Buzz 2.0, Chris Evans, Used Tim Allen's Voice As A "Noth Star" For His Work On 'Lightyear'
With Lightyear skyrocketing at the box office, Buzz Lightyear 2.0, Chris Evans addressed his taking over for Tim Allen as the voice of the character.
In and interview with the Toronto Sun, Evans was asked about what lead him to become the new version of Buzz:
"Initially, I was just told Pixar wanted to meet about an animated movie and when they said, 'Buzz Lightyear,' I replied, 'How's that possible?' Tim Allen is Buzz Lightyear."
Though it was soon after meeting with Angus MacLane, writer/director of the film, Evans was a go. When asked about what sealed the deal he replied:
"Angus said that when he was a kid, he was obsessed with Star Wars. He had all the toys and for him and his friends that movie was their whole world. So, when he saw the first Toy Story movie and Andy's love for Buzz Lightyear, he always thought, 'What is the movie that Andy, and all of Andy's friends, saw that made Buzz such an icon in their world?' This, would be that movie. When he said that, it all made sense to me."
Evans added:
"In my mind, there are a lot of Captain America dolls out there that are speaking dolls that aren't my voice. So, I thought it could be OK if we had a different voice for these two different characters."
His response makes a ton of sense when you really think about it. Heck, to get a bit meta on the subject of someone else voicing the toy of a famous celebrity voiced cartoon, Tom Hanks, who voices Woody in the Toy Story franchise, handed over the toy's voiceovers to his brother Jim Hanks, who sounds amazingly similar. And why shouldn't he?
Chris Evans continued to speak about how Tim Allen's work on Buzz was a definite influence on the Lightyear voice in the film:
"My first couple of sessions, I was doing a shameless Tim Allen impression and it took a while to allow it to feel a little more personal and I could have space to make my choices. But I was still using Tim Allen as the blueprint. The truth is, this movie is supposed to be the version of the toy, so there's meant to be some overlap. So, you can still use Tim Allen as your North Star, and honestly, why wouldn't you. He was perfect."
Lightyear is now in theaters worldwide.
