If you’ve been paying attention to words on the internet the last week or so, you’ll know that there’s been plenty of discourse going on about the upcoming Pixar movie Lightyear starring Chris Evans. This is the tale of the man who inspired the legendary toy from Toy Story, originally voiced by Tim Allen. At first, people didn’t seem to mind the voice swap, but when fans and friends of Tim Allen (including former co-stars of his) pointed out that it should be him voicing the character and not Chris Evans, the discourse got (understandably) heated.
Director Angus MacLane and producer Galyn Susman spoke up in an interview, noting the key reason for the swap–story and tone.
“The tone [of Lightyear] is a lot different [to that of the Toy Story movies],” MacLane said. “Tim is hilarious, but this character wouldn’t work as well with him doing the Space Ranger voice. It would not be as emotional. It just changes the tone of the movie. We were going for more of a classic sci-fi film.”
The producer noted that if they had cast Tim Allen, it honestly would’ve caused confusion about where the movie fits in the larger Toy Story universe.
“People were having a hard enough time wrapping their heads around this,” Susman added. “So really we needed the toy in the Toy Story universe to be its own thing. Tim Allen is Buzz Lightyear the toy. Chris Evans is Buzz Lightyear, the superhero from that movie that inspired the toy.”
And if you think about it, that makes sense. Rare is it that the people who inspire the toys have their voices in them. Imagine Batman actors, or the Power Rangers actors or so on also lending their voices to the toys, that’d cost quite a bit, wouldn’t you say?
So in conclusion, Chris Evans is Buzz Lightyear, and Tim Allen is the voice of the toy. Glad we cleared that up.
Source: EMEA Tribune