Buzz Lightyear

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

Toy Story
In the first movie, Andy received a Buzz Lightyear action figure for his birthday and quickly became his favorite toy, though Buzz believed himself to be the real Buzz Lightyear. This caused tension with Woody, who had been Andy's favorite toy before his arrival.

Out of jealousy, Woody pushed Buzz out of Andy's window by accident (he intended to have Buzz get stuck between the drawer), and they both ended up in Sid's house, where Buzz discovered, for the first time, that he was a toy, much to his dismay. He desperately tried his last attempt at proving he was a Space Ranger by jumping from the top of the stairs, aiming toward the window, only to fall to the bottom of the stairs and lose his arm in the process (his arm was eventually reattached by the mutant toys). He was initially depressed and didn't want to help Woody (even letting Andy's toys believe he had severed Buzz's arm and forcing Woody to fake Buzz being there, thus ruining any chance at being rescued), but with Woody talking some sense into Buzz about how Andy loved having him as his toy, he gradually came to accept the situation. Putting all differences aside, Buzz and Woody worked together and they escaped from Sid's house, reunited with Andy and his toys, and became the best of friends.

Toy Story 2
In the sequel, Buzz attempted to rescue Woody from Al when the latter stole him from a Yard sale (as Woody had gone to the yard sale to try to save another toy from being sold). He failed to rescue Woody due in part to losing his grip on the trunk of the car, although not before grabbing a feather as well as getting a glimpse of Al's license plate. 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, inadvertantly causes Buzz to remember a crucial detail by sarcastically telling the other toys to let Buzz play with his toys that not only allowed 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. After explaining that he still owes Woody for risking his life to save him, Buzz becomes the leader of the rescue party that goes to save Woody from Al. After a few twists and turns (including getting into a scuffle and sealed away by a Buzz Lightyear model that was apparently even more deluded than him in regards to thinking he was the real Buzz), he finally finds Woody and tries to make Woody remember what being a toy means by (ironically) using Woody's words from the first film. Eventually, Woody comes to his senses and calls Buzz back, but the Prospector separates the two, determined to get Woody to Japan along with the rest of the Roundup gang. Buzz and the toys hijack a Pizza Planet delivery truck to chase after Al to the airport, where he finally extricates Woody and gets rid of the vile Prospector. After Bullseye emerges from the case, Buzz assists Woody in rescuing Jessie. Back at Andy's house, Buzz develops a crush on Jessie and the two (after a cute scene), seem to enter a relationship together.

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.

Toy Story 3
Buzz is still Woody's best friend and accidentally gets donated to Sunnyside Daycare Center with the rest of Andy's toys. There, he meets Lotso and the other Sunnyside toys as Lotso gives him a big hug. Buzz wants to start a new life at Sunnyside with the rest of the toys, much to Woody's chagrin. On the first day, however, just before the Caterpillar Room dwellers 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, 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 to find him. Following a few of Lotso's henchmen, he sneaks into the vending machine and climbs to the very top, only to hear what the Sunnyside toys are going to do with Buzz and his friends. He is kidnapped by Lotso's henchmen and after Lotso has him restrained, Lotso resets Buzz to his "Demo" mode, which makes him think he is a real Space Ranger again. Lotso then manipulates Buzz to be his henchmen by making him think Andy's toys are minions of Emperor Zurg, and Buzz imprisons them, setting standards and rules for the toy prison. 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. While Woody and Slinky Dog venture off to subdue the Monkey who monitors the security cameras, Rex and Hamm distract Buzz by engaging in a small fight. As Buzz tries to break the fight, Jessie and Bullseye emerge out of their cells, and Jessie yodels to Buzz, then she and Bullseye slam a plastic storage bin on top of Buzz. Rex and Hamm stand on the bin, entrapping Buzz, and pretend they do not hear Buzz's yells. Meanwhile, Barbie, who has disguised herself as her former boyfriend Ken, retrieves the manual for the Buzz Lightyear action figure from Bookworm. After Woody, Slinky, and Barbie return to the room, Rex and Hamm turn toward them, but 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 own prisoners, but Woody orders Rex and Hamm to hold him, and Barbie unscrews his back compartment. As Buzz orders them to unhand him and struggles to wrench himself free, Woody flicks the switch back and forth between "Play" and "Demo" modes, but that does not seem to work, so Hamm reads the steps in the manual on how to reset Buzz. Thinking fast, Woody then orders Rex to insert his finger into a tiny hole below the switch, which causes Buzz to shut down for a brief second. 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 reset to Spanish mode. Told by Woody that the toys are Buzz's "amigos," Buzz faithfully rejoins their side, and attracts Jessie's attention with his salsa dance. When the toys end up in a dumpster truck, Buzz is crushed by a falling TV while saving Jessie. Moving the TV out of the way, Jessie mourns the loss of Buzz until Buzz wakes up, having returned to his normal, down-to-earth self and his memory restored (although unaware of his Spanish mode as well as the events of his brainwashing). After escaping the incinerator at the waste plant and returning to Andy's house, Buzz bids his best friend farewell as he climbs into a box bound for attic along with the other toys, but Woody has another idea and writes a note to Andy to donate the toys to Bonnie's house. As Andy reads the note and drives over to Bonnie's house, he gives the toys, including Buzz, to Bonnie and spends the last playtime with his toys before departing for college. After Andy leaves, Buzz and Woody accept that their life with Andy is complete, and Woody introduces Buzz to Bonnie's toys.

During the end credits, Jessie takes advantage of Buzz's Spanish personality as the two dance to "Hay Un Amigo En Mi," the Spanish version of the song "You've Got a Friend in Me."

Bad Buzz


Bad Buzz is a personality of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 3. He is Andy's Buzz Lightyear after being reset to his original Space Ranger setting by Lotso and his gang. He captures Andy's toys and imprisons them in their cells in the Caterpillar Room of Sunnyside Daycare Center and sets up rules for the prison. When Woody returns, he sets up a plan to escape, and part of the plan is to reset Buzz to its original settings. Rex and Hamm distracts Buzz by having a little fight, and when Buzz tries to break the fight, Jessie and Bullseye slam a plastic storage bin on Buzz. Rex and Hamm stand on the bin, trapping Buzz, but when they see Woody come back into the room, Buzz takes this advantage to execute an acrobatic move to kick the bin off, then run off, alerting Star Command about being taken hostage by his prisoners. Woody orders Rex and Hamm to stop Buzz from escaping. As Buzz tries 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 the manual on the steps on how to reset Buzz. Thinking fast, Woody then has Rex insert his finger into a tiny hole below the switch, which causes Buzz to shut down for a brief second, then spring back to life as Spanish Buzz.

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. Because of this mishap, Jessie finally starts liking Buzz and eventually becomes his girlfriend when he is finally fixed. When the toys get loaded into a garbage truck, Spanish Buzz rescues Jessie, but is crushed by a falling TV. Moving the TV out of the way, Jessie mourns the loss of Buzz and opens his helmet. When Buzz comes to, he briefly sniffs the outside air, then says, "That wasn't me, was it?" Woody assures Buzz that he has gone "beyond infinity." At the end of the movie, Jessie tells Woody how she still remembers Buzz's Spanish Mode and in the end credits, uses his Spanish side so the two can perform a paso doble to "Hay Un Amigo En Mi" (the Spanish version of the song "You've Got a Friend in Me" performed by the Gipsy Kings).

Trivia

 * The role of Buzz Lightyear was originally offered to Billy Crystal who turned it down, a move he later admitted regretting. Billy Crystal eventually voiced Mike Wazowski, a character in Monsters, Inc. Also, Bull 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 minivan.
 * 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 the upcoming 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 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.