Page 40 - 363992 LP241340 Darlington Magazine 44pp A5 (July 2022)

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Pixar’s latest outing (and addition to the Toy Story universe), Lightyear, is certainly fun for the entire family. Featuring all of the iconic Buzz moments we know and love from the Toy Story franchise, as well as some new ones (we’ll talk about the pen later), this movie certainly places itself within the Pixar universe in a way that forces the viewer to recognise it as a separate entity to Toy Story.
In 1995, Andy got a brand new toy; a character from his favourite movie - Buzz Lightyear. Lightyear is that movie. And what a movie it is. Lightyear embodies every Pixar trope that has ever been established, and then some. The themes of friendship, teamwork and bravery come to the forefront of this movie in a way we haven’t seen for many years.
The audience follows Buzz (Chris Evans), as he attempts to reconcile a mistake that left him and his crew trapped on the hostile planet T’Kani Prime. As he tests fuels and rockets in an effort to reach hyperspeed, those left behind on T’Kani Prime continue to live their lives and age, as his four minute mission in space equates to four years on the planet. As he commits to his mission, Buzz loses sight of the people around him and misses out on his best friend's life, eventually returning to the planet to find that she has passed away.
Buzz then teams up with Alisha’s granddaughter, and a rag-tag bunch of “rookies”, Mo
(voiced by Taika Waititi)
and Darby (voiced by
Dale Soules), as well as his therapy robot,
Sox (voice by Peter Sohn). They come together to defeat Evil Emperor Zurg, find peace and comfort in their friendship, learn to work as a team and face their fears, once and for all.
One thing that Lightyear includes extremely well, despite the fact it is supposed to be a movie that would have been released in 1995, is representation. Alisha Hawthrone (Uzo Aduba), one of the story’s key players in the movie’s first act, is a black woman who is the highest ranking member of Star Command, and is elected leader on T’Kani Prime. As well as this, she is a lesbian, a fact which is casually acknowledged by Buzz, who when finding out his best friend is engaged simply says “what’s her name?” - a huge step forward in children’s media for the LGBT+ community.
Lightyear also balances humour that children will understand very effectively against jokes for the parents. All of the running gags that are set up throughout the movie have very satisfying payoff’s, which is something I think can often miss the mark in a children’s movie. This is largely down to the outstanding voice cast that have been brought on for this movie, especially Taika Waititi, who’s moments of comedy genius completely steal the show on occasion.
Most importantly for me, there were not many references to the original Toy Story franchise. The only crucial moments that made it from one movie to another were the character of Buzz and his catchphrase “To infinity and beyond”, allowing for this spin-off to become a completely separate entity to the first four
films.
All in all, Lightyear is the perfect choice if you’re looking for a movie for the whole family. It is certainly one that is worth splashing out
on to see in the cinema, though I imagine it will be made available
on Disney+ in time for the summer holidays - so be sure to keep it on the
back burner for our first rainy day!!
Faye Rodgerson Marketing Executive
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