The trickiest part of turning Buzz Lightyear the toy into Buzz Lightyear the sci-fi hero

By now, it’s fairly clear that Pixar’s Lightyear isn’t a Toy Story sequel or a movie about the real human Buzz Lightyear; it’s a fictional film that may’ve come out within the Toy Story universe, that includes a science fiction house hero named Buzz Lightyear, who would later encourage the toy that Andy treasured.

That implies that all Buzz’s little quirks within the Toy Story motion pictures — his mission logs, his costume, and his severe demeanor — would all theoretically come from this film. Whereas it was enjoyable to determine simply how Buzz’s hair appeared beneath that purple snood, the filmmakers struggled to include one in every of Buzz’s most iconic parts: his signature catchphrase, “To infinity… and past!”

“At first, ‘to infinity and past’ was a joke, like you may’t transcend infinity and you bought into that form of factor, which then Key and Peele riffed on for Toy Story 4,” director Angus MacLane recounts to Polygon. “So then, it was identical to a saying that each one House Rangers had and Buzz wasn’t a House Ranger on the time or one thing like that. [He was like] These guys are dumb. After which he embraces it by saying on the finish. That didn’t fairly really feel proper.

“After which we had simply this gesture,” MacLane says, whereas demonstrating the finger contact that Buzz and his greatest pal Alicia do as a form of secret handshake. “It was not ‘to infinity and past,’ that was simply what Alicia and Buzz did to indicate they have been collectively. After which they have been aside. It was a tragic second. After which one in every of our editors, Chloe, she’s like, simply have them say ‘To infinity and past.’ And I used to be like, Yeah, okay, nice. That’s good.”

Picture: Pixar Animation Studios

“The fascinating factor is that it ended up having two totally different meanings over the course of the movie,” producer Galyn Susman says. “As a result of originally, it’s speaking extra in regards to the subsequent journey and the following one and the following one, and on the finish, it’s far more about being collectively and being right here within the current.”

Buzz’s signature catchphrase, then, turned a touching tribute to his closest friendship, as a substitute of a rallying cry to discover the huge expanse of house. And since Alicia goes on to dwell a complete life, whereas Buzz continues his futile missions again and again, it additionally takes on a extra poignant which means. Does that make it an odd selection to show right into a toy’s catchphrase? Perhaps so. However on a extra meta stage, the Toy Story motion pictures have an underlying message in regards to the restricted time we’ve with our family members, so maybe the bittersweet undertones of “To infinity… and past!” completely match inside the higher overarching themes.

Lightyear is out in theaters now.