Pixar Era Analysis – Lightyear
As mentioned in a previous blog post, I’ll be writing analysis content on all 28 of Pixar’s animated feature films and their film making eras.
The fourth era is the Personal Era, which is the current Era, and started in 2020 with Onward. As mentioned in a previous blog post, the Personal Era is known for its film releases being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, its films being based on the personal lives of the directors and writers who were making them, and its varied animation.
So how did Lightyear measure up to the above features of the Personal Era?
Release being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic:
Lightyear was Pixar’s first film since Onward to be theatrically released, due to COVID-19 restrictions being lifted.
However, production was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with animators working on the animation process in their homes.
Being based on the personal lives of the directors and writers making the film:
According to the film’s Wikipedia page, director, Angus MacLane, pitched the idea of making a Buzz Lightyear film, having always wondered what movie Andy Davis saw in the original Toy Story film to get interested in a Buzz Lightyear action figure. MacLane is also a science fiction fan and had felt attracted to the character of Buzz since he started working at Pixar, and felt that the film’s story was personal for him.
Varied animation:
According to the film’s Wikipedia page, the animators wanted to film to look “cinematic” and “chunky” in order to evoke the feeling of the science fiction films MacLane grew up watching. This film was also Pixar’s first film to include scenes specifically formatted for IMAX theatres.
According to the film’s IMDb page, Zurg’s design is inspired by super robots and mecha from Japanese anime.
I personally found the design and animation of T’Kani Prime, the spaceship buttons, and the glass on the space suit helmets, incredibly realistic.
My overall thoughts:
When it was time to watch this film, I wanted to get it over with as I heard that this film wasn’t received well both critically and financially. However, when I watched it, I was pleasantly surprised.
I was surprised that I ended up enjoying the film and found that the design and animation of the film was fantastic. I was also touched by Buzz’s friendship with Commander Hawthorne and Sox, as well as his growing empathy and selflessness as the film progressed.
However, I can see why there was some criticism of the film, in terms of its place within the Toy Story franchise. This film is a story within a story, and the fact that Pixar had to clarify this for the audience in its opening minute isn’t a good thing. The film’s writing should have done this itself, Pixar shouldn’t have felt the need to explain why this film exists. Also, due to its story within a story nature, there were bound to be changes that would affect the Toy Story franchise’s continuity, such as Zurg’s reveal as an older Buzz from an alternate timeline instead of his father (as revealed in Toy Story 2), and Zurg’s size.
Another interesting tidbit I found on the film’s IMDb page that makes the film simultaneously interesting but its writing questionable, is the fact that Buzz’s efforts were completely pointless, due to the time it takes for the crystal formula to be made and the fact that the descendants of the colonists have no reason to go to Earth. This tidbit shows another aspect of the film’s contradictory nature, which also drew criticism. Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer, Pete Docter, even commented on the film’s contradictory nature and the criticism that the film received, outlining that he believed Pixar asked too much from its audience with this film:
“While the studio loves the characters and the premise…we asked too much of the audience…Even if they’ve read the material in the press, it was just a little too distant, both in concept, and I think in the way that characters were drawn and were portrayed…The characters in ‘Toy Story’ are much broader, and so I think there was a disconnect between what people wanted/expected and what we were giving to them.”
As this film was a story within a story and that it didn’t feel as personal as its predecessors of the Personal Era, and due to Docter’s own comments on where Pixar failed with this film, I feel that whilst this film was enjoyable, it was a bit of flop overall. I think this film would have been better served as a direct-to-streaming spin off, instead of being included in Pixar’s animated feature film canon.
The next part of the Pixar Era Analysis series to be released will focus on Elemental.
Fun Facts and Trivia (from the film’s IMDb page):
- Pixar regular, John Ratzenberger, does not appear in this film.
- IVAN read backwards is NAVI for navigation system.
- This film is Pixar’s first theatrically released spin-off film to a main film franchise.
- Astrophobia is a real irrational fear of stars and celestial space.
- The date difference from the beginning to the end is 88 years.
References:
Loveday Writing 