Lightyear might sound like a half-baked idea that’s taking advantage of Toy Story‘s popularity. However, the people at Pixar are here to change that thought. From a presentation that they gave going over all of the details of Lightyear, from the planning to the food that Buzz eats on his journey, it’s a labor of love from the storied studio.

Pixar took us on a journey with them involving the conceptualization and even a special sneak peek at the film’s first act. It’s safe to say, that if the rest of the movie is like this preview, we’re all in for a treat. Starting off, they had a panel featuring Angus MacLane, Galyn Susman, Greg Peltz, Fran Kalal, Jane Yen, and Jeremy Lasky. To go through their entire presentation would be a disservice to the hard work and time that went into Lightyear. The movie might be an hour and forty minutes or so, but this was years in the making.

The team at Pixar had to go through what it would take to bring such an iconic character like Buzz Lightyear to life. After all, this is “the movie” that Andy from Toy Story saw, that made him want to get a Buzz Lightyear toy. So anything that you can think of that involves research around space, space flight, science, robotics, robot cats, time travel, or anything else that they packed into Lightyear, they went through to make this film.

That’s just what the pre-scriptwriting and production went through. There’s, even more, when it comes to the visual aspects of the film and how to make Buzz and the Space Rangers look.

Lightyear Has The Chance To Be Something Special

We were only shown 30 minutes of the film, but based on that look, Lightyear could be a really special movie. Pixar has always worked to knock down that wall between “animation” and “live-action”. There’s no reason to separate the two mediums because they’re under the same umbrella of film.

The story of Lightyear brings together time travel, science-fiction, and action, alongside the other time-honored human themes that Pixar gets into their movies. Buzz is stuck at his current age, while others around him continue aging thanks to a complication with the form of space travel he’s using.

That means that his friends go on with their lives, while he’s trying to get them home from a remote planet. It’s an ingenious plot that gets even more complicated when another race of aliens shows up on their planet and they aren’t in peace. For those wondering how Pixar would change up the designs of Zurg and his minions, they did so in a tasteful, yet more menacing way.

Finally, without delving too deep into any spoilers, for those worrying about Chris Evans as Buzz, it sucks that Tim Allen isn’t reprising the role, but it’s a completely different Buzz in this film. Evans steps in and adds a soft touch and ruggedness that only he can. Also, Sox, the cat is adorable and likely to be the runaway favorite of the masses from the film.

Lightyear debuts in theaters on June 17th, 2022.

For more on movie news, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.

Keep Reading:

New ‘Lightyear’ Trailer and Poster Revealed By Disney And Pixar