There was a period a couple years ago when Pixar was flooding the market with sequels. We're currently in the midst of a period of original stories thanks to great films like Soul and Luca. However, very soon we'll be seeing one that doesn't quite fit perfectly into either category. It's a character we know, seen in a very different way. The first trailer for Pixar's Lightyear is here, and it looks like an absolutely epic science fiction adventure.
As previously described, Lightyear is not an origin story for the Toy Story toy that we know, but rather, the story that inspired the action figure line in the first place. Tim Allen has made way for Chris Evans as the titular character, but don't expect to hear much from him. His voice is almost entirely missing from this trailer, and instead we get David Bowie's "Starman." Give the teaser a look.
These first trailers are usually called teasers and that's certainly what Lightyear is doing. The trailer contains almost no dialogue, but the message comes across perfectly. We see a young Buzz Lightyear as a man who dreams of traveling among the stars. He goes to alien worlds. He has some new friends that we haven't met before. And with David Bowie playing in the background it's hard not to get swept up in it all.
What is there to even say? Lightyear looks about as far from a Toy Story movie as one could possibly get. It looks like a serious and straight science fiction movie or even just a film about the early days of the space program. This could be a trailer for The Right Stuff and the images and tone would be entirely consistent.
And that's maybe what's brilliant about the whole thing? While we get some brief moments in the trailer that offer the fun that we tend to see in Pixar movies, Lightyear isn't being presented as a movie that's going to make us laugh, or even one that's going to make us cry. The primary feelings one gets watching this teaser are wonder and excitement and that's something a little different from Pixar.
And the audience aren't the only ones potentially in awe of what they're seeing here. Chris Evans took to Twitter to say that he gets Goosebumps every time he even thinks about this movie, and I'm not sure we can blame him. Evans said...
I’m covered in goosebumps. And will be every time I watch this trailer. Or hear a Bowie song. Or have any thought whatsoever between now and July cause nothing has ever made me feel more joy and gratitude than knowing I’m a part of this and it’s basically always on my mind
The premise of Lightyear is certainly meta, making a movie that is more or less supposed to be "in-universe" with Toy Story. This is the movie that maybe young Andy and his mom went to see that made him want a Buzz Lightyear toy in the first place, but the idea certainly does open up a world of possibilities.
It's going to be a long wait to the summer of 2022 to actually get a chance to see Lightyear. Hopefully when the full trailer comes out in a few months they can at least finish the catchphrase.
