabbatical in 2017 amid allegations of sexual misconduct from co-workers.
“The brass that did the first four movies, it’s just a whole new team that really have nothing to do with the first movies,” Allen continued, although he didn’t name anyone specifically. He said he initially assumed that Lightyear would feature human actors rather than being an animation project and added, “There’s really no Toy Story’s Buzz without Woody.”
Calling himself “a plot guy,” the Home Improvement alum said he expected Lightyear to “be a big adventure story. As I see, it’s not a big adventure story. It’s a wonderful story. It just doesn’t seem to have any connection to the toy.”
Allen concluded, “It has no relationship to Buzz. It’s just no connection. I wish there was a better connection.”
The film bowed to an underwhelming $50.6 million, coming in at No. 2 behind holdover Jurassic World Dominion when it debuted.
“The movie didn’t hit the right buttons,” a rival film exec previously told The Hollywood Reporter about Lightyear’s disappointing opening.
Lightyear has been a source of controversy in recent weeks. Such public figures as Patricia Heaton decried the film prior to the June 17 release for not involving Allen, and the movie has also spurred headlines over reactions to a same-gender kiss.
