Zurg might be in Pixar’s Lightyear, but he is like nothing fans have seen before. This version is a giant robot, voiced by the talented James Brolin.
Zurg is one of the most iconic characters in the Toy Story franchise. He is Buzz Lightyear’s main villain, so of course he had to be included in the upcoming Pixar film, Lightyear. It is important to establish his relationship with Buzz, who is voiced by Chris Evans in this version, and the creators behind this film have done that in a truly epic way. It has been confirmed by Pixar that the incredibly talented James Brolin will be voicing Zurg.
In Lightyear, Buzz finds himself up against the imposing captain of an alien spaceship that shows up at the hostile planet Buzz has called home for years. Voiced by James Brolin, Zurg has an army of ruthless robots and a mysterious mission.
“It wouldn’t be a Buzz Lightyear movie without Zurg. I’m not gonna say anything about Zurg other than he is voiced by James Brolin, and he’s full of surprises.” – Galyn Susman (Producer)
Zurg Is A Giant Robot In Lightyear
Zurg has a similar look in Lightyear, especially when it comes to his silhouette, but he has a lot of differences in this movie too. He is a giant robot, and has a whole lot of robot minions following his every order. Director Angus MacLane has said that the Buzz Lightyear toy Andy covets is from the cartoon, that was based off of the movie Lightyear, so it stands to reason that the Zurg toys are the same. This allowed the team to have some flexibility in creating a Zurg that works for the plot of the movie — and they went full giant, epic robot.
Greg Peltz (Sets Art Director) says the most exciting thing for him, is that he got to work on Zurg. He’s a key character in the Buzz Lightyear mythos, as fans all know. Peltz says he talk about the mechanical design of Lightyear without taking a look at this amazing villain.
“So adapting Zurg for our movie was a tall order. The original design from Toy Story 2 is iconic, and we wanted to draw from that source material as much as possible. But at the same time, our movie has a look that is more mature and detailed than the original toy version of the character. We needed our Zurg to fit within the hard boiled sci-fi world that we had created. But above all, Zurg, he needs to be a threat. His design has to be intimidating so he could carry the menace and the presence our story demanded. Taking all of those goals together, reimagining the character as a giant robot was a natural fit for the character and the world he occupies.” – Greg Peltz (Sets Art Director)
Petlz explains that there is another reason Zurg’s a robot — because it is really cool. Zurg’s design is influenced by the existing style, but he also needed to be visually distinct (similar to the changes made to Buzz Lightyear). In addition to other sci-fi inspirations, Zurg takes cues from super robots and mecha in Japanese anime. Zurg’s reimagining needed to be into a form that exudes power and presence.
Zurg is a force to be reckoned with in Lightyear, and he has a crazy array of awesome features that fans will get to see him use in the film. Most importantly, though, Zurg’s new mechanized form doesn’t mean that he’s a mindless automaton. He is still a fully-rounded character just like the rest of the cast. But to find out what kind of character he is, you’re gonna have to watch the movie.
Of course the team also confirms there will be the obligatory scene of Buzz fighting Zurg in Lightyear. Be sure to check it out when this movie hits theaters on June 17th.
NEXT: Why Chris Evans Is The Perfect Buzz Lightyear
About Lightyear
Disney and Pixar’s Lightyear is an all-new, original feature film that presents the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear (voice of Chris Evans)—the hero who inspired the toy—following the legendary Space Ranger on an intergalactic adventure. But Buzz can’t do it alone—he shares space with a dutiful robot companion cat called Sox (voice of Peter Sohn).
A hidden grab bag of gizmos in a cute kitty package, Sox is Buzz’s go-to friend and sidekick. Directed by Angus MacLane (co-director “Finding Dory”) and produced by Galyn Susman (“Toy Story That Time Forgot”), the sci-fi action-adventure releases on June 17, 2022.
Lightyear hits theaters June 17th!
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.