Buzz Lightyear may have stepped out of the toybox and into time and space, but there are still places he has yet to go. “Lightyear“ hit theaters on June 17th, but didn’t exactly wrack up box office numbers. Perhaps in an attempt to try and get people onboard, it’s coming to Disney+ a bit sooner than we thought.
A Pixar movie hitting Disney+ isn’t exactly unexpected. It would be bigger news one or more of their movies didn’t come to streaming.
“Lightyear” was mired in “controversy” leading up to its release. For reasons kind of legitimate and largely ridiculous. Among the most absurd was people complaining about a kiss between a same-sex married couple. Fortunately, the kiss was restored to the film after a backlash regarding its removal. Among the more legitimate critiques were its tenuous tie-in to the franchise as a whole, and recasting Tim Allen as Buzz with Chris Evans. Allen voiced the character in all major appearances aside from the “Buzz Lightyear of Star Command” animated series and some video game appearances.
[Editor’s note: It was NOT a ‘recasting.’ This film details “the real Buzz Lightyear,” voiced by Chris Evans. This is the film that inspired the toys to be made, including Andy’s Buzz (Tim Allen) who we meet in the first “Toy Story” film.]
None of that stopped us from enjoying the film, regarding it as a kind of “Interstellar,” but aimed at a younger crowd. For the most part, those who saw the film seemed to enjoy it. “Lightyear” currently sports a 75% amongst critics and an 84% positive score from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.
So why then was it a box-office bomb? It more than likely has to do with the rule of diminishing returns. Adjust for inflation, “Toy Story 4″ pulled in about $172,000,000 less than its predecessor. Plus, audiences respond to “Toy Story” films because of the camaraderie of the characters; something that is very different than watching an in-universe real version of one of the toys in Andy’s bedroom.
If you missed it in theaters you’ll be able to catch it on Disney+ August 3rd, 2022. Hopefully it will get more positive attention; it deserves a bit more love than it got. Who knows, maybe it will go on to be come a cult classic. It sure as hell deserves better than “Cars 2” at least!
