Lightyear Trailer Breakdown: 21 Story Reveals & Pixar Easter Eggs
Here are all of the story reveals and hidden details sneaking around underneath traffic cones in Pixar's Lightyear trailer. Released in 1995, Toy Story not only revolutionized animation, but also established Pixar as an industry leader. Now an indispensable arm of Disney's ever-growing cinematic chimera, Pixar has never completely let go of Toy Story. After 4 feature-length movies, several fun shorts, and numerous Disney tie-ins, Buzz is now flying in a very different direction with upcoming 2022 effort, Lightyear.
Rather than a straightforward Toy Story solo movie starring Tim Allen's Buzz, Lightyear introduces the fictional astronaut who first inspired the Buzz Lightyear action figures littered throughout Toy Story's world. Directed by Angus MacLane and starring Chris Evans in the titular role, Lightyear is a hugely ambitious deviation from Pixar's fantastical palette, blending real life with Buzz's familiar universe. With such a unique premise, audiences aren't entirely sure what to expect, but a brand new Lightyear trailer offers the most action-packed glimpse yet.
Pixar's Lightyear trailer shows the astronaut bravely venturing into space, facing off against aliens and struggling to find signs of intelligent life anywhere. The footage spotlights a futuristic setting and briefly debuts Lightyear's supporting characters, but while plot details largely remain hidden, Lightyear's trailer contains plenty of story details and Easter eggs for Pixar veterans and Buzz beginners alike to enjoy.
To infinity and beyond we go with Lightyear's opening shot of Buzz zipping up his spacesuit. Here, Lightyear establishes the basic info for this new version of a familiar face - the astronaut's full name is indeed "Buzz Lightyear," and his T-shirt reads "Star Command." Back in 1995 when Buzz was struggling to contact his employers from atop Andy's bed, Star Command was assumed to be a parody of Star Trek's Starfleet, however, Lightyear depicts Buzz's agency as a more realistic NASA-esque organization. They're still the ones sending Buzz into space though.
The Lightyear trailer also begins with the classic crackling radio voices making final preparations for launch. The controller requests updates from Booster, FIDO (Flight Dynamics Officer), Guidance, and other key players in any given space launch. Though these checks are all inspired by real life, the names Booster and Fido were also used for characters in the 2000 Disney animated series, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. It's a neat little nod to wider Toy Story media that may very well have been accidental.
Immediately, the Lightyear trailer distances itself from the visuals of Toy Story. Buzz's in-universe mission takes place within a dusty, well-worn futuristic setting, where the ground is littered with droid-like creations and other advanced pieces of machinery, while the horizon is dominated by impressive space-faring structures. These locales are also drenched in a muted dawn glow - a world away from the bright, vibrant imagery Buzz is traditionally used to in the Toy Story franchise.
A Star Command engineer loads Buzz Lightyear's spacecraft with strange, light blue crystalline fuel, and the trailer's focus upon this spiky matter suggests something will go horribly wrong with the ship's power supply. Looking at this futuristic fuel cell, it's difficult not to be reminded of the environmental message within Pixar's WALL-E. Is this crystal humanity's answer to clean space travel? Or is there a hidden cost to these crystals that might account for Lightyear's ever-so-slightly dystopian tone.
As Buzz Lightyear makes his final cockpit system checks, the name IVAN can be seen emblazoned on the console. The Pixar trope of labeling robots, computers and AI programs with acronyms that spell out human names was popularized by WALL-E, and at this point fans might begin wondering whether Lightyear takes place within that same universe. Ivan was also a character in Cars 2, but if the reference is aimed at anyone, it's more likely to be computer graphics innovator Ivan Sutherland.
Lightyear introduces its first proper supporting character - Buzz's fellow Star Command astronaut, Alicia Hawthorne. The character looks pensive about Lightyear's looming flight, which reveals the pair are friends, if not something more (what would Jessie say?!). No word yet on who voices Hawthorne, but subtitles confirm her given name is Alicia. The surname might've been inspired by Space X's HQ, which is located in Hawthorne, California, and there appears to be a scar above the character's right eye, hinting toward her being a heroic type like Buzz himself
While Hawthorne looks on with concern from mission control, also notice the nice, big "fuel stability" screen display, complete with handy life bar gauge. This adds further weight to the theory that Buzz Lightyear's ship will suffer some kind of malfunction due to those blue crystals making it fly.
Once his ship has breached Earth's atmosphere, Buzz Lightyear punches the hyperlaunch, which rockets him toward the sun, very similar to Star Wars' jumps to hyperspace. Lightyear's hyperlaunch is remarkably consistent with Buzz's backstory as an action figure in the Toy Story movies. Emerging from his box, Buzz always mentions exiting "hypersleep," and when Woody convinces him that Pizza Planet has a ship he can use in Pixar's original movie, Buzz excitedly asks whether it "has hyperdrive?" The "hyper" prefix is clearly a running theme of Buzz Lightyear's fictional mythology.
Entering hyperlaunch activates a shimmering deflector shield across Buzz Lightyear's cockpit, and this laser-like defense places Lightyear firmly within sci-fi territory. Even more than the futurism of WALL-E, Lightyear is embracing the sci-fi genre, and in a much more grounded, semi-realistic way than fans might expect from a studio renowned for giving everything feelings.
But Lightyear is supposed to take place before Toy Story, since Chris Evans' astronaut character inspires the popular toy Andy gets for his birthday. It's strange, then, that Lightyear's world feels futuristic, with robots, force fields and hyperspeed travel, while Toy Story felt like it took place in the 1990s. Everything depends on how one interprets Lightyear's premise - is this a "real" astronaut who was later turned into action figures, or is Lightyear a movie-within-a-movie depicting the in-universe Buzz Lightyear character from a sci-fi film Andy might've seen in a theater? The trailer seemingly confirms the latter, but we still preferred it when Pixar just made us cry.
The Lightyear trailer offers some idea of Buzz's first space mission in the movie - one trip around the sun. According to the course he plots, Buzz plans to slingshot around our biggest star, then get back in time for a spot of tea with Mrs. Nesbitt. This makes sense, as Lightyear's early synopsis described the title character as a Space Command test pilot. Here, Buzz is obviously the guinea pig testing mankind's capacity for long-range space travel.
Lightyear clearly isn't a rollicking, family-friendly space adventure in the classic Pixar mold. Quite apart from the mature visual palette, a lonely Buzz is shown staring solemnly out of his window onto a rainy backdrop. This suggests the astronaut will experience an emotive, life-changing journey across the course of Lightyear - though obviously not as emotive and life-changing as finding out you're a toy. Continuing the Star Wars influence, the plain white room and rainy exterior are super-reminiscent of the planet Kamino from Attack of the Clones.
We've never seen Buzz Lightyear's hair. Whether his domed plastic visor is raised or lowered, Buzz's noggin is permanently covered by a skin-tight purple hood attached to his astronaut costume. But for all three people who wondered what the Toy Story character's hair looked like underneath, Lightyear reveals the truth. We still can't get used to it.
On another planet (this one resembles the swampy climes of Dagobah from The Empire Strikes Back), Buzz hides behind a rock with a robotic partner. Lightyear's trailer doesn't reveal where this four-eyed friend comes from, but their working together sets up a buddy dynamic between astronaut and android. There will inevitably be comparisons to Toy Story's Woody and Buzz relationship, and it'll be fascinating to see whether Lightyear intentionally gives Buzz's robot a few Woody-isms for old time's sake.
By this point, ignoring the comparisons between Lightyear and Star Wars is all but impossible, but the parody actually traces back to Toy Story 2. Emperor Zurg emerged as a comedic Darth Vader, and Pixar's sequel boldly aped The Empire Strikes Back by revealing Zurg was Buzz's dad (though their story ends a little happier). By drawing influence from Kamino, droids, Dagobah, and lightsabers, Lightyear is only continuing that long-standing tradition.
Paying off the hints from earlier, this shot confirms Buzz's spacecraft will inevitably crash at some point in the movie, forcing the ace pilot to show off his skills in the cockpit.
This cute ginger feline startles Buzz, who then jumps back and adopts a fighting stance. Toy Story fans may recognize this as an amazing callback to Buzz Lightyear's karate mode in the movie series, where he adopts a similar pose and gets ready to activate that impressive karate-chop-action feature.
A robot called ERIC briefs Lightyear and Hawthorne on their upcoming mission, explaining the mechanics of time dilation, if the whiteboard is anything to go by. As with IVOR from earlier in the trailer, Lightyear is continuing the same Pixar trope that christened WALL-E, EVE, MO, etc. ERIC could be named after one of the earliest robotic creations built in 1928 by a WWI veteran.
Lightyear's most fantastical scene comes when Buzz is attacked by a tentacled alien that Star Command has seemingly captured, forcing a nearby colleague to sever the tendril with a rudimentary lightsaber. Aside from chalking up yet another Star Wars parallel (the Death Star compactor sequence), the confirmed presence of aliens in Lightyear confirms how deep the sci-fi influence runs. Buzz isn't just darting around our own solar system - he's visiting faraway worlds and meeting aliens that will presumably have 3 eyes and arcade-based religious beliefs.
The cat who gives Buzz a fright is confirmed to go by the name Sox. He's also confirmed to not be a cat, since the pet can plug his tail into Buzz's ship and rotate his head 360 degrees. Every Pixar movie needs at least one cute merchandise-shifter, and Sox appears to be Lightyear's. The trailer would also appear to confirm Sox joins Buzz on his space missions - invited or otherwise.
Lightyear's director, Angus MacLane, has strongly hinted that the evil Emperor Zurg will play antagonist to Chris Evans' Buzz in Pixar's 2022 effort. Though the villain isn't explicitly shown in Lightyear's trailer, the sequence where Buzz sneaks through a dark hangar lined with violent-looking drone robots could be a prelude to Zurg's appearance. The scene ends with the opening of a coffin-like container bathed in smoke and red light, which could very well emanate from Zurg's famous crimson eyes. Lightyear's "sneaking around an enemy base" scenes are hugely similar to Toy Story 2's Buzz Lightyear video game, which Rex didn't complete, no matter what he says.
For much of the Lightyear trailer, Buzz is clothed in a more traditional, real-world white astronaut outfit. By the end, he's clad in much more familiar gear. Midway through Lightyear, Buzz will be fitted with the green and white armor Toy Story fans are accustomed to, complete with colored buttons, wrist flap, red ignition switch, and a little red light bulb that blinks.
The framing of the shot where Lightyear reveals Buzz's new suit hanging upon a wall is almost identical to the moment Steve Rogers first glimpses his Captain America outfit in The Avengers, from the lighting of the costume to the respective reactions of Steve and Buzz.
Buzz barely speaks in Lightyear's trailer, relying instead on imagery and the fine music of David Bowie to convey the film's tone. In an extra treat, the final shot does offer a hint of Chris Evans' Buzz Lightyear voice, as he finishes Hawthorne's recital of the famous Star Command catchphrase "to infinity and beyond." Though it's barely a single word, Evans' Lightyear doesn't sound a million miles from Tim Allen's iconic performance, though it's undeniably Captain America in the recording booth. Speaking of Cap, the Lightyear trailer cuts off before Buzz can say "beyond!" which mirrors the final scene of Avengers: Age of Ultron, where the film ended before Steve Rogers could say "assemble!"