Lightyear allows viewers to see what made Buzz Lightyear so captivating to Andy. In the Toy Story movies, Buzz Lightyear is a toy who spends most of his time in Andy’s room. When Buzz introduces himself to Woody and the rest of the gang, Buzz does so by claiming he is a Space Ranger rather than a toy. Buzz does not seem to be aware he is a toy, even though he goes still when a human enters the room. Toy Buzz’s experience throughout the Toy Story films has Buzz accepting he is a toy and becoming good friends with Woody and the rest of Andy’s toys. However, the first Toy Story movie does the most work on Buzz’s development toward understanding his identity as a toy.
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Lightyear takes on a different side of Buzz due to that version being a movie character. The Buzz in Lightyear is meant to be a fictional character within the Toy Story world. His life does not quite match up with the toy counterpart of Buzz, but the two still, to an extent, go through mirroring arcs. Although Lightyear’s Buzz is more stubborn toward completing his mission rather than a blatant refusal to believe he is a toy, there are still similarities in how the two counterparts of Buzz Lightyear behave and how their character arcs are portrayed.
A Stubborn Start
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
In Toy Story, Buzz truly believes he is a Space Ranger. His arrival in Andy’s room shifts things, but while many of Andy’s toys love or admire Buzz, Woody remains jealous of Andy’s love for Buzz and his annoyance toward Buzz’s refusal to acknowledge he is a toy. Buzz ignores Woody’s claims, acting like he is on a mission from Star Command that went wrong. Buzz’s stubbornness in refusing the obvious is played as a joke throughout the movie. But, in Lightyear, it could be suggested that Buzz’s adamant, stubborn refusal could have just been a shared trait from his fictional movie character.
In Lightyear, one of Buzz’s most significant flaws is his stubbornness. He believes he can pull off a big savior moment on his own, a decision that strands everyone on an empty planet. Buzz’s determination to undo his mistake and bring everyone back home has resulted in Buzz’s space trips finding his minutes away from the group equal years for them. Buzz’s best friend, Alisha Hawthorne, lives an entire life in the period Buzz continues to attempt the mission. She gets engaged, married, and starts a family with her wife, their son, and granddaughter, Izzy. Unfortunately, Buzz is so focused on getting everyone home that he does not realize that life is happening right before him.
Understanding His Wrong Decisions
In Toy Story, it takes Buzz seeing the commercial advertising him to realize he is a toy. It is a devastating moment for Buzz as he compares the advertisement with his gadgets and realizes that Woody had been right all along. The discovery is an emotional hit to Buzz, and he must reckon with what it means regarding how he sees his identity. However, once he is given a chance to do better, Buzz understands where he had gone wrong and works to do better. Lightyear’s Buzz goes through a similar emotional struggle.
Buzz has nightmares of the accident that stranded everyone on the empty planet. He desperately wishes to bring everyone home to undo his mistake. But, his moment of realization appears differently. Buzz had noticed that Alisha had been happy with her wife and their family but believed so much in leaving the empty planet behind that he never got the chance to partake in that joy. Meeting Alisha’s granddaughter, Izzy, gives him a window into how Alisha ended up having a happy life, and it is something he would never want to take away from his old friend. But, seeing Zurg, or as the film reveals him to be an older Buzz Lightyear, shows Buzz how bitter and single-minded he could have become.
Older Buzz had been dismissed by those he had gone on several missions for, and in his wish to fulfill his mission, he wanted to undo everything that happened to finally succeed. However, time traveling into the past and preventing all that happened would also prevent Alisha and everyone else who found families and friends on the planet from living their happy lives. Everyone except Buzz had accepted what their lives had been, and as he finally meets his older self, who never found peace, Buzz understands precisely how his mindset had been wrong.
Eventual Reliance On Friendship
In Toy Story, Buzz loves the admiration he receives from the rest of Andy’s toys. Although Buzz is making friends, the most significant friendship Buzz gains is with Woody. They do not start as friends at all, yet through their shared experience and wish to return to Andy, Woody and Buzz find common ground and conclude the movie as close friends. Woody and Buzz’s friendship is at the heart of the film and franchise in each following movie. Even when they spend time apart due to the plot, Buzz and Woody rely on each other. In Woody’s absence, Buzz depends upon the rest of the gang.
Throughout Lightyear, Buzz considers Alisha to be his best friend. Sadly, she passes early in the film due to experiencing an entire life while Buzz continues his various attempts at succeeding in his mission. However, Izzy eventually steps up to become his closest friend once Buzz opens up enough to let her in. Buzz also relies on his robot cat Sox and other ragtag members Mo and Darby. In the end, Buzz recognizes the potential they have as Space Rangers and the trust he can have in them.
