Lightyear Filmmakers Explain Why Tim Allen Was Never Asked to Voice Buzz

Toy Story fans have been at least slightly confused about the premise of the upcoming Lightyear spinoff, though marketing materials have since confirmed that the narrative is meant to be the in-world adventure that inspired Andy's love of the character in that original 1995 film. Writer-director Angus MacLane and producer Galyn Susman recently explained how the nature of the concept also meant they never considered having Tim Allen voice this version of Buzz for Lightyear, as his take on the character is an adaptation of the source material, with Chris Evans instead voicing the character. Lightyear lands in theaters on June 17th.

MacLane expressed to TheWrap that Allen wasn't approached and that, were they to include him, it would merely "add to the confusion" of what the film was trying to accomplish. He went on to point out that the action-figure voice of Buzz, played by Allen, was "a little goofier and is a little dumber, and so he is the comic relief. In this film, Buzz is the action hero. He's serious and ambitious and funny, but not in a goofy way that would undercut the drama."

The filmmaker added, "Chris Evans has the gravitas and that movie-star quality that our character needed to separate him and the movie from Tim's version of the toy in Toy Story."

When the project was initially announced, fans had little insight on the project, with Evans himself complicating the situation when he tweeted, "And just to be clear, this isn't Buzz Lightyear the toy. This is the origin story of the human Buzz Lightyear that the toy is based on." This ignited speculation that there was a real human Buzz Lightyear, conjuring ideas that, within the Toy Story universe, a human was heading out into space to battle otherworldly enemies. 

"People were having a hard enough time wrapping their heads around this," Susman shared. "So really we needed the toy in the Toy Story universe to be its own thing. Tim Allen is Buzz Lightyear the toy. Chris Evans is Buzz Lightyear, the superhero from that movie that inspired the toy."

MacLane continued, "The tone is a lot different. Tim is hilarious, but this character wouldn't work as well with him doing the Space Ranger voice. It would not be as emotional. It just changes the tone of the movie. We were going for more of a classic sci-fi film."

Lightyear lands in theaters on June 17th.

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