Lightyear

Lightyear is a 2022 American animated science-fiction action-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film is a spin-off of the Toy Story film series, but does not take place in the same fictional universe as them; rather, it is presented as a film that characters in the main Toy Story films have seen. Lightyear centers on the character Buzz Lightyear, who in this film is human and not a toy. The film was directed by Angus MacLane and produced by Galyn Susman, from a screenplay and story written by MacLane and Jason Headley, both of whom co-wrote the latter with Matthew Aldrich; Pete Docter and Andrew Stanton serve as executive producers. It stars Chris Evans as the voice of the title character, with Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, James Brolin, and Uzo Aduba in supporting roles. The film follows Buzz Lightyear (Evans) operating as a space ranger who, after being marooned on the hostile planet T’Kani Prime with his commander and crew, tries to find a way back home while encountering a threat to the universe’s safety.

The concept of a human Buzz Lightyear, who exists in a fictional universe within a fictional universe, was first introduced in the 2000 direct-to-video film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins, which was then used as the pilot to the TV series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000–2001). MacLane, an avid science-fiction fan, pitched the idea of a film featuring Buzz Lightyear at Pixar, after finishing work on Finding Dory (2016). The project was officially announced in an investor meeting held by Disney in December 2020. The animators gave the film a “cinematic” and “chunky” look, evoking the science-fiction films MacLane grew up watching. To design the vehicles of the film, MacLane used Lego pieces to build various ships and pitch them to the designers and artists. For its IMAX scenes, the team used two virtual cameras, a regular camera with a 35mm equivalent sensor, and a larger sensor equivalent to 65 millimeters, a procedure earlier initiated by Pixar in WALL-E (2008). Development on Lightyear lasted for five and a half years, on an approximate $200 million budget. Michael Giacchino composed the film’s score, while Ren Klyce served as its sound designer.

Lightyear premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on June 8, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 17, in RealD 3D, 4DX, Dolby Cinema and IMAX formats. It became the first Pixar film to be released in theaters worldwide since Onward in March 2020, and the first to include scenes specifically formatted for IMAX theaters. The film underperformed at the box-office, grossing $226.4 million worldwide against a $200 million production budget, and losing the studio an estimated $106 million.