# Lightyear: Didn't they already make this movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** disney-hulu, movies, cartoons-animation\ **Created:** [November 8, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988 "2021-11-08T18:04:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/1 "2021-11-08T18:04:45Z")
The trailer for the upcoming Disney/Pixar movie [_Lightyear_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRJ1IUVgreY) is up. While the trailer doesn’t actually say very much about the movie, my understanding from other sources is that this is supposed to a movie in the _Toy Story_ universe. In other words, this is a movie that Andy, Buzz, and Woody might watch not a movie about events that occurred in their world. Complicated, but it makes it possible to show Buzz Lightyear in a science fiction setting without breaking continuity. However, the studio has already done this. There was a cheap direct-to-video movie _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins_ which was released in 2000. It was followed by a cheap animated TV series _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_ which ran for three months. And like the upcoming movie, this movie and TV series were supposed to depict the adventures of Buzz Lightyear that the toy was based upon. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/2 "2021-11-08T18:17:36Z")
This is oddly fascinating to me. So from what I gather from the Disney wiki, in the Toy Story Universe (TSU), there was a (presumably PG-13) action movie called _Lightyear_, which is the titular space ranger’s origin story. Then there was a spin-off cartoon (still in universe) targeted towards kids called _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_. And the toy Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story was from the cartoon. It’s Tim Burton’s _Batman_ first, _Batman: The Animated Series_ next, and then a CGI movie made about a “living” plastic action figure of the cartoon batman. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/3 "2021-11-08T18:19:47Z")
My impression was in fact that (out of universe) they are doing a live action remake/reboot of the cartoon series (including the pilot movie you mentioned) as a more serious version that appeals to kids and adults. This one seems like it’s going to be more of an origin story, unlike the show, which had Buzz already out there even in the pilot. It just set up the status quo of Star Command, rather than Buzz’s first journey as an astronaut. I also find the in-universe explanation rather fascinating. It makes perfect sense as a way to justify the above. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/4 "2021-11-08T20:32:34Z")
This is the “live-action” movie reboot. The Buzz Lightyear property is old enough in universe to be ready for an upswing in nostalgia. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/5 "2021-11-08T20:54:23Z")
That was my first instinct, until I saw it is just CGI animated. And not in a realistic way like The Lion King. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/6 "2021-11-08T22:22:41Z")
No, no, it’s live-action in the universe that Andy lives in. To Andy, Lightyear looks like a real person. It’s just that, to us, the real people of Andy’s universe look cartoonish. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/7 "2021-11-08T22:30:29Z")
…whoa, dude…mind BLOWN! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/8 "2021-11-09T00:10:05Z")
It’s a depressing sign when even studios in fictional worlds have run out of ideas and are stuck making reboots. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/9 "2021-11-09T00:19:18Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > This one seems like it’s going to be more of an origin story [https://twitter.com/chrisevans/status/1337204197641629696](https://twitter.com/chrisevans/status/1337204197641629696) By virtue of being an origin story, it does not seem to be a recycled plot from the animated direct-to-video and subsequent TV series, which picked up with Buzz Lightyear being an established space ranger. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/10 "2021-11-09T00:39:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > No, no, it’s live-action in the universe that Andy lives in. To Andy, Lightyear looks like a real person. It’s just that, to us, the real people of Andy’s universe look cartoonish. OK, I can get this. But from Chris Evans’s tweet further down that **Max\_S** posted: > 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 would imply that in Andy’s world, there is a _REAL_ Buzz Lightyear of a _REAL_ Star Command who flies around defending the planet from a _REAL_ Evil Emperor Zurg (who is Buzz’s father as well, but never mind). Why doesn’t Andy’s world have massive ground-based space defense installations or underground bunkers for when Zurg’s forces get through Star Command’s defenses? Andy’s world doesn’t seem like it’s under continuous attack from extraterrestrials. Now, probably he just misspoke about what it’s about, and Buzz was really just a character in a live-action show broadcast in Andy’s world, but if not I’m sure that [The Pixar Theory](https://jonnegroni.com/2013/07/11/the-pixar-theory/) will have to make some serious revisions… ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/11 "2021-11-09T00:53:15Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > This would imply that in Andy’s world, there is a _REAL_ Buzz Lightyear of a _REAL_ Star Command who flies around defending the planet from a _REAL_ Evil Emperor Zurg (who is Buzz’s father as well, but never mind). I would direct you to this enlightening bit from director Angus McLane, from _Entertainment Weekly,_ > **[Chris Evans goes to infinity and beyond in Pixar's 'Lightyear' trailer](https://ew.com/movies/chris-evans-pixar-lightyear-trailer/)** > > Pixar's 'Lightyear' teaser trailer shows off the Chris Evans-voiced 'original' Buzz Lightyear. > “'Set in the world of _Toy Story_ ’ is kind of weird. Another way to get at it, **it’s a straightforward sci-fi action film about the Buzz Lightyear character** ,” MacLane, who co-directed _Finding Dory_ and multiple _Toy Story_ shorts for Pixar, tells EW over Zoom. “ **In the _Toy Story_ universe, it would be like a movie that maybe Andy would have seen, that would have made him want a Buzz Lightyear figure**.” So you can look at it as a sci-fi action film on its own, or as a sci-fi action film Andy in _Toy Story_ might have watched. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/12 "2021-11-09T01:38:00Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > This would imply that in Andy’s world, there is a _REAL_ Buzz Lightyear of a _REAL_ Star Command who flies around defending the planet from a _REAL_ Evil Emperor Zurg (who is Buzz’s father as well, but never mind). Imagine they’d said: > Just to be clear, this isn’t Luke Skywalker the toy, this is the origin story of the human Luke Skywalker that the toy is based off. They’re not implying that Buzz Lightyear is a real person in universe, they’re saying he’s a fictional character that featured in real movies/TV shows etc and that the Buzz Lightyear Andy has is a licensed toy. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/13 "2021-11-09T11:33:43Z")
Seems straightforward to me. A lot of you guys seem to be making this harder than it needs to be. 1. In Andy’s world, there’s an animated series called _Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command_. 2. There are toys made of Buzz, designed to resemble the animated version, one of which Andy receives for his 7th birthday. 3. 25 years later, the owners of the Buzz Lightyear IP make an origin story movie in live-action. 4. As far as Andy is concerned, it’s a nostalgia kick for him to watch his old cartoon reimagined with human actors. 5. For us, it remains animated in the “same” style as Andy or Bonnie were in the _Toy Story_ franchise. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecc23a/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada_Jr)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/14 "2021-11-09T15:38:34Z")
Man, I wish this was going to be the _Galaxy Quest_ of Andy’s world. Unfortunately, I expect it to be the _Polar Express_ of my world. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/15 "2021-11-09T20:39:59Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > A lot of you guys seem to be making this harder than it needs to be. Dang it, you figured me out. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/16 "2022-06-09T21:29:29Z")
Someone online has seen the movie and they were stunned that the opening three lines of the movie explain its premise better than ALL the marketing that has been done the last year. It begins like this: **"In 1995, Andy saw a movie. Because of that movie, Andy wanted to get a certain toy. _This_ is the movie that Andy saw."** So it is the fictional Buzz’s movie. Like, the one that is fictional in their world, not the actual toy’s prequel-story from the Toy Story movies we saw. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/17 "2022-06-09T21:37:42Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > They’re not implying that Buzz Lightyear is a real person in universe, they’re saying he’s a fictional character that featured in real movies/TV shows etc and that the Buzz Lightyear Andy has is a licensed toy. So there’s scope for another movie (fiction to us, documentary to Andy) that actually takes place in Andy’s world, about the real life and (mis)fortunes of the actor who played Buzz Lightyear in the movie Andy saw. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/18 "2022-06-09T21:38:00Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Someone online has seen the movie and they were stunned that the opening three lines of the movie explain its premise better than ALL the marketing that has been done the last year. It begins like this: > > **“In 1995, Andy saw a movie. Because of that movie, Andy wanted to get a certain toy. _This_ is the movie that Andy saw.”** I wonder if that was added after all the confusion from the marketing. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/19 "2022-06-11T19:46:57Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I wonder if that was added after all the confusion from the marketing Let’s make things more confusing. In Andy’s world, is Lightyear a live action movie or a cartoon? I mean, the _humans_ in Toy Story look like cartoons to us. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988/20 "2022-06-12T18:27:56Z")
Live-action. That’s why the animation is more detailed than it was for the Toy Story movies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightyear-didnt-they-already-make-this-movie/953988.md?page=2)