I think that making "Buzz Lightyear - Star Command" the reason for Andy buying the toy would have been much more believable.
Lightyear
- Thread starter JiminSTLouis
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CB2001
Master Member
In historical context, assuming the film that Andy saw that made him and his friends want the toy and happened to be made in the early 1990s, lesbian characters weren't normally featured unless they were stereotypes (or often used as eye candy). Basic Instinct (1992) certainly got it's flack from the gay community of San Francisco because the film featured a villain who was bisexual, one character who was a lesbian who was also a killer and a third character who is a straight female character admits to have had a sexual relationship with the villain but admits she was ashamed of it because it was the only time she had been with a woman (in fact, that community felt the film was continuing on the same "being gay is evil" trope that had been in Hollywood films for a long time. In fact, the same groups were oppose to Silence of the Lambs as well for the same reason). Seeing a normal lesbian relationship in a film in the early to mid 1990s, especially if the film was made in America, wasn't really common except maybe in an independent film that was made outside of the studio system. I'm sure Europe had quite a few films that had lesbians shown in a non-cliche/stereotypical and positive view, but it certainly wasn't common in the U.S. films circa early 1990s. The closest to such any lesbian representation on screen that could be construed as being seen in a positive light I can recall from that time is Ross' ex-wife from the Friends TV series or Ellen DeGeneres' character in her own series. However, I could be wrong about my assessment of homosexuality and it's presentations in the 1990s, as my film tastes were mainly sci-fi, action and horror at that time. All I know is that Hollywood didn't seem to treat homosexual characters as normal people until the Jonathan Demme film Philadelphia (1993).
Honestly, it'd make more sense to use The Real Ghostbusters as an explanation for Andy and his friends wanting the toy. For those who may recall, Ghostbusters was an R-Rated movie that wasn't meant for kids. However, after the success of the film, the studio did the animated series The Real Ghostbusters, and they partnered with Kenner to do the toys modeled after the animated series since Kenner remember the whole fiasco with doing a toyline based on an R-Rated movie (Alien, 1979). There were a lot of R-Rated films that got the cartoon adaptations, which also got toylines based on said cartoon adaptations (i.e. RoboCop: The Animated Series, Police Academy, The Karate Kid, Rambo: The Freedom Force. Even the Aliens toyline in the 1990s was based on an animated series that didn't even make it past the pilot stage, but the figures had been made modeled on the characters from the animated series, so they released them under the film's name), especially between the 1980s and 1990s. In context, it would make sense that Lightyear is the darker, live action film, which ended up getting an animated series spin-off of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (this would explain why the Buzz figure doesn't look and sound exactly like the Buzz seen in the film, because it's based on the animated version of the character, not the live action version, and the voice used for the figure is the animated series voice actor, not the actor from the original film). BUT, since Pixar states that this is the film that Andy and his friends saw to make them want the toy, those kids must have zero taste in films (which makes a lot of sense, considering Andy's age, and he might have thought the film was "cool").
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I'm sure they were planning to get there in another movie or two. This was supposed to be a guaranteed box office score.
'Ghostbusters' was rated PG.
But yeah, there was a general trend of marketing toy lines for R-rated movies in the 1980s. The Rambo cartoon show was an especially crazy one.
Laspector
Master Member
Do we really know if Toy Story took place in the early 90s? I can honestly say I never even gave a thought to what year it was taking place. What kid in the 90s would've had a Woody doll anyway? That's like a toy from the 50s or 60s. Even if it was his Dad's and it got passed on to Andy, the voice thing probably wouldn't work anymore. And a boy with a Lil Bo Peep doll? His friends would've beaten the crap out of him for having that. And those little green army men, I haven't seen a kid play with those since the 70s. Timewise, half the toys he has don't make sense.
JiminSTLouis
Master Member
Bo was his sister’s lamp because she couldn’t sleep with the lights off at night.
CB2001
Master Member
We know the first film came out in 1995. So, if Lightyear is suppose to be an in-universe film, that means that, in-universe, film had to be made no later than 1995 (even though it was set in the future). Plus, Woody being Andy’s toy makes sense if it happens to be a hand-me-down from his Dad (when I was little, my Dad gave me his 1960s G.I. Joes and accessories to play with, and I was a kid in the 1980s, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility).
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Too Much Garlic
Master Member
I kinda liked it. It was a little less space adventury fun as I would have expected and seemed more somber and serious in tone and its themes. I doubt I would have liked it as a kid, seemed too much like a downer, but I kinda like it as an adult, where it is easier to understand the feeling of having a hard time accepting failure.
Heard there was controversy surrounding the story. Possibly fueled by everything going on around Disney right now and not the story in and of itself. I'm looking forward to the time when this is no longer a controversy and people are allowed to be with and start a family with who they love without anyone making a fuss about it. Guess we still have a long way to go before we stop collectively forcing others to conform.
Heard there was controversy surrounding the story. Possibly fueled by everything going on around Disney right now and not the story in and of itself. I'm looking forward to the time when this is no longer a controversy and people are allowed to be with and start a family with who they love without anyone making a fuss about it. Guess we still have a long way to go before we stop collectively forcing others to conform.
HMSwolfe
Master Member
Yes, perfect way to see it.
jusdrewit
Sr Member
Box office wise this film is bombing hard it seems. Last check shows it at 163 million worldwide vs a $200 million budget + advertising so prolly $300 million total. Definitely one of the lowest Pixar BO showings since Onward. Rotten Tomato shows it has a fairly decent 75% and 85% score. Any ideas why? Is it the contraversial 'woke' scene that Pixar added which has caused a stir with far right here and which caused 13 Arab countries to ban it and possibly China, or just a ho-hum story? Perhaps families are just used to free Pixar movies on D+? Such as Luca, Soul, and Turning Red? Perhaps it's all of the above. Just curious
harrisonp
Sr Member
I thought the movie was pretty good, but I understand the thought that it’s missing some of the Pixar “heart” especially after something as culturally attuned and pitch perfect as Turning Red.
It looks great, there are emotional bears about Buzz being a “man out of time” and the death of adventure and exploration as the previously spacefaring populace settles down out of necessity. There’s a bit of a twist that kind of feels pointless/underexplored, but overall it was in no way a bad movie.
That said it wasn’t a space romp adventure and I do think they should have given it a schmaltzy vignette with adult Andy taking HIS kid to the movie which is a modern reboot of a thing he loved. End the in movie narrative and then have the camera pull out and reveal that it’s a cinema screen and we see the audience before getting the reverse shot of Andy and his kid (daughter surely) wide eyes illuminated by the last frame of the in-universe movie. Roll credits
It looks great, there are emotional bears about Buzz being a “man out of time” and the death of adventure and exploration as the previously spacefaring populace settles down out of necessity. There’s a bit of a twist that kind of feels pointless/underexplored, but overall it was in no way a bad movie.
That said it wasn’t a space romp adventure and I do think they should have given it a schmaltzy vignette with adult Andy taking HIS kid to the movie which is a modern reboot of a thing he loved. End the in movie narrative and then have the camera pull out and reveal that it’s a cinema screen and we see the audience before getting the reverse shot of Andy and his kid (daughter surely) wide eyes illuminated by the last frame of the in-universe movie. Roll credits
It's a big tentpole Disney movie. It's still in theaters. If you believe the current Rotten Tomatoes scores are legit then I've got a bridge for sale.
I suspect the "woke" issue hurt the sales of this movie significantly.
I'm not commenting on the validity of that attitude. I haven't even seen the movie myself. I'm just saying it probably is a factor in the low box office.
I suspect the "woke" issue hurt the sales of this movie significantly.
I'm not commenting on the validity of that attitude. I haven't even seen the movie myself. I'm just saying it probably is a factor in the low box office.
harrisonp
Sr Member
I feel like discussing that issue will lead the conversation too close to political. I will say that as a person not bothered in any way by said issue I do understand how this movie could be a disappointment to some audiences irrespective of a perceived agenda. It’s not a big splashy space movie, it’s pretty restrained and introspective. I believe that’s a big factor too, the movie isn’t endlessly meme-able, or quotable, it just tells a small story about a guy named Buzz. I personally liked that story.
Picard102
Sr Member
In-universe, toys talk. So we can probably assume it's not the same as ours.
Riceball
Master Member
It kind of is that. If you're familiar with anime, the idea of Lightyear is the same as Macross DYRL as in it's also an in universe movie. So Lightyear is supposed to be an actual movie in the Toy Story universe that Andy probably saw and got the toy from.
I have to say, having just watched it last night on Disneyh+, my wife and I both enjoyed the movie quite a bit. The whole lesbian couple thing was way overblown. It never featured that prominently and you never saw the couple outside of a handful of clips in their quarters. It's not like they made Zurg a trans, lesbian, bi, cis-gendered, cross dressing, fluid gendered woman that switches back and forth between being a woman and a man every minute. It was a fun adventure movie with a nice message about being and working as part of a team.
CB2001
Master Member
I’m pretty sure there have been some Buzz Lightyear toys released that talk. Unless you are talking about the “toys being alive” bit. But even with the most fantastical elements of a story, the setting and environment reflects the time it was made no differently than any other show or movie at the time. Look at Babylon 5 as an example. It’s a show set in the future, yet the props and set dressings scream “The future by way of the 1990s!”. So, Toy Story may not be set in our exact reality (it’s a fantasy), but given how the world’s design, it reflected our reality in it’s environment at the times the films were made. And if Lightyear is meant to be the in-universe film, by that logic, the in-universe film that made Andy and his friends to want the Buzz Lightyear toy had to be release either the same year as Toy Story, since the second film showed a LOT of copies of the Buzz action figure.
It’s just basic story and world design. You can’t have a car from the 1980s in a film set in the 1950s, unless it’s a time travel story like Back to the Future.
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One of my little sisters took me to see this the Tuesday after opening weekend, our theater has 5 dollar Tuesday nights. Was maybe 15 people in the theater, all adults. I laughed so hard at times the audience was laughing at my laugh
I saw the internet and media really didn’t like the film, but I enjoyed it. I didn’t go in expecting much, came out laughing
I saw the internet and media really didn’t like the film, but I enjoyed it. I didn’t go in expecting much, came out laughing
We watched it this weekend, and I enjoyed it. I thought it was a creative take on Buzz’s backstory.
One critique is that it follows a very common structure. Can’t decide whether they were deliberate nods to other films or just Disney continuing to reuse a framework that made previous films successful…or both.
Sean
One critique is that it follows a very common structure. Can’t decide whether they were deliberate nods to other films or just Disney continuing to reuse a framework that made previous films successful…or both.
Sean
