Lightyear might be one of Pixar’s most highly anticipated movies ever…
Afterall, Buzz is one of the most beloved and memorable characters in Pixar’s entire
history.
And we’ll finally get the opportunity to watch a movie about the authentic Buzz Lightyear…
and not just some child’s play thing.
But let’s not forget…
Buzz has been around for over 25 years.
He’s been in 4 feature Toy Story movies… shorts and spin-offs… a cult cartoon…
and now 2022’s Lightyear.
So there are a lot of theories about the characters that span across each of these entries and
mediums.
And today, we’re going to try to figure out which ones are most likely to be true
and which ones are B.S.
I’m Kyle with WickedBinge and these are Buzz lightyear Theories : BS to Truthbombs.
FIrst up, let’s get the theories out of the way that have been debunked.
These theories either have so many holes in them they can’t possibly be true, they lack
evidence, or they have been confirmed false by the creators.
These theories are Bullsh*t.
First, let’s start with The Real Buzz Lightyear Being Andy’s Dad.
Okay, so this one is pretty far out there… but we admire the creativity.
Some fans have hypothesized that the Buzz from the upcoming Lightyear movie is actually
Andy’s dad.
The idea is that the movie takes place in the late sixties with a young Buzz Lighyear
watching his favorite show Woody’s Roundup, holding a Woody doll.
When his parents switch the channel to the moon landing, which sparks his interest in
becoming an astronaut.
20 years later, he’s completing his astronaut training and being accepted into the new elite
Universe Protection Unit.
Leaving behind a pregnant Emily Davis.
He gives her his toy Woody to give to his son to remember him.
He ends up becoming the most famous astronaut in the world, inspiring a TV show and line
of toys…
The theory’s evidence includes the fact that Andy’s mom is the old who gifts him
the Buzz Lightyear Toy in Toy Story 1; hinting towards an attachment to the character.
Woosy says “he think he’s the REAL Buzz Lightyear”... which kind of suggests that
he knows there is a real person who goes by that name.
But, we’re going to have to call B.S.
on this one.
Apart from it being super specific and speculative…
we actually see photos of Andy’s dad on the walls in the Toy Story movies.
Let’s move into a theory that we aren’t going to call B.S.
but is…
Full Of Holes.
Which is The WALL-E Connection.
Reddit user RogueStargun suggests that Lightyear will be the link between the Wall-E and Toy
Story films…
It should be noted that we we will get a bit more into the full Pixar Theory a bit later.
But because in WALL-E, humans go from regular people to more CGI looking cartoon characters…
What if Buzz was a test pilot to recolonize earth in the distant future?
Buzz presumably travels to the future and wind sup in a time where he has to fight Emperor
Zurg, After the emperor’s defeat, the legend of Buzz Lightyear spreads and earth is rebuilt
to a slightly regressed 1995 state…
when Toy Story takes place…
It’s certainly an interesting theory…
But the timeline is way too speculative to hold much weight.
Moving into our next category, we have theories that we actually think could be true…
Maybe.
These theories are The Possible.
Another Theory we want to cover is Why Buzz Freezes.
This theory also comes from the SuperCarlinBrothers channel.
They make a pretty great point explaining why toys come alive…
That being the love and imagination of a child essentially brings toys to life.
Lotso, for instance, has the brilliant idea to take over a daycare center as there is
an endless supply of children’s imagination; so he’s never at risk of one child abandoning
him.
And the toys are aware that their one purpose is to bring happiness to their kids.
This is why they allow themselves to be toys and freeze when those kids enter the room/
But the question is…
Why does Buzz freeze in Toy Story 1… when he refuses to acknowledge that he too is a
toy?
The theory points out that there are other toys who maintain their sort of identity beyond
being a toy…
The Army men are soldiers…
Tour Guide Barbie is a tour guide… etc.
But Buzz is a victim of what the SuperCarlinBrothers channel call the Placebo Branding.
Where the fact that his identity as a toy is based on so heavily on the lore of his
branding, that it takes him much longer to accept reality than other toys.
This is actually something that happens with the toy Zurg as well.
But like any other opinion…
Reality trumps everything.
In reality, Buzz is a toy… and so he has no control over his freezing around children.
The one hole in this theory, however, is that if Buzz can’t control the freezing…
How does Woody and the mutant toys have the ability to do so when they take on Sid?
Which is what stops us from ranking this one any higher.
This possible theory centers around Why Buzz Lightyear of Star Command Was Cancelled.
This is actually a pretty good theory because if it’s true…
it allows the old Buzz Lightyear of Star Command cartoon remain canonical… but in a way that
doesn’t require it to tie all of its characters and plot points into the new Light Year Movie.
If you remember, back when this Disney cartoon ran in 2000 and 2001, there has a VHS movie
that was released.
And that movie started with the toys from Toy Story watching the series Buzz Lightyear
of Star Command.
This suggests that the cartoon was a piece of fictional media that Buzz Lightyear was
based off of… that exists within the Toy Story Universe.
This theory simply suggests that the reason this cartoon was cancelled was because the
other characters in the cartoon didn’t generate good merchandise sales… which is a pretty
big factor in whether or not a cartoon continues to run.
We even see at Al’s Toy Barn how much supply there is available of Buzz Lightyear products.
It looks like Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was canceled within the Toy Story universe
as well.
Moving into our next category, we have theories that we think are probably true.
These theories are The Probable.
Let’s talk about the theory on how Lightyear fits into the Pixar Theory.
For those who aren’t familiar, the Pixar Theory suggests that every Pixar movie exists
within the same universe.
There is absolute ton of evidence that people have analyzed over the years… and many have
speculated how the new Lightyear movie will fit into this overall theory.
SuperCarlinBrothers have theorized that in the world of Pixar there is a real Buzz Lightyear…
And that the real Buzz Lightyear is a real astronaut that has done something heroic…
maybe even saving the planet… but the Lightyear movie is a fictional movie based on the real
Buzz…which ultimately gets turned into a line of toys.
Certainly a bit meta…
But the reason why this works well is because making this movie a “fictional version”
of the Real Buzz would allow the movie to be tied into the Pixar theory… but would
solve the inconsistent technologies.
With Toy Story taking place in the mid 90’s, it’s hard to accept there was a real Buzz
Lightyear as portrayed in the Lightyear film given how advanced the technology shown is.
One thing that is pointed out is that this sort of thing has happened in the past.
The Buzz Lightyear of Star Command animated show from 2000-2001… which had that VHS
movie during that time which began with the toys from Toy Story putting the tape in to
watch the movie.
Let’s talk about Buzz’s Soul.
Reddit user 1mariobro came up with a short theory on why Buzz is the outlier when it
comes to refusing to acknowledge that he is a toy.
He points out that the entire Buzz Lightyear line seems to suffer from this issue…
As we see it with Zurg and other Buzz Lightyears.
But the theory suggests that many of the toys in the Toy Story universe lack technical engineering
in their builds.
That many of them are much simpler.
For example, Woody having an old school voice box.
The post goes on to suggest that toys all have their own “souls”... but the more
advanced technology built into advanced toys like Buzz merge with that Soul and subsequently
create a bit of an identity crisis.
Further evidence of this is seen in the Toy Story short “Small Fry”... where the tiny
Buzz Lightyear that shows up knows that he is a toy.
He even starts talking to his fellow Zurg toy who is okay with being a display model.
This shows that they’re not as delusional as the other Lightyear toys because they lack
the advanced mechanics.
And lastly, this does sort of fit in with the Buzz Lightyear toys ability to be factory
reset.
FInally, we get to the truth…
Granted, we haven’t seen the movie yet obviously, so we can’t confirm…
But we think these could be total Truth Bombs.
Next, we have Linking Lightyear and Toy Story through Andy.
Reddit user Nemesis_007 presented this theory that the new Lightyear movie will end with
the camera panning out to show Andy and his mom sitting in a cinema watching the Lightyear
movie…
Which ultimately inspires him to ask for the toy for his birthday.
Is it a simple theory?
Yes, absolutely.
But it’s pretty great.
And other fans have their own versions of it.
Someone pointed out the possibility that Lightyear will actually be a reboot of the Buzz Lightyear
franchise within the Toy Story Universe… and that the ending involves a grown up Andy
taking his own kid to see the movie.
We really like this theory because it’s totally in line with previous Toy Story movies
making Andy’s timeline a reflection of the original Toy Story audience growing up.
For instance, when Toy Story 3 centered around him leaving for college.
Whether it’s truly a truth bomb remains to be seen, bit it’s definitely our favorite
fan theory yet.
But let us know in the comment section which Buzz Lightyear Fan Theory is your favorite.
And tell us what you want us to cover next.
Remember to hit that notification bell, and most importantly, stay wicked!