Comedian Tim Allen shares his thoughts on “Lightyear” for the first time.
The Home Improvement star voiced the character of Buzz Lightyear, a toy astronaut, in the Toy Story franchise. Pixar’s “Lightyear,” which is in theaters now, instead focuses on Buzz, the fictional movie character who inspired the Buzz toy, and is voiced by Chris Evans.
In an interview with Extra that aired this week, Allen attempted to set that record straight while sharing his somewhat mixed view of the new film.
“The short answer is I stayed out of it because it has nothing to do with it [with my character],” he said. “We talked about this many years ago … but the sheet metal that did the first four films isn’t that. This is a whole new team that really had nothing to do with the first films.”
“Without Woody, there really isn’t any ‘Toy Story’ buzz,” Allen continued, referring to the cowboy toy character voiced by Tom Hanks in the Toy Story franchise.
Noting that he expected Lightyear to be a live-action film, he added, “It’s a wonderful story. It just doesn’t seem to have any connection to the toy. … It just has no relation to Buzz. I wish there was a better connection to it.”
Watch a clip from Tim Allen’s “Extra” interview below.
“Lightyear’s” somewhat confusing premise has led some fans on social media to accuse Pixar — a Disney subsidiary — of replacing Allen with Evans.
In June, “Everybody Loves Raymond” star Patricia Heaton tweeted that not casting Allen in Lightyear was a “HUGE mistake,” adding, “Tim IS Buzz! Why would they completely castrate this iconic, beloved character?”
Later that day, she cleared her mind something by stating that the new film is “an origin story.” Still, she added, “Why remove the one element that makes us want to see it?”
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly earlier this month, Evans admitted he has “concerns” about taking on the role of Buzz Lightyear given Allen’s “Toy Story” appearances.
“I love what Tim Allen did and I love what ‘Toy Story’ meant to me,” he told the publication. “You have to understand that there will be a lot of people who have an idea in their head, but this is like when I signed on to Captain America. They know there’s a die-hard fan base, but that fan base is there because they have an understanding of what the character already is. So you have to respect that when you make your decisions.”
Meanwhile, Disney doesn’t seem to hold a grudge against Allen. Earlier this year, it was announced that Allen would reprise his role as Santa/Scott Calvin in a Disney+ series spin-off of The Santa Clause.