A film about the space hero whose cinematic adventures are responsible for spawning an entire toy line? One originally introduced in a groundbreaking CGI film from 26 years ago? Pixar has gone meta with its easter eggs before, but Lightyear feels like Pixception. Which meant that it was Empire's mission to track down director Angus MacLane and grab an exclusive interview – MacLane's first ever about the new movie – to discover what it all means.
MacLane, a Pixar veteran since 1997, got his start working on Buzz-related material at the studio, for Toy Story 2. "One of the first things I did was help design Zurg [Buzz's nemesis and – spoiler alert, if his toy is to be believed — father] in the art department," he says. "So I’ve always been really interested in Buzz the character. I also animated and got known for the crazier Buzz from the second movie. Then I ended up directing the CG portion of the Buzz Lightyear TV show, 24 years ago."
His Lightyear credentials well and truly established, MacLane has forged a career for himself at the company that includes work as a directing animator on Wall-E, co-director on Finding Dory, becoming part of the creative "brain trust" at the studio and now filling the captain's chair on Lightyear. So why, in an era where Pixar is mostly looking forward instead of making sequels, peek back in time? Turns out, MacLane was fascinated by the idea of Buzz as a man, and at a point in his career before he inspires the toy. Which means that the character we met here (voiced by the former Captain America himself, Chris Evans, no less) is effectively in a prequel to the films that will blow Andy from Toy Story's tiny mind and make him demand the tie-in action figure voiced by Tim Allen. But for the filmmakers, the challenge has been dialing into who this Buzz is, especially since there's not much detail (the new movie avoids the canon of the TV movie and series). "We've been a journey of discovery, finding this character and fully fleshing him out for 90 minutes when you’re expanding the mythology," MacLane explains. "When we started, there were only a handful of things that were mentioned from the features. The wings are terillium-carbonic alloy, Zurg is the bad guy, he’s got a laser arm... There’s not a ton of stuff. What would you take from the echoes of that and apply it here?"
While he can't say too much about the final movie at this stage (lest boss Pete Docter trap him under the giant ball that sits outside the company's main studio), he will admit that the new film is heavily inspired by what entertained him in his youth. "I’m not really into homage as much as I’m into the distillation of what I think is neat or cool or exciting about it," he admits. "I don’t want to remind the audience of a better movie!" So, yes, Star Wars is an influence, along with The Right Stuff (think Buzz as a Chuck Yeager figure), but MacLane is more interested in making his own film than an easter egg hunt.
Still, one thing shown here is entirely intentional as a nod for sharp-eyed Toy Story fans – Buzz's martial arts reaction to the cat robot springing to life. "It’s meant to be reminiscent of the shot that Doug Sweetland animated in Toy Story of him freaking out on the bed. There’s not a ton of that, but occasionally it just felt character correct."
And technically, MacLane and his team have gone for a look that is along the lines of original flavour Battlestar Galactica."What we focused on was really trying to emulate a cinematic feel and making it chunky. Because in the films of the pre-digital era, there was so much more model making and so because they were making it physically, it would have a tangibility to it that you can feel. Even in sci-fi TV series of the early 1980s, you can feel the tangibility of the stuff they’d reuse over and over again. For me, it was important to have that solid feel of the models and motion control spaceships of movies of that era."
MacLane is very clear that he's wearing his geeky heart on his sleeve here. "It’s supposed to be fun. The goal of the film is for you to say, ’it was awesome.’ I miss that feeling and I feel like, as kids, that’s what films could do, transport you. A ride, not in a pejorative sense, but in that, ‘I like being with those people, I like seeing them go through things, and I enjoy watching them succeed and sometimes fail.'"
To infinity, then and...
Lightyear will be in UK cinemas from 17 June next year.