Lightyear 2022

Movie · 105 min · English · June 8, 2022

Animated superhero Children's animated Superhero

Directed by Angus MacLaneWritten by Jason Headley, Angus MacLane

Starring Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules

Lightyear is a 2022 American animated science fiction action film made by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The movie stars Chris Evans in the role of Buzz Lightyear. This film appears as a movie within another movie, and it serves as a spin-off from the Toy Story series. In the Toy Story films, Buzz Lightyear is portrayed as an action figure character. The story revolves around Buzz who finds himself stranded on the dangerous planet T'Kani Prime with his commander and team. He attempts to return home while facing dangers that threaten their lives.

The idea of a human version of Buzz Lightyear existing inside a fictional world within another fictional world originated in the 2000 direct-to-video movie Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins. This was the starting point for the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command television series, which ran from 2000 to 2001. MacLane, who is a big fan of science fiction, suggested creating a film featuring Buzz Lightyear at Pixar after finishing work on Finding Dory in 2016. The project was officially revealed during a Disney investor meeting held in December 2020. Animators decided on a cinematic and chunky visual style that reminded viewers of the sci-fi films MacLane enjoyed as a child. For vehicle designs, MacLane used Lego pieces to construct various ships and showed them to artists and designers. For scenes shown in IMAX theaters, the team used two virtual cameras. One was equipped with a 35mm sensor, and another had a larger sensor equivalent to 65 millimeters. This technique was first introduced by Pixar in WALL-E (2008). The development process for Lightyear lasted five and a half years. Michael Giacchino created the musical score, while Ren Klyce handled the sound design.

Lightyear had its premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on June 8, 2022, and opened in theaters across the United States on June 17. It marked the first Pixar film to be released globally since Onward in March 2020, and it included sequences especially made for IMAX screenings. Critics responded positively to the movie, although analysts viewed it as a financial failure. It earned $226.4 million worldwide, while its budget was estimated at around $200 million, resulting in an estimated loss of $106million for the studio.

Besides Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, James Brolin, and Uzo Aduba provided voices for supporting characters. The film was directed by Angus MacLane and written by MacLane and Jason Headley.