Lightyear

Lightyear is a 2022 American animated science-fiction action-adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, and starring Chris Evans as the voice of Buzz Lightyear. Presented as a film within a film, Lightyear is a spin-off of the Toy Story film series and centers on the character Buzz Lightyear, who appears in Toy Story as an action figure of his character in Lightyear. The film was directed by Angus MacLane and written by MacLane and Jason Headley. Besides Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, James Brolin, and Uzo Aduba voice supporting roles. The film follows Buzz who, after being marooned on the hostile planet T'Kani Prime with his commander and crew, tries to find a way back home while encountering a threat to their safety.

The concept of a human Buzz Lightyear, who exists in a fictional universe within a fictional universe, was first introduced in the 2000 direct-to-video film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins, which was the pilot for the TV series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000–2001). MacLane, an avid science-fiction fan, pitched the idea of a film featuring Buzz Lightyear at Pixar, after finishing work on Finding Dory (2016). The project was officially announced in an investor meeting held by Disney in December 2020. The animators gave the film a "cinematic" and "chunky" look, evoking the science-fiction films MacLane grew up watching. To design the vehicles of the film, MacLane used Lego pieces to build various ships and pitch them to the designers and artists. For its IMAX scenes, the team used two virtual cameras, a regular camera with a 35mm equivalent sensor, and a larger sensor equivalent to 65 millimeters, a procedure earlier initiated by Pixar in WALL-E (2008). Development on Lightyear lasted for five and a half years, on an approximate $200 million budget. Michael Giacchino composed the film's score, while Ren Klyce served as its sound designer.