Disney and Pixar's Lightyear is looking more ambitious with every new trailer, and the latest one offered to anxious fans is no exception. The newest look at the Toy Story-adjacent movie offers a more detailed look at both the cast of characters joining Buzz on his adventure, as well as some plot details that reveal the nature of his journey.
Much like the previous trailers released for the film, this one starts with Buzz's departure from what seems to be a marooned section of humanity. His flight is only meant to serve as a short test, but when he returns, he finds that years have passed instead of only the four minutes he was given by his commander, Hawthorne.
This is also when Buzz meets a few more humans, including Hawthorne's granddaughter. There is also Taika Waititi's Morrison (who thought he was just getting into a "fun, boot camp workout thing"), and explosives expert Darby (who can "take any three things and make them explode). They need a pilot to help them take out a hostile alien ship, likely belonging to the evil Emperor Zurg.
There are plenty of humorous touches in the trailer that serve as great callbacks to Lightyear's character in the Toy Story movies. First, there is the fact that Hawthorne calls him out for 'narrating' while recording his mission log (which apparently no one listens to anyway). Also, when Buzz arrives back on the planet after his test flight, it is a perfect recreation of his emergence in Andy's room from the first Toy Story.
Lightyear was written by Pixar mainstay Pete Docter, who has won three Academy Awards for previous films Up, Inside Out, and Soul. Angus MacLane, who has worked as an animator at Pixar and co-directed Finding Dory, directed Lightyear. Alongside, Evans and Waititi, the cast also includes Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, and Uzo Adaba. Tim Allen, the original voice of Buzz Lightyear, does not appear to be involved in the project so far.
The movie appears to serve as something of an origin story for the character of Buzz Lightyear, and isn't necessarily connected to the Toy Story movies, though it apparently exists in the same universe. It has not been made entirely clear whether this is supposed to be a movie within a movie, or if this is supposed to be the story of a real person named Buzz Lightyear who became the basis for a series of action figures.
Audiences may just find out the answer when Lightyear hits theaters on June 17th.
Source: Pixar|YouTube