24 years after the original Toy Story’s release, Disney has plans set for a new animated feature that will chronicle the origin story of fan-favorite Buzz Lightyear. During Disney’s Investor Day event on Thursday, Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter revealed that Chris Evans will be voicing the “original Buzz Lightyear” in the new film, titled “Lightyear.”
For those who are still confused, in the world of the Toy Story films, the Buzz Lightyear toy was based on a giant space-set franchise. “Lightyear” will tell the story of the original Buzz Lightyear who inspired the toy (voiced by Tim Allen) throughout four “Toy Story” films from 1995 to 2019.
According to a tweet from Pixar, the film will pick up with Buzz as a young test pilot before his days as a Space Ranger. Despite numerous shows and series that have already taken place in the universe, “Lightyear” will be the first time that Pixar has ever made a Toy Story spinoff as a full length feature film.
Reacting to the news on Twitter, Chris Evans said, “I don’t even have the words,” alongside a short video teaser posted by Pixar of the film’s title.
Evans also cleared up some confusion about his role, writing, “Just to be clear, this isn’t Buzz Lightyear the toy. This is the origin story of the human Buzz Lightyear that the toy is based on.”
The actor also celebrated on Instagram and detailed his excitement working with Pixar. “I’ve been a massive fan of their films since the very beginning,” he said, “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,” he continued. “I needed to know how this character was different and why this story was worth telling.”
Adding that he “can say 2 things with absolute confidence,” Evans wrote “I didn’t stop smiling through the ENTIRE pitch. Ear to ear,” and “Everyone can rest easy. And get very excited.”
“Trust me when I say that they REALLY know what they’re doing over there,” he said. “This one is gonna [be] special, and it doesn’t step on a single thing. I can’t even put my excitement into words.” Evans added, “I smile every time I think about it.”
