The Toy Story franchise continues to expand itself with the recent release of Lightyear, which is a spinoff film based solely around the character Buzz Lightyear, the space action figure. Now, Tom Hanks has shared his thoughts on the decision to exclude Tim Allen from the film.
In Pixar's Lightyear, the space ranger was voiced by none other than Marvel veteran Chris Evans instead of Allen, who previously voiced the character in the franchise, and it's sparking some debate. The conversations swirling about the choice to replace Allen with Evans has brewed controversy among die-hard fans of the franchise, and others who just simply believe that the studio should stick with what works.
All this talk has prompted Tom Hanks, who voiced Woody in the Toy Story franchise, to finally weigh in on the matter. In an interview with Cinema Blend to promote his latest film Elvis, Hanks addressed the Lightyear casting change. When asked how it felt to go head-to-head at the box office with Lightyear, which hit theaters on June 17th, Hanks responded, telling Cinema Blend, “Actually, I wanted to go head-to-head with Tim Allen, and then they didn’t let Tim Allen do it. I don’t understand that.” After the interviewer made nods to Evans being a big name in the industry, Hanks said, “Yeah, yeah I know.” He then went on to add, “But here’s the thing: Just as long as people come back to the motion picture theater. I want to go back into the theater with a bunch of strangers and leave with something in common. That’s what I want to do.”
Allen also discussed Lightyear in an interview with Extra last week, telling Extra that none of the key creatives on Lightyear were attached to any of the past ToyStory films. He also told Extra that there’s no Toy Story's Buzz without his best pal Woody by his side, as fans have always seen in the past. He then went on to give his full thoughts on the new spinoff film, saying he wished Evans' Buzz reflected the toy version better, saying, “I wish there was a better connection.”
It’s clear that Hanks and Allen have strong feelings about the creative choices made in Disney's newest animated feature Lightyear, and it makes sense. The devotion both he and Hanks gave to the characters for decades was beloved by fans, and Allen's passion reflects the emotions that can arise when you try to fix something that wasn’t really broken in the first place. With Lightyear only raking in 50.6 million at the box office during its opening weekend, it’s hard to say if there will be a future for Evans' rendition of the character moving forward.
Lightyear is now playing in theaters.
Source: CinemaBlend, Extra