Buzz Lightyear

Buzz Lightyear is one of the main characters in the Toy Story series.

Toy Story
In the first movie, Buzz starts out as a surprise birthday present for Andy from his mother. He is not seen fully until Woody climbs up the bed to see Buzz standing tall on top of it. As Buzz comes to life, he scans the place where he has ended up in and tries to contact Star Command, only for no one to answer, but then catches sight of his ripped cardboard packaging, thinking that his "spaceship" has been damaged. As Buzz tries to report his mission log to his wrist communicator and scans the surrounding "terrain," Woody suddenly comes into his view, prompting Buzz to activate his laser on Woody. Woody introduces himself to Buzz and tries to tell him that he is standing on Woody's place. But then, Buzz catches sight of the other toys who have climbed up onto the bed, forcing him to reactivate his laser, but told by Woody that they are harmless creatures, Buzz thanks them for their kind welcome. All the toys, except Woody, are fascinated with the new features of the Buzz Lightyear action figure (buttons that activate his sampled voice, laser and wings). As Buzz shows off his wings, he and Woody have a brief argument over whether or not Buzz can fly, which leads to Buzz demonstrating how he "flies" by jumping off from the bed post, bouncing off a rubber ball, riding down the track on a Hot Wheels car, moving in circles while hanging from the plane suspended from the ceiling, and finally landing gracefully on the bed. Buzz receives an adoration from the toys, expect Woody, who describes that as "falling with style." As the days pass, Buzz quickly becomes Andy's new favorite toy, although Buzz believes himself to be the real Space Ranger. This leads to tension with Woody because prior to Buzz's arrival, Woody has been Andy's favorite toy since kindergarten.

On the evening when Andy and his family are to go to a family outing at a Pizza Planet restaurant, Woody, wanting to ensure that Andy will pick him instead of Buzz, calls to Buzz that there is trouble (a helpless toy being trapped). Buzz then rushes to "help" the toy, and Woody sends a RC Car to push Buzz into the gap between the table and the wall, but Buzz catches sight of RC racing toward him and jumps out of the way. RC then bumps into a board leaning against the wall, which then falls onto a globe, freeing the sphere, which rolls toward Buzz. While running away from a rolling globe, Buzz trips over some colored pencils, but manages to roll himself out of the globe's way, ending up on a windowsill. The globe then hits a desk lamp, which swings around and hit Buzz, knocking him out of the window. The other toys, especially Mr. Potato Head, indict Woody for attempting to murder Buzz out of jealousy, but Buzz has survived the fall as he emerges out of the bushes to see Woody being taken by Andy into the car. Seeking revenge on Woody, Buzz jumps onto the car's bumper, and while Andy and his mother stop for gas at a gas station, Buzz drops down through the car's sunroof, confronts Woody, and jumps on him, knocking the two out of the car. As they both roll under the car, they continue fighting until the car drives away, leaving the two stranded. Buzz tries to report his mission log to his wrist communicator again, which results in a more intense argument with Woody, during which Buzz accuses Woody of delaying his "rendezvous with Star Command" and putting the security of the entire universe at stake. After Woody shouts out his most powerful line, Buzz sees Woody is no help to him, but is convinced by Woody (who has caught sight of a Pizza Planet delivery truck) to come back upon hearing that Woody has found a "spaceship." The two then hitch a ride to Pizza Planet, but as they enter the restaurant, Buzz catches sight of a rocket-shaped game, thinking it is a spaceship, promised by Woody, that will take him to his "destination." Inside, he meets some Aliens, but Woody catches up with him. Unfortunately, Andy's next-door neighbor Sid Phillips (a violent boy who loves to torture toys) takes control of the claw and fishes Buzz and Woody out. The two are taken to Sid's house and up the stairs to Sid's room, where they encounter the mutant toys, whom Buzz refers to them as cannibals. Buzz tries to contact Star Command to send in reinforcements and claims he has adjusted his laser "from stun to kill," making Woody hopeful that they will be able to blink the mutant toys to death should they attack them.

The next day, the two are brutally tortured by Sid (evidenced by Buzz having two suction cup darts on his helmet and back), and as they head for the open door out to the hallway (despite Buzz claiming that they don't know what's outside), they are stopped by the mutant toys, prompting Buzz to activate his laser, but nothing happens. As Buzz ponders what is wrong with his laser, Woody suddenly grabs Buzz as a hostage and pushes a large button on Buzz's back, making Buzz's arm chop up and down repeatedly to fend off the mutant toys and make their way out the door, despite Buzz telling him to stop. As Woody tries to retreat up the stairs after being stopped by Sid's vicious dog Scud sleeping at the bottom of the stairs, Buzz grabs him, covering Woody's mouth, and warns Woody that another stunt like what Woody has done may lead to their deaths. As they walk across the hallway, they accidentally wake up Sid's vicious dog Scud. Buzz darts into a dark room, and Scud follows him, but backs away when he catches sight of Mr. Phillips sleeping on a La-Z-Boy. Then, Buzz hears a voice calling for him. Thinking he can finally rendezvous with Star Command, Buzz opens his wrist communicator, but he realizes that the voice is actually coming from a TV, in which a commercial advertising Buzz Lightyear toys available at Al's Toy Barn is playing. From that commercial (as well as a "MADE IN TAIWAN" message inscribed on the lid of his wrist communicator), Buzz has discovered, for the first time, that he is a toy, much to his dismay. Dejected, he walks out of the room and down the corridors, then catches sight of a window above the stairs. Despite Woody's voice echoing in his mind "You are a toy! You can't fly!" he nevertheless tries his last attempt at proving he was a Space Ranger by opening his wings and jumping from the top of the stairs, aiming toward the window, only to fall to the bottom of the stairs and sever his left arm in the process. There, he is found by Sid's sister Hannah, who decides to borrow Buzz for a tea party, nicknaming him as "Mrs. Nesbit." Woody then enters Hannah's room to coax Buzz out of the room. When Buzz sarcastically shows him off as "Mrs. Nesbit," Woody tries to make Buzz come to his senses by opening Buzz's helmet, slapping Buzz's head with his severed arm, and politely closing his helmet. As Buzz moans over not being able to fly out of the window, Woody, seeing the window to Andy's room through the window out of Sid's room, pulls Buzz into Sid's room. However, due to Buzz being depressed that he is a toy, he refuses to help Woody in his escape plan, only throwing his severed arm on a desk, right next to Woody (and forcing Woody to fake Buzz being there, but making Andy's toys believe that he has severed Buzz's arm, thus ruining any chance at being rescued). Just then, the mutant toys surround Buzz, prompting Woody to fight them off, but the toys have reattached Buzz's severed arm back in place, stunning Woody. Soon, Sid bursts back into a room with a rocket, and while looking for Woody, he steps on Buzz's laser and tapes the rocket onto Buzz's back, stating how he has always desired to "blow a spaceman into orbit," but is forced to delay his launch due to a sudden rainstorm.

Overnight, Woody, who has become trapped in a milk crate due to a toolbox rested on top of the crate, calls for Buzz to free him, but Buzz, who has claimed to have started to think clearly for the first time, is too depressed to help Woody, since he is not a Space Ranger but a "stupid, insignificant toy." In the film's turning point, Woody explains to Buzz what being a toy is and why that is better than being a Space Ranger, even going far as describing the features that Buzz have (wings, glow-in-the-dark, whooshing helmet, talking), all of which make Andy want to have Buzz as a "cool toy." As Woody, too, falls into depression and finally accepts that he will have no chance of standing up to a Buzz Lightyear action figure, Buzz thinks for a moment, looking at Andy's name written on the bottom of his boot, then warms up to the situation that he is a toy. He then starts to push the toolbox off the crate and manages to free Woody. Just then, Sid wakes up and takes Buzz out of the room, prompting Woody to give chase, but Scud has stationed himself in the way. To save Buzz, Woody calls for the mutant toys, who help Woody escape safely to Sid's backyard. After Woody scares Sid away, Buzz thanks Woody and they shake hands, signifying the first sign of their friendship. Just then, the two hear the sound of Andy's car starting next door, and they rush to catch the car, but Woody has to go back briefly to free Buzz, whose rocket has made him stuck to a fence, causing them both to miss the car. After a moving truck passes over the two, they make a dash for the truck, unaware that Scud has caught sight of them. Buzz has made it onto the truck's bumper, but as Woody begins his climb up to the bumper, Scud catches up with them and tries to pull Woody off the truck, prompting Buzz to leap onto Scud to fight the dog off. Not wanting Buzz to be left behind, Woody opens the truck's back door for a box of Andy's toys and dig into the box to find RC, whom he tosses onto the street and sends to pick up Buzz. As Buzz rides RC with Scud chasing after him, the other toys, believing Woody is attempting to murder RC, ambush him. Buzz finally loses Scud as RC cruises into an intersection in which cross traffic is moving and Scud runs into the intersection, causing cars to swerve and form a circle that entraps Scud. After Woody is tossed out of the truck, he joins Buzz as they ride RC, then they try to catch up with the moving truck. The other toys see Woody and Buzz riding on RC and feel guilty for what they have done to Woody. As RC gains closer to the truck, Slinky tries to help them back into the truck, but becomes overstretched due to RC's batteries depleting. After losing grip of Slinky and RC comes to a dead stop, Buzz then realizes the rocket taped behind his back, but in order to light the rocket, Woody has to use Buzz's helmet to focus the sunlight onto the rocket fuse. When he succeeds, Buzz holds onto Woody, who is holding onto RC, as they rocket toward the moving truck. Woody manages to toss RC back into the truck, just as he and Buzz go skyrocketing into the air. Buzz then frees himself from the rocket, and he and Woody plummet to the ground, but a sudden updraft causes the two to glide gracefully in the air, with Buzz describing it as "falling with style," recalling what Woody has said earlier. The two toys pass over the moving truck and reach Andy's car, where they drop down through the car's sunroof and land in an open box next to Andy, finally making him overjoyed about finding his favorite toys.

At Andy's new house, Buzz (now with his helmet permanently open for the first time) is first seen sitting on the bed, listening to Sarge's voice through the baby monitor. Woody joins Buzz as they sit on the bed together, and Woody asks Buzz if he isn't worried about being replaced and what present for Andy may be worse than him. When the toys hear that Andy has received a puppy, Woody and Buzz look at each other with a dreadful smile on both their faces.

Toy Story 2
In the sequel, Buzz is first seen watching Rex play a Buzz Lightyear video game. Then he rushes to assist Woody, who is looking for his hat, since it is the day Woody is going to Cowboy Camp with Andy.

When Woody alerts the toys about a yard sale taking place outside the house, Buzz walks along the line of toys, calling out their names to ensure that all the toys are present. After a squeeze toy penguin Wheezy is taken by Andy's mom to be sold at a yard sale, Woody whistles for Andy's dog Buster, and Buzz uses Lenny to keep watch on Woody. Woody rescues Wheezy, but falls off Buster and is eventually found by a man who has been looking for Woody. As Al walks away from the yard sale after stealing Woody, Buzz attempts to give chase. He jumps onto the man's car and opens the car's back trunk, but the force of the trunk's lid opening knocks him off the car and onto the pavement. However, Buzz manages to catch a glimpse of a license plate before the car speeds away, leaving behind some feathers, one of which Buzz picks up. During the Crime Scene Investigation, Buzz attempts to decipher the license plate number, but is not getting any accurate leads until Mr. Potato Head, while frustrated at Buzz's lack of progress, sarcastically tells the other toys to let Buzz play with his toys. This inadvertently causes Buzz to remember a crucial detail that not only allows him to trace the culprit as working at Al's Toy Barn, but also causing him to deduce from the feather that the culprit is actually the man in the chicken suit, Al McWhiggin. Later, Buzz and the toys surf through the TV channels to find an ad for Al's Toy Barn (which has appeared earlier in the film), and when the ad appears, Buzz has Etch draw a very elaborate map of how to get there. After explaining that he still owes Woody for risking his life to save him, Buzz forms a rescue party with Mr. Potato Head, Hamm, Rex, and Slinky Dog that goes to save Woody from Al. He appears to be a very serious leader, as shown when, at one point while en route to Al's Toy Barn, the toys request a rest, and Buzz demands that they will not rest until Woody is safely back in Andy's room.

The next day, Buzz and the toys arrive across the street from Al's Toy Barn, but to safely cross the road, they use traffic cones, dropping them and proceeding under Buzz's commands (indirectly causing a massive pile-up on the street). Arriving at Al's Toy Barn, Buzz orders the toys to jump simultaneously on a door sensor mat to trigger the door open, and once inside, Buzz tells the toys to split their search. During his search, Buzz encounters an aisle full of new Buzz Lightyear toys. He then catches sight of the words "NEW UTILITY BELT!" on a display stand and, thinking he may be able to use one of those, climbs up the stand only to encounter yet another new Buzz Lightyear action figure. When he foolishly attempts to take the newer Buzz's Utility Belt, the New Buzz suddenly springs to life, overpowers Andy's Buzz, and stuffs him into a cardboard box. When the toys cruise by, Andy's Buzz tries to stop the toys from taking New Buzz, but they don't hear him and take New Buzz with them anyway. After a while, Andy's Buzz manages to break himself free from the box in which he is trapped. As he sees Al walk by, he spots Rex's tail sticking out of Al's bag. He gives chase by using the hangar bars for him to execute acrobatic moves, ending with grabbing hold of a wire-bound plane that takes him to the closing doors, but crashes into the door. He tries to reopen the door by jumping on the sensor mat, to no avail, but luckily, Al's car does not go far; it drives over to an apartment building located just across the street. Spotting a stack of boxes next to the door, Buzz knocks it over, and the boxes land on the sensor mat, triggering the door open, enabling Buzz to exit to run after his friends, unaware that a box that has become sandwiched between the closing doors contains an Emperor Zurg action figure. While Zurg, having emerged out from that box, gives pursuit after Buzz, Buzz uses the traffic cone to cross the street to the apartment building. Seeing the toys' tracks leading to an air vent and hearing their voices coming through the vent, Buzz follows them and grabs hold onto the bottom of the elevator as it rises to level 23. He catches up with New Buzz and the toys in Al's Penthouse as they grab Woody and head toward the vent, where he stops them, and in a brief argument, he opens New Buzz's helmet and shows to the toys Andy's name on the bottom of the boot to prove he is the Buzz they know. He attempts to persuade Woody to come back with him and make him remember what being a toy means by (ironically) using Woody's words from the first film, but Woody tells him that he intends to go to museum with his Roundup gang and that Buzz has wasted his time coming over to the rescue. As a disappointed Buzz and the other toys leave the penthouse, Woody tells Buzz that being in a museum is his only chance, to which Buzz says a rather upset farewell to Woody, knowing that Woody will spend the rest of his life watching kids from behind glass and never being loved again. Eventually, Woody comes to his senses and calls Buzz back to notify him that he is coming with him, making Buzz and the other toys relieved, but Stinky Pete the Prospector separates the two, determined to get Woody, along with the rest of the Roundup gang, to Japan, where he will never face upstart space toys, especially Buzz, whom he detests. After Al packs his Roundup collection into his case and leaves the Penthouse, Buzz and the toys run back to their elevator, only to encounter Zurg, who have followed the trails of Andy's Buzz. As New Buzz jumps into battle with Zurg, Andy's Buzz and the other toys jump onto the elevator, head for the emergency hatch, open it, and attempt to fish Woody out of the case using Slinky. After Al steps out of the elevator and out of the apartment lobby, Mr. Potato Head throws his hat like a Frisbee to jam the closing doors, allowing Buzz and the others to pass through. Outside, Mr. Potato Head spots an idling Pizza Planet delivery truck nearby, and Buzz orders them to climb aboard the truck as he runs into New Buzz one last time when the other Buzz is playing catch with his "father," Zurg. Andy's Buzz bids New Buzz farewell, then he climbs aboard the truck and assigns the toys to their positions (taking the pedals, navigating, and operating the levers and knobs). He takes control of a steering wheel as Rex navigates him to chase Al's car to the airport.

Arriving at Tri-County International Airport, Buzz spots Al just checking in his case, then he and the toys use a pet carrier to enter a maze of conveyor belts, where he tells the toys to split their search. Finally, Buzz catches up with the case containing Woody, but when he opens it, he is punched off the ramp by Stinky Pete. However, he manages to catch up with the rest of the toys as they use a flash camera from another luggage to stun the Prospector. After Buzz captures Stinky Pete, Woody decides to teach the Prospector the "true meaning of playtime" and tells Buzz to shove him into a Barbie backpack belonging to a girl named Amy. After Stinky Pete is disposed of, the toys call to Woody and Buzz as Bullseye emerges out of the case in time, but Woody is unable to rescue Jessie as the case reaches the end of the conveyor belt routine and is loaded into a luggage transporter. Buzz then assists Woody in rescuing Jessie as they mount Bullseye and gallop across the airfield. Woody stands on Buzz's shoulder to reach for one of the luggage's tags, but becomes separated from Buzz; nevertheless, Buzz commanders Bullseye to follow Woody, as he is seen still riding on Bullseye next to the plane's front tires, having caught up with Woody and Jessie who have emerged out of the plane. Buzz also catches Woody's hat as it is blown off from Woody's head. Woody tells Buzz to get behind the tires, then, using his pull-string, he and Jessie swing between the tires and land on Bullseye right behind Buzz. Together, they watch triumphantly as the plane takes off from the runway and disappear into the sky. Buzz gives Woody his hat back, but their celebration is cut short by another plane about to make a touchdown. Woody decides that the toys go back home.

Back at Andy's house, Buzz tries to gather up his courage to talk to Jessie, describing her as a "young woman with a beautiful yarnful of hair, a hairful of yarn." As he decides to go after becoming his embarrassment overcomes him, Jessie grabs him and describes him as the "sweetest space toy" she has ever met, and the two seem to enter a relationship together, especially after witnessing Jessie perform a stunt with the Hot Wheels car and track to jump to the door handle to let Buster out of the room (Buzz's wings automatically open up in astonishment). Buzz later walks up to Woody and asks him if he is still worried about Andy growing up. Woody replies that he isn't worried anymore, and that when the time comes, he will have old Buzz Lightyear to keep him company, "for infinity and beyond." Finally, Buzz and Woody are seen with their respective "girlfriends," Jessie and Bo Peep, as they watch a newly-fixed Wheezy sing "You've Got a Friend in Me."

Buzz also has two alternate incarnations in Toy Story 2.

"Video Game" Buzz
"Video Game" Buzz is a character that appeared only in a Nintendo-like video game played by Rex at the beginning of Toy Story 2. He infiltrates Zurg's fortress "through the main gate" and battles against Zurg, but loses.

Utility Belt Buzz
For character details, see main article at Utility Belt Buzz.

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command


In the Disney series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Buzz is an actual Space Ranger working for Star Command and protecting the universe from the Evil Emperor Zurg, alongside Mira Nova, a Tangean princess with phasing powers, Booster, a janitor from the planet Jo-Ad, and XR, a robot created by the Little Green Men. Like his Toy Story incarnation, this Buzz is known for his heroism and bravery and is a stickler for procedure, but will tell a cover story if he needs to. However he has little people skills, and at times displays a lack of common sense. In this series, he is voiced by Patrick Warburton.

Information from Star Command Personnel Files
Academy Ranking: First in Class

Special Commendations:
 * Order of Galactic Merit. First Class
 * The Andromeda Cross
 * The Pleadiean Cluster
 * The Solar Wind Award for Courage
 * The Nebula Heart
 * Blue Medallion of Excellence
 * The Golden Ring of Jupiter

Toy Story 3
Buzz is first seen in the film's opening sequence that takes place in Andy's real-world imagination, when he lifts up a train that has fell into a ravine due to a railroad bridge that is exploded by One-Eyed Bart (Mr. Potato Head's character). He then flies off to catch the criminals and fires his laser to slice the corvette, in which Bart and his goons are riding, in half. As Woody and Jessie are about to arrest the criminals, Buzz catches sight of a spaceship, and realizes that it is Evil Dr. Porkchop (Hamm's character). When Dr. Porkchop executes "Death by Monkeys", thousands of monkeys swarm over Buzz, Woody, and Jessie, holding them hostage as Bart prepares to blast the three heroes into oblivion. Back in Andy's room, Andy himself brings the scenario to a close by using his fingers to trace Buzz's laser reflecting off Woody's badge to "destroy" the "spaceship" and allowing Woody to arrest Bart and his goons.

Years later, when a 17-year-old Andy prepares to depart for college, Buzz and Woody set up another staff meeting. When Andy's mother asks him what he is going to do with his toys, Andy opens his toy box and puts many of his toys in a trash bag. When Andy pulls out Woody and Buzz, he begins to ponder, and he puts Buzz in the bag and Woody in a box bound for college. However, Andy's mother mistakes the bag full of toys as trash and carries the bag outside to be picked up by an approaching garbage truck, prompting Woody to rush over to rescue his friends. The toys manage to escape the bag as Woody spots them running into the garage hidden under a bin. Woody tries to clear up the misunderstanding, but Buzz and the others, believing that Andy does not want them anymore, declare that they will go to Sunnyside Daycare Center. There, Buzz meets Lotso and the other Sunnyside toys as Lotso gives him a big hug, shows the toys around Sunnyside, and assigns them to the Caterpillar Room. Buzz wants to start a new life at Sunnyside with the rest of the toys, much to Woody's chagrin. When Woody decides to go back, Buzz reaches his hand out for a handshake to say goodbye, but Woody ignores Buzz and walks away. On the first day, however, just before the Caterpillar Room toddlers enter and they expect playtime, Buzz notices several of the toys trying to hide just as they are about to enter, giving away an early clue at the Caterpillar Room's true nature. After a rough and savage playtime with the toddlers (in which a boy snatches Buzz away from another boy who wants to play with him, a girl licks on his helmet, and another girl uses him as a hammer), Buzz regrets having moved into the room and wants him and the other toys to be moved with Lotso, so he sneaks out of the room, with help from the other toys, to find him. Following a few of Lotso's henchmen, he sneaks into the vending machine and climbs to the very top, only to overhear what the Sunnyside toys are planning to do with Buzz and his friends. However, Big Baby enters the vending machine and throws Buzz onto the table, and Lotso's henchmen capture him and bring him to Lotso. Lotso orders his gang to have Buzz restrained and open his back compartment for the gang to access the switch and the hole, which leads to his two different personalities later on.

Bad Buzz
Bad Buzz is a personality of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 3. He is Andy's Buzz Lightyear after Lotso switches Buzz to his "Demo" mode.

After being reset into his "Demo" mode, Buzz think he is a real Space Ranger again and loses all the memory of his friends. Lotso then takes this chance to manipulate Buzz to be his henchmen by making him think Andy's toys to be minions of Emperor Zurg, and Buzz captures Andy's toys and imprisons them in their cells in the Caterpillar Room. He then sets up standards and rules for the toy prison in which anyone who acts otherwise will spend the night in the sandbox. When Woody returns to Sunnyside, he formulates a plan to help the toys escape. After finding out that Buzz has become a real space ranger again, Woody decides to restore Buzz back to his normal self. That night, Buzz and Ken walk along the cells, taking name calls, and while the two, with Big Baby venture out to get Mr. Potato Head, Woody and Slinky Dog venture off to subdue the Monkey who monitors the security cameras in the daycare center. After Buzz returns to the Caterpillar Room, Rex and Hamm distract Buzz by having a small fight. As Buzz tries to break the fight, Jessie and Bullseye emerge out from their cells. Jessie calls to Buzz to get his attention, then she and Bullseye slam a plastic storage bin on Buzz. Rex and Hamm stand on the bin, trapping Buzz, who tries to break free by ramming the bin and using his laser, but to no avail. Rex and Hamm tries to tell Buzz that they can't hear him, but when they turn to see Woody, Slinky, and Barbie return to the room, Buzz takes this advantage to execute an acrobatic move to kick the bin off. He then attempts to escape, alerting Star Command about being taken hostage by his prisoners, but Woody orders Rex and Hamm to hold Buzz down. As Buzz struggles to wrench himself free and demands his prisoners to unhand him, Barbie unscrews his back compartment for Woody to access the "Play-Demo" switch. When flicking the switch doesn't work, Hamm reads a Buzz Lightyear instruction manual (which is retrieved from Bookworm by Barbie under the disguise of "Spacesuit Ken") on the steps on how to reset Buzz. Thinking fast, Woody then orders Rex to insert his finger into a tiny hole below the switch and hold it long enough to cause Buzz to shut down for a brief second.

Spanish Buzz


Spanish Buzz is a personality of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 3. He is Andy's Buzz Lightyear, but accidentally reset to his Spanish Mode after the toys fail to reset Bad Buzz.

Just as Rex feels ashamed for what he has done to Buzz, Buzz suddenly springs back to life, still thinking he is a real space ranger, but starts speaking in a different language: Spanish. Told by Woody that the toys are Buzz's "amigos," Buzz faithfully rejoins their side. As the toys catch up with the others, Jessie is first uncertain about Buzz's attitude, but Buzz starts performing a salsa dance to attract Jessie, who finally starts to like Buzz. Woody, who has no time for such distractions, takes Jessie away from Buzz, making Buzz jealous with his line "El Vaquero!" After the toys reach a trash chute (the only way out of Sunnyside as the Chatter Telephone has told Woody about earlier), Woody calls to Buzz for help, but Buzz, whose concern is to impress Jessie even more, performs an acrobatic stunt by leaping toward a broom, swinging around it, then jumping to the handle of the chute, hooking his feet on the handle, and pulling it down. Woody, Jessie, Buzz, and the other toys go through the chute, but at the end of a chute is an open dumpster, and Buzz wonders where his spaceship is. When the toys get loaded into a garbage truck, Buzz searches frantically for Jessie. Finding her caught under some trash, Buzz rushes over to free Jessie and carry her to safety, but Mrs. Potato Head suddenly shouts "Look out!" Buzz then looks up to see a broken TV falling towards him, then he throws Jessie over to the toys as the TV falls on him, shocking Jessie.

Back to Normal
The toys help Jessie lift the TV, and with help from Slinky, they pull a limp and unconcious Buzz out of the TV. Jessie opens Buzz's helmet, shakes him, then begins sobbing over his apparent "death." When Buzz comes back to life, he briefly sniffs the outside air, then asks (in English once again) if that wasn't him. Jessie is relieved and overjoyed to see that Buzz has returned, and Woody tells Buzz that he has gone "beyond infinity." Buzz recognizes Woody, signifying that his memory has been restored (although unaware of his Spanish mode as well as the events of his brainwashing). After the toys are dumped into a landfill, they are pushed onto a garbage conveyor belt. Seeing that they are heading toward a set of garbage shredders, Buzz orders the toys to grab hold of something metal so that they hang from the magnetic ceiling, safe from the shredders. Just then, Lotso calls for help from under a golf bag, and Buzz rushes over to assist Woody, who has dropped down to free Lotso. The two lift the bag with a golf club, letting Lotso crawl out, and they all grab onto the club to be lifted into the air to the ceiling seconds before they can end up being shredded. After realizing that the toys are heading toward the central incinerator, Lotso notices an emergency stop button on the top of a ladder. Buzz and Woody rush over to help Lotso climb up the ladder toward the button, but Lotso turns away, leaving the toys to die in the incinerator. When the toys are dropped into a large bowl toward the flames, Buzz, realizing that there is no escape, takes Jessie's hand with one arm and Woody's hand with the other. The toys are rescued at the last moment by a giant claw commandeered by the Aliens. Once outside, Buzz tells Woody that he and Jessie, as well as the others, will be in the attic together for Andy. The toys return to Andy's house by hitching a ride in Sid's garbage truck and wash themselves with a garden hose; Buzz has filth washed off from his helmet. After climbing back up to Andy's room, Woody and Buzz shake hands, unable to believe that the two friends are now parting after all they have been through. Jessie tells Woody that she still knows about Buzz's Spanish mode, which makes Buzz curious. As footsteps approach the room, Buzz bids his best friend farewell and climbs into a box bound for attic along with the other toys. However Woody believes that the toys deserve a better place than the attic so while Andy is saying farewell to Molly and Buster, he writes a note telling Andy to donate the toys to Bonnie's house. Andy reads the note, decides to donate the toys, and drives over to Bonnie's house, where he gives the toys, including Buzz, to Bonnie and spends the last playtime with his toys before departing for college. After Andy leaves, Buzz comforts Woody as they accept that their life with Andy is complete, and Woody introduces Buzz to Bonnie's toys.

During the end credits, Woody reads to the toys a message from Sunnyside, which Buzz thinks it is written by Barbie, based on the girlish handwriting, only for Jessie to pinpoint Ken's signature at the end, making the trio exchange uncertain looks. It is also shown that Bonnie has made drawing for her toys, including Buzz and others given to her from Andy. Finally, Jessie takes advantage of Buzz's Spanish personality, and the two perform a paso doble to "Hay Un Amigo En Mi," the Spanish version of the song "You've Got a Friend in Me," to amusement of Woody and the others.

Trivia

 * Buzz's fictional home planet is the planet of Morph.
 * The role of Buzz Lightyear was originally offered to Billy Crystal who turned it down, a move he later admitted regretting. Crystal eventually voiced Mike Wazowski, a character in Monsters, Inc. Also, Bill Murray was also considered for the role.
 * What attracted Tim Allen to the role of Buzz Lightyear, was before him they offered the role to his biggest influence in his career, Chevy Chase, who turned it down.
 * Buzz quotes Admiral James T. Kirk from Star Trek (1966) when he remarks: "There seems to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere..."
 * Buzz does a Vulcan salute from the Star Trek series when saying "Farewell" to Woody at the gas station, when leaving Andy's house to embark on his mission to rescue Woody, and when saying "Farewell" to the other Buzz who is playing catch with Emperor Zurg.
 * Buzz makes a cameo in Finding Nemo, as a toy that was in the dentist's waiting room.
 * The Lightyear Blimp in the movie Cars is a reference to Buzz Lightyear, and is also a parody of the Goodyear Blimp.
 * Buzz briefly appears at the end of Cars as a car, arguing with Woody. He is a Space Rover, and Woody is a woody station wagon.
 * All tires in Cars are branded as "Lightyear", both a reference to Buzz Lightyear and a play on the name Goodyear (an actual tire manufacturer).
 * The original script for Toy Story 3 had Buzz and his entire toy line recalled back to Taiwan (where the Buzz Lightyear toys are made) due to a defect. Apparently, that defect could have explained why Buzz and his toy line believed themselves to be real space rangers. While this plot idea was ultimately scrapped, the final script did still include an explaination as to why the entire toyline had at the very least initial delusional beliefs to being the real Buzz Lightyear (as apparently they are pre-set to Demo Mode when first made.).
 * When Buzz starts flying out from the staircase to the window at Sid's house, a Disney/Pixar logo is seen on the back of him.
 * In only the North American release of Toy Story 2, Buzz gives out his speech with the US flag in the backdrop and the US national anthem, the "Star-Spangled Banner," playing in the background, similar to the way General Patton did in Patton (1970).
 * The colors on Buzz are the favorites of John Lasseter (lime green) and his wife, Nancy (purple)
 * It seems that all Buzz Lightyear toys seem to think they are real space rangers. Examples are Andy's Buzz and Utility Belt Buzz.
 * Buzz was based on the G.I. Joe toys from the 1960s.
 * Buzz Lightyear's catchphrase "To infinity and beyond!" was also said by Flik in one of the outtakes of A Bug's Life as well as Tim Allen's character, as a dog, in another Disney film The Shaggy Dog (2006).
 * Buzz is 11.43 inches tall, and his helmet adds 0.37 inches.
 * Buzz has 215 animation avatars in his face.
 * The quality of Buzz's voice box deteriorated within the ten years between Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3, and is now on par with Woody's sound quality.
 * At one point while he was reset to Spanish demo mode, Buzz briefly felt jealous with Woody in regards to Jessie.
 * Buzz and Jessie's dance moves during the end credits of Toy Story 3 is choreographed by Tony Dovolani and Cheryl Burke of Dancing with the Stars.
 * Buzz has Disney\Pixar printed on his butt.