I Just Realized Buzz Lightyear’s Backstory Is Just the Plot of Star Wars

Toy Story, the movie that started Pixar’s legendary run and changed animated film production forever, was never shy about its major movie influences. There are direct references to adult films like Alien and The Shining littered throughout the movie, and some very obvious nods to Star Wars and Star Trek, especially when it came to the sci-fi inspired Buzz Lightyear. The entire character of Buzz is built around the toy craze the accompanied Star Wars in the first place.

What I never noticed before is that Buzz’s original programming and “mission” in the very first Toy Story is taken straight from Star Wars. The reference is a pretty obvious one that most people probably picked up on, but I’ve seen Toy Story so many times over the last 30 years that it just never registered with me until recently.

The mission that Buzz Lightyear thinks he’s on, before realizing he’s a toy, is the same as Princess Leia’s at the very start of Star Wars.

When Woody and Buzz are arguing under the truck at the gas station in Toy Story, during the famous “YOU ARE A TOY” exchange, Buzz explains to his new rival that he’s on an important mission and the fate of the entire galaxy hangs in the balance.

“Right now, poised at the edge of the galaxy, Emperor Zurg has been secretly building a weapon with the destructive capacity to annihilate an entire planet,” Buzz says. “I alone have information that reveals this weapon’s only weakness. And you, my friend, are responsible for delaying my rendezvous with Star Command!”

If you think that sounds familiar, it’s because it is essentially Prince Leia’s plot in A New Hope. Darth Vader was set up in the far reaches of the galaxy secretly building the Death Star, a weapon capable of killing entire planets with a single shot. Leia, a key member of the Rebellion, was given plans to the Death Star that contained information about the enormous ship’s sole exterior weakness, which would give the Rebels a chance of defeating the Empire. While trying to take those plans to the Rebellion, Leia was apprehended, delaying her meeting with the other Rebel leaders. The story of how she got those plans ended up becoming the plot of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Toy Story takes the bit a step further, as Buzz steps out from under the truck and looks directly into the sky while talking about Emperor Zurg’s weapon. He sticks his hand out and gestures directly at the moon for part of the monologue. One of the most iconic lines from Star Wars comes from the scene when the Death Star is first spotted, and its sheer size prompts someone to explain, “That’s no moon.”

Buzz Lightyear’s origin has changed and evolved over the years, but that initial explanation in 1995 was always a direct nod to the influence Star Wars had on the making of Toy Story.

It’s one of those things that would’ve been obvious to me if I’d watched Toy Story for the first time as an adult, having already seen and experienced Star Wars. But I was a kid who saw Toy Story for the first time when it was released 30 years ago, and I already knew most of the film’s dialogue by heart before I ever watched a Star Wars movie. At that point, the lines in Toy Story were so ingrained in my head that I just didn’t think too much about them anymore, so it never clicked with me just how clear a reference to Star Wars Buzz’s mission has always been.

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There’s another Star Wars reference later in Toy Story that always felt more obvious. Sid, the devious neighbor of Andy that tortures and destroys toys, is playing out one of Darth Vader’s interrogation scenes with Woody. At one point, in a clear attempt at a Vader impression, he deepens his voice and yells, “Where are your Rebel friends now?!”

Whether you’ve always known about the Star Wars references in Toy Story, or you’re just learning about them for the first time, it’s always going to be fascinating to see how one industry-altering phenomenon helped directly influence another.