Why Isn’t Sox In Toy Story or Buzz Lightyear Star Command? Lightyear Director Angus MacLane explains this and more burning Lightyear questions.
With Lightyear coming to theaters, a lot of questions are being raised. For some reason, some fans just cannot figure out how Lightyear connects to the Toy Story universe. Director Angus MacLane has done his best to try to explain, and answer fan questions, on twitter.
Here are answers to some of the most asked questions.
Why Is Tim Allen Not Voicing Buzz in Lightyear?
Chris Evans takes on the role of Buzz in Lightyear. Fans know the voice of Buzz to be Tim Allen in the Toy Story films. So why isn’t Tim Allen voicing Buzz this time? The answer is simple, actually. Because Tim Allen is the Buzz Lightyear toy, and Chris Evans is the “live action” actor who plays Buzz in the movie Lightyear.
Many actors do not do the voices of the toys for their characters. This is common practice. So in order to make it feel more real, they needed a different voice for Buzz. The team felt Chris Evans was perfect for the role of Buzz Lightyear for several reasons, the strongest being that he has the ability to play a smart and confident leader, without coming off as condescending.
Is Lightyear Live Action or Animated In Andy’s Universe?
If it isn’t clear enough from the feel of the film, Lightyear is meant to be live action in the Toy Story universe. That is the main reason that the animation is so hyper-realistic.
Why Aren’t Sox, Izzy, Mo, & Darby In Toy Story?
Angus MacLane has said many times that the toys Andy owns in Toy Story are from a cartoon spin off of the movie Lightyear. This is apparent in the design of the Buzz Lightyear toy — more chunky and not true-to-life proportions.
Just because fans didn’t see these toys in Toy Story, doesn’t mean they didn’t exist. Remember, we are only seeing the ones that Andy owns, for the most part.
MacLane explained during the press conference for Lightyear that there sure was a Sox toy, but it was in high demand. Not only was it expensive, and one of those toys that not everyone can afford, it was hard to find. Andy’s mom tried, but she just couldn’t get him Sox.
Why Aren’t Sox, Izzy, Mo, & Darby In Buzz Lightyear Star Command?
Buzz Lightyear Star Command is canon, according to Angus MacLane, however it is not uncommon for a show to only take certain characters from a movie and put them in a series. For Buzz Lightyear Star Command, the producers of the show decided to only keep Buzz and Zurg.
Should they have kept Sox? Probably. But MacLane explains that they decided to go in a different direction. As for the three eyes aliens? Well they are Pizza Planet branded and with Pizza Planet being a major sponsor, they had to be brought in. This is why the three eyed aliens are NOT seen in Lightyear.
Often when a live-action film was turned into a 2D show in the 1980’s they would jettison a lot of the characters and add a bunch of new ones. https://t.co/raIP49F47g
— Angus MacLane (@AngusMacLane) June 11, 2022
NEXT: Is Lightyear a Live Action Film in the Toy Story Universe?
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.