From an alternate Zurg twist, to a monkey version of Sox, and even more Pizza Planet
easter eggs, Pixar's Lightyear was originally a very different movie!
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, I'm Jan and in this video I'm revealing everything Pixar
deleted from Lightyear.
Spoilers ahead, of course, so take care.
The big twist in Lightyear comes when the identity of Zurg is revealed and it turns
out he's an older version of Buzz from an alternate timeline.
When Buzz finally achieved 100% hyperspeed, the event split the timeline – notice these
two bursts of energy which occur at that very moment.
The second Buzz travelled centuries into the future and discovered a ship with advanced
alien technology, an enormous mecha robot suit, and Zyclops robots who mispronounced
his name as Zurg.
But when older Buzz, aka Zurg, opens his robot "suit", main timeline Buzz initially mistakes
him for his father because of his similar but aged features.
Originally, Pixar planned for the twist in Lightyear to be that Zurg had indeed been
Buzz's father all along, which would have matched the same reveal in Toy Story 2.
You killed my father!
No, Buzz.
I AM your father.
No!
Director Angus MacLane explained that during the movie's development, they spent a lot
of time laying the groundwork and hints to the big reveal that Zurg was in fact Buzz's
dad.
But when the payoff came, it felt incredibly unsatisfying, because it was too obvious from
all the clues that had been teased for at least the first hour of the movie.
On top of that, there was the fact that everyone who'd ever seen Toy Story 2 knew this twist
about Zurg had already been played as a Star Wars joke in that movie.
So, in the end, MacLane decided it would be more interesting if the twist was that Zurg
was a version of Buzz himself, but one that went on a different, darker path.
So, Buzz turns out to basically be his own worst enemy.
The director said he was inspired by Indiana Jones And Raiders of the Lost Ark where the
French archaeologist who works with the Nazis tells Indy that he's just a slightly different
version of him.
I am a shadowy reflection of you.
It would take only a nudge to make you like me.
I can see that having Zurg as Buzz's father would have been way too predictable, and the
Disney animated series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command already spoofed the Toy Story 2 revelation
in favour of making Zurg a straight-up villain, unrelated to Buzz…
There's something you must know.
I am your father.
Psych!
Made you look, you dimwit!
…so Lightyear's filmmakers likely felt they wanted to do something different to that particular
take in the new movie as well.
A firm fan favourite in the new movie is the hilarious, robotic cat Sox.
Sox.
Pfft.
You're inhibiting my visuals.
Oh, sorry, is this better?
Negative.
OK, how about this.
Pfft.
But, originally, the filmmakers were going to have a monkey as Buzz's cute animal sidekick
instead.
The idea for a monkey came from how NASA and other space agencies have sent monkeys and
other primates into space as part of research into space travel.
The filmmakers planned on having a type of helper monkey who would assist Buzz on his
missions.
In the end though they found a robotic cat was funnier than a monkey…
Sox, how long were we gone?
Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow…
Bee-boop, Bee-boop, Bee-boop, Bee-boop, Bee- …and so they ended up with Sox and his amusing
animatronic style of movement and commentary.
Buzz, that was utterly terrifying and I regret having joined you.
The Pizza Planet truck and franchise, which first appeared in Toy Story, has made an appearance
in almost every Pixar movie so far.
Lightyear is no exception and a pizza delivery vehicle makes a tricky-to-spot cameo in the
scene where Buzz and Sox are fleeing the Star Command police.
As they drive down the highway you can see the iconic Pizza Planet rocket on top of a
truck parked up, and a guy delivering some pizzas.
But originally, as we can see from this unused concept art, there were also plans to show
scenes with Pizza Planet stores and locations on the new planet, giving us more of an insight
into the layout of this new world and how people were living there.
And apparently in another deleted scene, Buzz would have "gone grocery shopping" after he
ran out of his pre-assigned meals.
There was going to be a joke where Buzz asked for a packet of "dinner" - like the meal boxes
he was used to eating -, but after his many years away, food has changed and he ended
up being sold something called "pobbles" which MacLane described as "spiky, space" food.
The concept art also has some references to the green aliens who Buzz first met at Pizza
Planet in Toy Story.
Who's in charge here?
The claw!
Some fans have been disappointed they didn't make an appearance in Lightyear, especially
as some of the Little Green Men worked for Star Command in the animated series.
However, MacLane has explained that he didn't think it made sense for them to appear in
Lightyear, a movie that Andy saw before the events of Toy Story.
As the aliens don't know who Buzz is when he pops up in their claw machine in Toy Story,
it fits that they shouldn't have met him previously in the new prequel movie.
MacLane has confirmed though that there is an easter egg to the squeeze-toy aliens in
the first mid-credits scene, where you can see a little statue of one of the green men
on Commander Burnside's shelf.
And, if you're a fan of the hilarious Little Green Men or you're enjoying this video so
far, do leave a thumbs-up, I really appreciate it.
When Zurg confronts Buzz for the first time and corners him, Buzz is saved when the Junior
Zap Patrol blast the villain to the floor.
As Zurg recovers, he uses his arm controls to call on a team of Zyclops to help him trap
Buzz.
The original storyboard for this sequence reveals a hilarious little deleted moment
where the Zurg-bots can be seen chilling out in a lounge on the ship, playing cards and
pool together, just before Zurg's command activates them.
Also cut from the final movie was a scene involving a killer robot hound that Zurg had
sent to hunt Buzz in the future.
In this deleted rainy action sequence, which has shades of Blade Runner, Buzz would have
had a special briefcase with a weapon though it completely failed to stop the canine antagonist
and he ended up getting caught by the robot dog.
Lightyear also made some significant changes to Zurg's design compared to the Toy Story
movies.
This Zurg is more robot-like, influenced by anime and mecha, and his huge size was intended
to make him incredibly intimidating.
This more robotic look also meant Pixar ditched the cape Zurg wore in Toy Story 2.
No capes!
Losing Zurg's colourful cape, however, meant this version of the villain was heavy on purple
and The Art of Lightyear book reveals some of Zurg's early designs which included a lot
of red and other colours.
These were discarded eventually and instead red accents were given to Zurg via decals,
pinstripes and labels.
Zurg's horns were also reduced in size to appear "less devil-like".
And this Zurg also got an enormous extendable hand, akin to a claw, possibly a nod to the
Little Green Men from Toy Story.
The claw!
The Art of Lightyear book also reveals some interesting alternate designs for Commander
Burnside where he had a bionic arm, which implies there's an interesting backstory for
Burnside that we didn't get to see.
Curiously enough, there was also another character with a bionic arm who ended up cut from the
film.
As well as scrapping a storyline which showed how Buzz became a Space Ranger in the first
place, and a sequence which featured him ending up in a Star Command brig over rivalry and
insults, the Art of Lightyear book also reveals a lot of deleted characters that never made
it into the final movie.
There were some Miyazaki-inspired helper machines called Minerbots that would have presumably
appeared when Buzz and the Zap Patrol went to the mining plant on the dark side of the
planet.
There are also all of these unused characters which the concept art book reveals as being
"Out of Picture".
And if you'd like to get a copy of The Art of Lightyear with all of these cool designs,
and a lot more concept art, including the original designs for Buzz Lightyear, before
Toy Story, when he was called Lunar Larry, you can tap here to get the book with free
worldwide shipping.
I'll also add a link in the video description below.
So, Movie Lovers, what do you think of the big Zurg twist in Lightyear?
And is there anything you wish had been in the final movie?
Let me know in the comments.
Next, tap here to discover more Pixar deleted scenes like the crazy alternate ending of
Turning Red.
And be sure to like, subscribe, and tap the bell so you don't miss out on my next Pixar
video.
Thanks for enjoying Lightyear with me and hope you have a marvellous movie-loving week!
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!