LIGHTYEAR IS ‘LIGHT YEARS’ BEYOND WHAT PIXAR HAS DONE BEFORE By TREVOR HOGG
Images courtesy of Disney/Pixar. TOP: Each time Buzz Lightyear attempts to achieve hyperspace during a test flight, he freezes in time while those around him grow older. OPPOSITE TOP TO BOTTOM: Concept art developed by Bill Zahn exploring what hyperspace travel might look like from a cosmic perspective. The lighting was complex for spaceship cockpit shots. Lightyear provides a clever twist on the signature line, ‘To infinity and beyond!’
As Buzz Lightyear experiences identity issues throughout the Toy Story franchise, the beloved animated character takes on a new persona in Lightyear, as director Angus MacLane (Finding Dory) wanted to make the movie that inspired Andy to buy the toy. But do not expect a carbon-copy interpretation since the demands and intention of the project were entirely different. “The key for us was to capture the elements of what people love about Buzz,” states Galyn Susman, Producer of Lightyear. “In the Toy Story world, Buzz is more defined in relationship to Woody. We are now making a feature where Buzz is the protagonist, so obviously some of the things that make Buzz endearing as a sidekick aren’t substantive enough to necessarily carry through a feature film. The thing that we came up with that we love about Buzz is that he is out of step with reality.” The theme was built into the narrative structure. “Buzz and his compatriots are stranded on a planet and need to develop a fuel that will help them to reach hyperspeed so that they can get back to Earth,” explains Susman. “What they all discover is every time he goes on a test flight, because he’s approaching the speed of light, time passes slowly for him. He ends up spending act one like a skipping stone through time. His disconnect with reality is that he’s frozen in a time that doesn’t exist anymore, and everybody else on the planet is moving on with their lives. It’s much more serious
44 • VFXVOICE.COM SUMMER 2022
PG 44-48 LIGHTYEAR.indd 44
5/2/22 2:08 PM
