Buzz Lightyear

Buzz Lightyear is a fictional main character in Disney–Pixar's Toy Story franchise, voiced by Tim Allen. He is a superhero toy action figure based on the in-universe media franchise consisting of a blockbuster feature film and animated series, Space Ranger. In the Disney–Pixar Toy Story franchise, Buzz wears a green, purple, and white space suit. Buzz Lightyear is a recurring character in all of the Toy Story franchise's animated films, including spin-offs. Notably, Woody serves as the main protagonist throughout the four films in the series, while Buzz remains an important character. In Toy Story (1995), unlike most other toys, Buzz initially believes himself to be the "real" Buzz Lightyear and comes to terms with actually being just a toy; in Toy Story 2 (1999), Buzz encounters other Buzz Lightyear action figures from the toyline who similarly believe themselves to be "real" including one of the character's in-universe archenemy and father: Emperor Zurg; in Toy Story 3 (2010), set ten years later, Buzz explores a romance with cowgirl figure Jessie, while he uncovers his Spanish mode; while in Toy Story 4 (2019), Buzz finds his inner voice and bids farewell to Woody, who leaves to be with Bo Peep. The fictional character, Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger, on which the toy Buzz is based, also appears in the 2000 direct-to-video film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins and its subsequent spin-off television series, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. In these productions, he is voiced by Tim Allen and Patrick Warburton, respectively. Chris Evans voiced this version of the character in the 2022 spin-off film Lightyear, presented as an in-universe film the characters in Toy Story would watch (as previously depicted in the opening scene of The Adventure Begins) exploring their origin story, with James Brolin additionally voicing an elderly, nihilistic version of Buzz from an alternate future, known as Zurg (a separate character from Emperor Zurg). Conception and creation Buzz Lightyear's was named in honor of Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk on the Moon. According to Pixar producers, the character was provisionally named Lunar Larry, but it sounded "too wacky". Aldrin acknowledged the tribute when he pulled a Buzz Lightyear toy out during a speech at NASA. A clip of this can be found on the Toy Story 10th Anniversary DVD. Aldrin did not receive any endorsement fees for the use of his nickname.