All about Buzz Lightyear

Buzz Lightyear was originally going to be called Lunar Larry but that wasn’t heroic enough for an astronaut! So how did Pixar decide on the name Buzz Lightyear? Buzz Lightyear’s name was inspired by the Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who was the second man to walk on the moon.

Like Buzz Aldrin, Buzz Lightyear himself has flown into outer space! In 2008, astronauts took a Buzz Lightyear figure on the Discovery Space Shuttle. While Buzz took part in some zero gravity experiments, Earth-bound children watched a movie on how other toys behaved in space, including yo-yos and basketballs.

Some of the original choices to voice Buzz included Jim Carrey and Billy Crystal. When Billy Crystal was offered the part, he declined but after seeing the film, he said the decision was the biggest mistake of his career. In the end, Buzz Lightyear was voiced by Tim Allen in the films.

Buzz Lightyear might be larger than life, but how tall is he really? Buzz is just under a foot tall. That’s nearly four inches shorter than Woody! Woody might be taller but he doesn’t have a pair of wings like Buzz has!

Did you know?  In Finding Nemo, if you look carefully you can spot the Buzz Lightyear figure in the toy box, in the dentist’s office.  Buzz is a pretty expressive fellow and can pull 215 different faces! Can you do that?  “Hay Un Amigo En Mi” is Spanish for “You Got a Friend in Me.” How do we know? In the end credits of Toy Story 3, Jessie turns on Buzz’s Spanish mode to dance with him to the Spanish version of the memorable theme song.