Pixar's return to the box office didn't fare as well as they hoped with the release of their Toy Story spin-off, Lightyear. While it is still one of the most highly profitable animated family features released during the box office's pandemic era, the film failed to live up to expectations. With a budget of $200 million, it landed $20-$30 million under its projected take-home numbers when it only made $51 million in its first weekend. In addition, Lightyear has received mixed reviews and left many viewers wondering if the film deserved to get made. The saddest thing about this situation is that Pixar already had the blueprint for a successful Buzz Lightyear spin-off.

While it hasn't held the same place in popularity as some of the other classic Disney cartoons, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was an outstanding spin-off. Comprised of a movie and two seasons, the show had a long life of reruns on Disney Channel that captured the attention of many tail-end Millennials and Gen Z kids. And reimagining this story for the big screen could've created a lot more hype from those who grew up on the show and paved a more straightforward road to success for Pixar.

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Funnily enough, the project's concept has a lot of similarities to the creation of Lightyear. The series was originally going to air shortly after 1995's Toy Story, but due to the push for a sequel, it got pushed back until after Toy Story 2 hit theaters. And it was during that time executive producer Tad Stones, along with partners Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley, who went on to create Kim Possible, teamed up to create the direct-to-video movie. During its production, the film was written as the show's first three episodes as it was considered a part of the 65 episodes picked up by Disney.

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was full of colorful alien characters and Star Trek-inspired goofiness. That included Buzz's crew comprised of the straight-laced Tangean Princess Mira Nora, former Star Command janitor Booster Sinclair Munchapper and a brilliant yet emotionless robot named XR. Despite the show getting geared toward the 7-12 age demographic, the production team was able to pull in a slew of heavy hitters to voice the characters. While it would be impossible to list every big name, some notable ones are Patrick Warburton, Linda Hamilton, Wayne Knight, Stephen Root and even Disney's favorite Jon Favreau.

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Buzz Lightyear from Lightyear

If Pixar wanted Lightyear to be as successful as it could be, using Star Command as a template might have done the trick. Between Finding Dory's financial success, the Cars series and Toy Story itself, it is clear that they understand nostalgia sells. So, why would they not have made things easy on themselves by bringing back minds like Stones and Warburton and making something fun? And with Pixar looking to break into the TV sphere, with Win or Lose coming fall of 2023, rebooting Star Command could have set up a fun feature trilogy and another Disney+ series.

If the powers that be at Pixar made this choice, they wouldn't have had to change so much and could have shown kids a diverse and science-positive utopia. But sadly, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command's fate was decided long ago. In an incredible deep dive into the series, Youtuber Jace Diehl interviewed Tad Stones about his experiences creating the show. During the conversation, Stones revealed that then head of Pixar John Lasseter was not pleased with the series as it deviated far from what he originally envisioned. Regardless, developing a sequel to a beloved Pixar property is a difficult task. But if the studio had just attempted to put some polish on an old recognizable gem, things could have turned out differently for Lightyear.

To see how Buzz Lightyear of Star Command could've gotten reimagined, Lightyear is in theaters now.