Fans of the “Toy Story” franchise can now feast on the full “Lightyear” trailer.
Last October, Disney dropped a surprise teaser for the upcoming “Toy Story” spinoff “Lightyear,” an origin story for Buzz Lightyear. And now we have the whole official trailer to get us pumped for the next Pixar epic.
It seems Buzz and friends have been marooned on a planet for a year, and he’s about to take the first test flight on a new ship that will help them escape.
The trailer is replete with absolutely stellar effects.
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But the overall design and look will still spark nostalgia for longtime fans of the franchise. In addition, the trailer features an excellent sparse remix of David Bowie’s classic “Starman,” which further adds to the clip's nostalgic vibe.
The humorous little details Pixar is so adept at slipping into their films are evidenced right from the jump, as we see Buzz yanking on the seat of his spacesuit as he walks out to board his spaceship. There’s a very cute robot kitty, then a far scarier giant robot chasing them, and a hilarious closing scene of Buzz trying to go to sleep.
Originally voiced by Tim Allen, Chris Evans takes over Buzz’s voice in what looks to be an explosive, action-packed adventure that should make fans forget Evans’ other iconic character, Captain America, at least for the length of "Lightyear."
Just as when he threw out an excited Instagram post the day of the teaser, Evans has posted again, featuring a bit of the trailer with the simple caption, “To infinity…”
As Entertainment Tonight reported, back in October, director Angus MacLane discussed the development of the “Lightyear” idea -- it’s the movie within the "Toy Story" universe that inspired the Buzz Lightyear action figure coveted by young Andy in the first film.
"It was meant to be this lampooning of a collection of sci-fi cliches in the original ‘Toy Story’ as kind of a punchline,” MacLane told ET, “but as time went on at the studio, I just increasingly became really interested in what kind of movie that would look like.”
"Buzz is a character I've always been pretty interested in and connected to, since I started on Toy Story 2 as an animator, and I've always been kind of drawn to him," he said. "I've always been curious about Buzz's world, like, the world of the Space Rangers and the world of Star Command."
MacLane added how Evans was his only choice to take over the voice of Buzz, as the role requires someone who can express a serious tone and still able to pull off the comic timing.
"He's been such a joy to work with,” MacLane said, “and such a partner in developing this alternate take on the character and really made it his own," he added. "It's been such a wonderful experience. So, I'm so happy he's exactly who you think he is. And he's really good at his job."
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A coincidental, if sad sidenote – in the trailer, there is a quick shot of Buzz going into hyperdrive, with thousands of flashes of color going past him. It’s a reference to the scene in the sci-fi classic film “2001: A Space Odyssey,” where the ship is zooming through a time portal. The special effects master who created that famous sequence, Douglas Trumbull, just passed away the day before this trailer appeared.
“Lightyear” hits theaters on June 17.
Lights, camera, action!
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