Tim Allen voiced Buzz Lightyear in all four Toy Story movies, as well as multiple Toy Story specials and the direct-to-video film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins. He would be replaced by Pat Fraley for the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command animated show, and again by Chris Evans for Lightyear, “the origin story of the human Buzz Lightyear that the toy is based on,” as the Marvel star confusingly put it.
Allen didn’t voice Buzz in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (which really needs to be on Disney+) because he didn’t need to: he has enough money from Home Improvement alone, let alone the Toy Story quadrilogy, Last Man Standing, and his comedy career. It’s also a common occurrence for professional voice actors to take over for movie stars freelancing as voice actors in TV adaptations of hit movies. For instance in the Back to the Future animated series, Doc Brown and Marty are voiced by Dan Castellaneta and David Kaufman (although Christopher Lloyd did appear in the live-action segments).
But Lightyear isn’t the cheaply made Ace Ventura: Pet Detective show — so why isn’t Allen the voice of Buzz? It has nothing to do with Buzz being “castrated,” whatever that means. It’s because, as Lightyear producer Galyn Susman explained, “Tim Allen is Buzz Lightyear the toy. We weren’t making a Toy Story movie. We’re making Buzz Lightyear’s movie. And so first and foremost, we just needed a different person playing that Lightyear, separate from the toy.” Also, Chris Evans is a bigger, more profitable star than Tim Allen, and Disney isn’t one to turn down making an extra buck (or $70 million).
That (profitability), more than anything else, is why Chris Evans voices Buzz in Lightyear, no matter what the far-right wants you to believe. Earlier this week, Clay Travis’ exhausting conservative outlet The OutKick reported that “Disney did not want to cast Allen because he has conservative beliefs. Disney has been punishing talents for having conservative views for years.”
Snopes slapped that claim with a “False” label. Here’s why:
The Santa Clause franchise is being continued as a limited series at Disney+ with Tim Allen returning to star as Scott Calvin… This will now be the fourth time Allen has taken up the role of Calvin/Santa. He first starred in the film The Santa Clause in 1994, which was followed by two sequels in 2002 and 2006.
Disney+’s The Santa Clause show was announced earlier this year. If Disney is “punishing” Allen for being a conservative, why would they still be working with him? He even tweeted about the show earlier this month.
Finished shooting at the pole. The magic begins this fall. Don’t tell anyone I shared this photo looking out Santa’s window. pic.twitter.com/O1I4yBhDqF
— Tim Allen (@ofctimallen) June 3, 2022
Honestly, it stinks that Buzz isn’t voiced by Tim Allen. Chris Evans does a good job, but it’s not the same. You know what stinks more, though? MAGA cranks, like Travis and Ted Cruz, making Lightyear a political issue. Just enjoy the space movie with the talking cat, jeez.
https://twitter.com/johnsemley3000/status/1537800064504045571
