Home Improvement and Last Man Standing star Tim Allen has voiced Buzz Lightyear in all four Toy Story movies. In 2022, a new Toy Story spin-off movie called Lightyear was released. The main character in Lightyear is human, and he inspired the creation of the toy Buzz Lightyear.
To go even deeper, Lightyear is sort of a movie within a movie. It was described as being the film a young Andy watched and loved…leading to him wanting a Buzz Lightyear toy for his birthday.
Since the main character of Lightyear was an entirely new character, a new voice actor was chosen for the role. Avengers star Chris Evans voiced him in the film, and was thrilled to participate in the project.
In a post on Instagram, Evans spoke about his initial reluctance to take on the role, since “no one could ever touch” Allen’s performance as Buzz. But once he realized the character in Lightyear was entirely different, he felt better about playing the human version of Buzz.
“Working with Pixar is a dream come true,” Evans said. “I’ve been a massive fan of their films since the very beginning. My team could barely contain their excitement when they told me that Pixar had a pitch for me. All they said was ‘Buzz Lightyear’. I didn’t know what that meant, since Tim Allen is Buzz Lightyear, and no one could ever touch his performance. I needed to know how this character was different and why this story was worth telling.”
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However, many fans did not understand the concept of Lightyear, and thought Allen was rejected and recast. This caused some people to form a negative opinion of Lightyear, with many refusing to watch the film.
On Wednesday (February 8), Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed plans for several sequels for some of the company’s most beloved franchises. One of the sequels currently in the works is Toy Story 5.
Naturally, people wondered if Allen would be back to voice Buzz in Toy Story 5. It didn’t take long for him to respond to the news of the upcoming sequel…and he seemingly confirmed his involvement!
“See ya soon Woody, you are a sad strange little man and you have my pity,” Allen said, quoting one of Buzz’s most iconic lines. “And off we go to a number 5! To infinity and beyond!”
See ya soon Woody, you are a sad strange little man and you have my pity. And off we go to a number 5! To infinity and beyond! pic.twitter.com/bwRzE487Vi
— Tim Allen (@ofctimallen) February 9, 2023
People are quite excited about the idea of Allen returning to voice Buzz!
Allen doesn’t use his Buzz Lightyear voice that often when he isn’t working on the Toy Story films. But there was a time he scared someone by using the voice during an elevator ride. Check out the video below to watch him tell Kelly Clarkson that funny story.