While Tim Allen starred as Buzz Lightyear across all four Toy Story films and several of its spinoffs, Lightyear filmmakers felt a different voice actor would help audiences realize the movie's protagonist is a new character altogether.
In a press conference attended by CBR, Lightyear producer Galyn Susman and director and co-writer Angus MacLane went into detail about why the new Pixar film cast Chris Evans in the title role. With the Buzz of Lightyear being an ostensibly human character with more nuance and emotion, the move to cast this new version of the Space Ranger allowed for a more rounded protagonist than the sentient action figure from the Toy Story movies portrayed by Allen.
"Tim Allen is Buzz Lightyear the toy," explained Susman, "and he's the embodiment of Buzz Lightyear the toy. We weren't making a Toy Story movie. We're making Buzz Lightyear's movie, the Lightyear movie. First and foremost, we just needed to have a different person playing that Lightyear, separate from the toy. Then, you know, you're looking at taking a side character and making them the protagonist of his own movie. So you need somebody who's going to be very well-rounded. You need somebody who can do drama and comedy, comedy that doesn't undercut the stakes of the character. You need somebody who can express pathos and have genuine concern for their own safety and experiencing conflict and guilt."
Susman revealed that the filmmakers developed a "huge laundry list" of potential actors for the role, feeling that Evans best embodied the qualities they were looking for. Separately, Evans himself recognized Allen's legacy as Buzz, honoring it while going his own way with his performance. MacLane clarified that the casting affirmed that the Buzz in Lightyear was a completely different character than the one appearing in the Toy Story films, with the change in voice actors further underscoring that distinction for the audience.
"Having a different voice does differentiate," observed MacLane. "It's two different tracks. When you see the movie, you'll go, 'Okay, yeah, I get it.' It makes a lot more sense when you see how the tone of this film is different than the character in Toy Story in that it's a little more well-rounded. It's a little bit... technically a little smarter because he's not the comic relief. He has to be funny but not too goofy. That's why we went with Chris."
Directed and co-written by Angus MacLane, Lightyear is now playing in theaters everywhere.