Lightyear (film)

Plot

A Star Command exploration vessel carrying hypersleeping personnel changes course to investigate signs of life on T'Kani Prime. Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear and his commanding officer Alisha Hawthorne explore the planet with a new recruit, but are forced to retreat after discovering hostile lifeforms. Buzz accidentally damages their vessel while attempting to leave, stranding the crew on T'Kani Prime. The ship's fuel is destroyed, so Buzz volunteers to test pilot a hyperspace fuel crystal they must develop.

One year later, after a four-minute test flight, Buzz finds that four years have passed on the planet due to time dilation. Alisha gives Buzz a robotic cat named Sox, and Buzz continues testing. Over 66 years pass, during which the colony develops and Alisha dies of old age. Against orders, Buzz and Sox use an improved fuel composition for a successful test, but skip 22 years into the future, finding T'Kani Prime invaded by Zyclops robots led by Zurg.

Buzz meets Alisha's granddaughter Izzy Hawthorne, recruit Mo Morrison, and elderly parolee Darby Steel. After escaping a nest of insects and repairing their ship at a mining facility, they plan to destroy Zurg's mothership.

Production

Development of Lightyear began after the production of Finding Dory in 2016. Co-director Angus MacLane pitched the idea of a Buzz Lightyear film, having wondered what movie Andy Davis saw in Toy Story to become interested in the action figure. MacLane, a science fiction fan, felt the story was personal to him. In December 2020 at a Disney Investor Day meeting, Lightyear was announced as a spin-off depicting the in-universe origin of the human Buzz Lightyear, with Chris Evans voicing the character.

MacLane did not have the earlier spin-off series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command in mind while working on the film, but pictured that series being developed in-universe after a trilogy of Lightyear films. He explained that Lightyear serves as a live-action film within the Toy Story universe, while Star Command is a hand-drawn animated series based on the film. The animators gave the film a cinematic and chunky look evoking science-fiction films MacLane grew up watching.

He used Lego pieces to design vehicles. For IMAX scenes, the team used two virtual cameras, a procedure earlier initiated by Pixar in WALL-E. Production was completed after five and a half years, with a budget of approximately $200 million.

Marketing

A first look was shown at the Disney Investor Day on December 10, 2020. The marketing campaign began on October 27, 2021, with a teaser trailer set to David Bowie's Starman that received 83 million views in its first 24 hours, ranking second among Pixar teasers behind Incredibles 2. The first trailer was released online on February 8, 2022, and aired at Super Bowl LVI on February 13, 2022.

On April 27, 2022, the first 30 minutes premiered at CinemaCon along with the second trailer, which had released online six days earlier. Critics referred to the film as Pixar's Star Wars and praised the animation and visuals, with the robotic cat Sox called the standout performer. On May 5, 2022, a poster, stills, and a special look trailer were released online.

Reception

Lightyear brought in $226.4 million globally, with $118.3 million from the U.S. and Canada and $108.1 million elsewhere. Deadline Hollywood estimated the studio lost $106 million on the film. It ranked as the fourth highest-grossing animated movie of 2022 in the U.S. and fifth worldwide. The opening weekend saw a $50.6 million debut, landing in second place behind Jurassic World Dominion.

The second weekend dropped 64.1% to $18.2 million, the second steepest fall for a Pixar film after Onward. On streaming, Whip Media reported it was the second most-watched movie in the U.S. across all platforms from August 5 to 7, 2022. It also became the most-watched movie globally on Disney+ in August 2022, holding the top spot for 35 straight days.

Did You Know?

• The film's sound designer was Ren Klyce.
• Recurring Pixar composer Michael Giacchino scored the film, marking his eighth collaboration with the studio.