The highly anticipated Buzz Lightyear produced by Pixar studios arrives in dark theaters on June 22 and fans of the Toy Story cartoon are far from ready. As indicated by a card before the credits, it is a spin-off telling the favorite movie of the hero of Toy Story, Andy .
Buzz Lightyear: the trigger for Toy Story
For those who do not know, Buzz Lightyear is the toy that is put at the heart of the plot of Toy Story. Indeed, it is by discovering the film of Buzz the lightning that the little Andy was fascinated by Buzz, the doll received as a gift in the first film. This is not without counting on Woody, Andy's favorite toy, who will quickly feel threatened by this new friend, more modern and cool than him. Ansi, with Buzz Lightyear Disney introduces viewers to the film that was so great in Andy's eyes: it tells the ambitious time travel experienced by Buzz and his crew and the consequences that ensued. In a sense, the film takes place outside of the Toy Story cinematic universe, as it only serves to depict the movie Andy saw that caused his desire to get the doll (a fact highlighted by the Buzz Lightyear poster pasted on his bedroom wall in the original film).
Who is Buzz Lightyear for, and what is it about?
The film is intended to be a children's film and is intended to be seen as a family. That said, most children under 10 years old may be a little lost in the face of the complexity of the points concerning time travel and its dilation … while they represent a large part of the target audience. The plot of Buzz Lightyear introduces Buzz as a famous Space Ranger in Star Command. It begins with its spherical spacecraft crashing into Tikana Prime, 4.2 million light-years from Earth. The crew of 1,500 disembarks and builds a habitable colony to survive while Buzz attempts to recreate the hyperspace fuel cells needed to return home via a series of experimental faster-than-light test flights. Thanks to the concept of time dilation, each failed flight advances four years for everyone but Buzz. As it approaches the threshold of hyperspace, it ages much more slowly than colonists whose lives continue at normal speed. During this time, her commander and friend, Alisha Hawthorne, married, had a child, and then a granddaughter. More than sixty years later, Buzz's robot-cat named Sox (Peter Sohn) finds the right formula to stabilize fuel, but now, so many decades have passed that no one wants to leave Tikana Prime. Buzz disobeys the orders of the new commander and steals the XL-15 spaceplane that delivers him 22 years into the future where Emperor Zurg and his invading robot force have now attacked the planet. He must then team up with Izzy (Alisha Hawthorne's now adult granddaughter) and her two younger friends, Mo Morrison and Darby Steel, to stop the evil Zurg and his intimidating robots. The views of space, the infinity of stars, roaring rockets, alien spaceships, and Zurg's invading robots are breathtaking and imaginative. It's a pure treat for science fiction lovers.
Buzz Lightyear: in the Age of Time
However, the film is really up to date in terms of diversity. We notice considerable efforts on the part of Disney with a majority of female characters whose role is important, racialized characters who do not fit into clichés, a queer relationship between two women normalized … It may be a white man who is honored through this film, but it feels good to see so much positive representation in a children's film! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q41VoF95fmI Overall, an interesting frame, and well worked although it sometimes turns out to be a little redundant and empty. A refreshing film in terms of diversity: women, whites, racialized characters… But concepts and notions may be a little too complex for children who will fill the rooms. All told, we'd even go so far as to say that the film is probably aimed at the generation of adults whose childhood was rocked by Toy Story, rather than our current boyfriends. It's out tomorrow in cinemas!
