BUZZ LIGHTYEAR

'Buzz Lightyear' (born 'Buzz Bundy Lightyear' on May 26, 1995) is a fictional character that first appeared in the CGI animated film ''Toy Story'', and its sequel ''Toy Story 2''. He has also appeared in the ''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command'' and television series. His often repeated catchphrase is "To Infinity... and Beyond". While Tim Allen voiced the character in the ''Toy Story'' films and the TV movie, Patrick Warburton provided his voice for the TV series, and Pat Fraley voiced Buzz Lightyear for the Toy Story video games.
In the theatrical films, the featured Buzz is a toy — a spaceman action figure — whereas the television properties follow the adventures of the fictional space ranger on whom the toy is modeled. He was inspired by astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

Contents

History

Buzz as a character

Buzz's suit

Utility belt

Variant Space suits

Weapons

Equipment

Action figure

Huggies mascot

External links

History

We first see Buzz Lightyear as a birthday gift for the boy Andy. At this time, Buzz Lightyear does not realize that he is a toy, believing himself to be the real Buzz Lightyear. He also thinks that all of his equipment is fully functional, not realizing that his communicator is a sticker, his laser is an LED, etc. This belief causes friction between Buzz Lightyear and Woody, Andy's previous favorite toy. The other toys in Andy's room are attracted by Buzz's doo-dads and gung-ho attitude, but Woody becomes increasingly jealous and contrives to cause Buzz Lightyear to fall behind Andy's desk. Instead, Buzz Lightyear falls out of the window and is thought to be lost. During this period, Buzz manages to survive and save Woody numerous times due to the fact that he still believes that he is a space ranger. Using both stealth and agility, he manages to get through all challenges with Woody until he learns the truth. Eventually Buzz Lightyear and Woody meet up and through a series of incidents, Buzz comes first to realize that he is, in fact, a toy and then to accept the situation. He teams up with Woody to defeat the toy-destroying child Sid Phillips and together they are able to re-unite with Andy and the other toys.
In Toy Story 2, Buzz leads Slinky Dog, Mr. Potato Head, Rex, and Hamm on the mission to find and rescue Woody after he's stolen by the owner of Al's Toy Barn for his collection. Having kept all of his skills, Buzz manages to track down Woody's trail and find the culprit. They eventually succeed by navigating, traffic, elevators, cars, airports, and airplanes. At one point in the movie, while investigating Al's Toy Barn itself, Buzz is captured by a newer Buzz Lightyear action figure and is replaced for a time, showing that the entire toy line apparently holds the same ignorance of their existence as toys as Buzz once had (a discarded script for Toy Story 3 had Buzz and his toy line recalled back to Taiwan due to a defect, which could have explained why he and the rest of the line's figures believed themselves to be their characters). At the end of the movie, Buzz and Jessie enter a relationship together (the same way as Woody and Bo). The last shot shows Woody, Buzz, and their respective girlfriends watching Wheezy sing "You've Got a Friend in Me".

Buzz as a character

Buzz is a space ranger from the Intergalactic Alliance and is stationed in the Gamma Quadrant. He is the captain of the Alliance's Team Lightyear and is known for his bravery and courage. Buzz is portrayed as rather stiff and tends to follow procedure and believes that rules are the way people should live their life. Though a great leader, at times he can be rather unemotional, one of his biggest character flaws. Buzz is perhaps Emperor Zurg's son as mentioned in ''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command'' and in ''Toy Story 2''. Buzz is trained in several forms of martial arts and is a highly skilled warrior in hand to hand combat. Being in peak condition, Buzz makes a perfect space ranger and is an example to many.

Buzz's suit

Buzz wears a rather high-tech space suit, similar to that of astronauts, though more streamlined. The suit's chest features a control panel. On the right hand side of the suit, a rather large red button with a label saying "Lightyear" activates the suit's flight system. When activated, the wings on the suit's backpack will unfold, and the boosters at the bottom of the pack will ignite, allowing the wearer to fly. The sides of the wings carry lights that blink in order to prevent any in-air collisions.
The buttons on the left of the suit have numerous functions. Though it is unknown which button does what, when pressed the wearer will be able to contact Star Command, the headquarters of Buzz Lightyear and his allies. The suit also has a liquid adamantium-nitrogen layer which allows Buzz to withstand virtually any physical attack and gives Buzz an effective weapon to use against psychics. It is unknown of Buzz can shoot out the liquid at will or if it has a mind of it's own. During the end of his TV series it shows Buzz only using the weapon once, and after much work. Buzz has to re-work his suit and jerk it around and only after much technological repair can the liquid shoot out onto his enemies.
The rest of the suit is identical to that of any astronaut. It protects against the vacuum of space and other things. The chest also contains a collapsible helmet that when activated, covers the wearer's head and allows them to breathe in space or on planets lacking a sufficient supply of oxygen. The wearer can control the helmet by pressing the purple button on the side of the chest armor. When pressed once, the helmet will automatically swing up and seal. When pressed again the helmet will flip back down.
The left arm of the suit contains a mission log in the wrist area to record history and provide records. Also stored are oxygen monitors to test surrounding's supply, three different buttons, fuel monitor for the jetpack, oxygen monitor for the helmet and a speaker. The right arm contains the weapon system which projects a powerful laser out of the small cannon on the back of the wrist. It is unknown how long the laser's battery life lasts, but it is known that it requires a recharge after some time.
The suit's backpack is perhaps the most important function of the suit. Containing folded wings and boosters, the pack is considered the most important part to space rangers. It is known that the flight system runs on fuel cells. How long they last is unknown. It is also known that different backpacks can be attached to the suit for different situations. The suit itself as a whole contains a shield generator which helps block the heat and other hazards of orbital entry. It is speculated that the shield is generated from the backpack but has only been used once during orbital entry. It is unknown if it can also be used to block laser blasts. The green areas of the suit contains flash lights which glow when the user requires light. Though they do not project a beam of light, they provide enough for the wearer to move without fear of not seeing danger ahead of them.

Utility belt

As seen in ''Toy Story 2'', Buzz has a utility belt as an upgrade to his already powerful suit. The buckle of the belt activates the anti-gravity servos stored around the belt. When pressed, a blue beam shoots out before completely covering the wearer in a bubble which allows them to, as the name suggests, defy gravity and fly without the aid of the jetpack. On the sides of the belt, two suction cups are stored for climbing reasons. The suction cups are shown to be able to support up to three pounds (1.3 kg) before slipping, making them rather strong for toy suction cups. At the back the belt a compartment contains a grappling hook which can easily fold up. It is unknown if the hook is hand thrown or spring propelled. The string of the grappling hook is estimated to be about 12 inches (30.5 cm) long and rather strong, being able to hold four toys without fraying or snapping.

Variant Space suits

Though how many different space suits Buzz has is unknown, it is known that there are two different series of suits. The first series consists of modified version of his original suit, but with different weapons. The other series are for different rescue missions. There are three different types of rescue suits that have been shown so far: Delta, Alpha and Gamma. Delta consists of the basic suit, and a bigger jet pack and a grappling hook. The others have been shown to have a similar look but different weapons.

Weapons

Buzz has numerous weapons which depend on his suit. His main weapons are his natural Martial Arts abilities and his laser.

Equipment

Buzz's equipment usually consists of a laser, jet pack, communicator, and a space suit.

Action figure

Toy figure, Buzz Lightyear, with packaging, licensed from the film ''Toy Story'', plastic / cardboard, made for Thinkway Toys in China, 1995-1999. The Buzz Lightyear is made of plastic and is dressed in grey, green and blue with touches of red and black. The figure is sealed in a cardboard and plastic blister pack with colour illustration of the characters Woody and Buzz from the film 'Toy Story'. The text 'Disney's Toy Story' Collectible Figure' is printed on the front of the packaging. Additional colour illustrations and character histories are printed on the reverse side of the pack.
The Buzz Lightyear figure was manufactured by Thinkway Toys, New York between 1995-1999.
The Toy Story Action Figure, Buzz Lightyear was subject to mass sales in the Christmas after the film's release, mainly in the United States and United Kingdom. Additional parts could be purchased, e.g. wings etc... It was the number 1 toy sold in the UK and has remained a sought-after collectible since. In 1995, Thinkaway didn't think that Toy Story would be that popular hence didn't make enough dolls to meet demand, as referenced in Toy Story 2.

Huggies mascot

Buzz Lightyear appeared on Huggies Pull-Ups diapers. The diapers, marketed as training pants for children undergoing potty training featured pictures of Woody and Buzz, as well as images which would fade when the product was soiled. Buzz is an appropiate character to appear as a diaper mascot, since all astronauts, including Buzz presumably, wear diapers underneath their suits.[1] He has since been replaced with characters from ''Cars''.

External links

★ Buzz Lightyear at Don Markstein's Toonopedia