The big movie to release this Father’s Day weekend is Pixar’s newest feature film, Lightyear, a spin-off of the Toy Story series which has Buzz Lightyear himself as the title character and is suppose to be the one film that was basically the equivalent of Andy’s Star Wars. The big blockbuster that supposedly released in 1995 (or at least that was the year that Andy watched it) that became Andy’s favorite movie of all time and one that made him one to buy a Buzz Lightyear action figure. What makes Lightyear a bit more important when compared to the last few Pixar films is that this is the first movie to come out in a post-Covid world. Whereas Soul, Luca, and Turning Red were strictly exclusive to Disney Plus to watch, Lightyear makes the first Pixar film since Onward to be released in theaters. To say this movie is a big deal for Pixar would be an understatement. Not only does the gold standard of animated films is allowed to have a movie on the big screen again but this could be a sign that mainstream audiences may or may not be interested in watching animation in theaters as opposed to their own homes. Unfortunately, if the early underperforming box office results are any indication, the future for Pixar in theaters could be in crumbles.
There are a number of scenarios as to why Lightyear hasn’t done so hot at the box office. The biggest one that I imagine most will come too is that the inclusion of an LGBTQ+ couple in the movie (who, *mild spoilers*, don’t appear again after the first 20 minutes of the movie) is a big turn-off because the world is full of folks who still can’t accept same-sex couples as a real thing. If that was the case, then I would like an explanation as to why Multiverse of Madness became a near billion dollar grosser despite there being a scene with America Chavez being with her two moms and how Jurassic World Dominion will most likely be a billion dollar grosser despite having an opening bisexual side character taking good chunks of screen time.
Others would also suggested it’s a change of voice actors from the one white guy who played Captain America (Chris Evans) to the one white guy who played Santa Claus (Tim Allen) because the former is more politically correct. If that was the case, then I would like an explanation as to why the latter still was allowed to come back for Toy Story 4 and is even getting his own Disney Plus series (Yes, a Santa Clause series is really in the works!)
However, I think the big reason for it is a bit more complicated than most folks are willing to admit. It’s not that nobody wanted a Buzz Lightyear movie like some have suggested, fans of Toy Story have wanting a Buzz Lightyear movie on the big screen for years if you ask a certain number of them. It’s that nobody at Pixar seemed to understand WHY people wanted a Buzz Lightyear movie based off the promos of the movie.
To tell you the truth, if it wasn’t for the fact that the title character was called Buzz Lightyear and the actual title of the movie itself was called, Lightyear, I don’t think I would have guessed that this was suppose to be the movie that is based on the iconic toy of Buzz Lightyear himself. When watching this movie and going back to all the easter eggs and references presented in the Toy Story films about Buzz himself, you would be hard press to discover that this was the movie that Andy would call his favorite of all time.
Aside from Buzz and (kinda) Zurg himself, there is hardly anything in Lightyear that feels reminiscent of the character of Buzz himself. There’s none of those lovable iconic aliens, no references to Pizza Planet, he hardly flies around in his space suit like he did in say the opening of Toy Story 2, and includes side characters, while not necessarily bad, are not even hinted at and referenced in any of the Toy Story movies (Especially Sox, why wouldn’t Andy want to have a toy of him too?!).
Also, while it’s definitely great for Pixar to include openly LGBT characters in their films, this was a really strange film to start doing it with. It’s really hard to buy a major studio making a movie for kids in the 1980s and 90s (Again, it is stated that this movie was watched by Andy in 1995!) being that openly progressive back then. It kinda makes you wonder why we didn’t see any queer or gay characters in the Toy Story movies aside from random background characters or why Andy didn’t pair Jessie and Bo Peep together as a couple during one of his playing times. It’s elements like this that makes Lightyear all the more baffling and makes you wonder why Pixar bluntly chose to ignore the history of their beloved character that they themselves established.
Say what you will about that other Buzz Lightyear movie that went straight to VHS and how that was basically just a toy commercial/a pilot for that tv series (one that Pixar or at least John Lasseter still wants you to forget ever happen), but that at least felt more consistent with the Buzz character that the first two movies established along with the majorly successful toyline that the Lightyear franchise had. It had the iconic aliens, it had the cartoon and sci-fi-like feel that felt majorly appreciate, it had Buzz operating more as a space ranger and had him fly around movie, it made his iconic lines feel more organic to the situation, and it also had Zurg as his main nemesis who was definitely not actually *SPOILER*! Like that movie or not, that at least felt like an expansion of the Buzz Lightyear character that the main toy character from the Toy Story movies was based on. That is something I can hardly say for Lightyear.
Even taken out my own personal grips on the movie, the lukewarm reviews for the movie hasn’t help much either or it’s review bombing from trolls on Imdb (which btw, we really got to stop trusting as a reliable source). Lightyear hasn’t been made anything more from critics than just a decent time-waster and doesn’t seem to getting as much love and acclaim than there more recent Pixar entries like Soul and Turning Red. While the movie didn’t need to be a game-changer, it had to at least be good enough to justify it’s existence, which so far, doesn’t really looking like it’s going to do that. While I’m sure this won’t be a complete disaster at the box office, this does make me concern for the future of Pixar and even animation on the big screen.
With Lightyear not making as much as one would hope, I can’t shake the feeling that this will give Disney the indication that people aren’t interested in watching their movies, at least for Pixar, in theaters anymore and might resort back to strictly making their exclusive to their streaming service. If a movie based off arguably their most popular characters is unable to make a big profit, then what does that say for their more original projects coming up that won’t be part of their successful IPs.
Who’s to say anyone will show up for Elemental next summer or even a sequel like Onward 2 in the future? Who’s to say they will all just wait until those movies are available to watch on Disney Plus, just like I imagine most people will be doing the same thing for Lightyear? We have seen Disney make big chances in the past with the properties they bought if they are not as successful as they want it to be, who’s to say they won’t do the same for Pixar?
While I highly doubt that Pixar will go the same way of Blue Sky Studios but they won’t be seen as valuable to Disney as before and could resort to having their movies be exclusive to their streaming services. It’s a dark, bleak thought but it’s once that could become a reality if the results of Lightyear are any indication.
Other thoughts:
- I had the strangest experience watching this movie. My initial screening didn’t happen because the theater screening was messed up so I had to take the next screening of it which was in 3D. The 3D was non-existent the first 2/3rds of the movie but then came alive in the final third of it. While I don’t think my thoughts of the movie would change that much, I do wish I had a more comfortable experience watching it.
- The movie was just okay at best btw. Not bad, but just kinda mediocre. One of Pixar’s weakest movies by a wide margin and is something you could honestly wait for Disney Plus if you don’t have that much interest in it. If you are tho, then perhaps see it at a discount price so you can show theater support. 2.5/4 stars at best and 2/4 stars at worst!
- And here’s a pic of the lesbian couple in the movie to scare homophobic assholes out there!
Adam's Blog 