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Buzz Lightyear is the deuteragonist who appeared in Disney/Pixar's 1995 film Toy Story, its two sequels, and television series. His often repeated catchphrase is "To infinity.... and beyond!". He is voiced by Tim Allen in both the 1995-2010 films (even short films) and the TV film, Patrick Warburton in the TV series, and Pat Fraley in the video games. He is one of the two main protagonists of the CGI films alongside Woody, and the main protagonist of the TV film and series. He also appears in the Toy Story Toons shorts.

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.

Appearances[]

Toy Story[]

In the first movie, Buzz starts out as a surprise birthday present for Andy from his mother. He is not seen fully until Woody climbs up on Andy's bed to see Buzz standing tall on top of it. As Buzz comes to life, he scans the place where he has ended up in and tries to contact Star Command, only for no one to answer, but then catches sight of his ripped cardboard packaging, thinking that his "spaceship" has been damaged. As Buzz tries to report his mission log to his wrist communicator, scans the surrounding "terrain" and doubts if the outside air is breathable, Woody suddenly comes into his view, startling Buzz and causing him to activate his laser on Woody. Woody introduces himself to Buzz and tries to tell him that he is standing on Woody's place. But then, Buzz catches sight of the other toys who have climbed up onto the bed, forcing him to reactivate his laser, but told by Woody that they are harmless creatures, Buzz thanks them for their kind welcome. All the toys, except Woody, are fascinated with the new features of the Buzz Lightyear action figure (buttons that activate his sampled voice, laser and wings). As Buzz shows off his wings, he and Woody have a brief argument over whether or not Buzz can fly, which leads to Buzz demonstrating how he "flies" by jumping off from the bed post, bouncing off a rubber ball, riding down the track on a Hot Wheels car, moving in circles while hanging from the plane suspended from the ceiling until it sideswipes a wall to cause Buzz to be detached from the plane, and finally landing gracefully on the bed. Buzz receives an adoration from the toys, expect Woody, who describes that as "falling with style".

As the days pass, Buzz quickly becomes Andy's new favorite toy, although Buzz believes himself to be the real Space Ranger. This leads to tension with Woody because prior to Buzz's arrival, Woody has been Andy's favorite toy since kindergarten. When a jealous Woody confronts Buzz the next day, he accidentally triggers Buzz's helmet to open, causing Buzz to suffocate briefly before realizing that the air is breathable, but Buzz snaps at Woody, warning him that he almost has had Buzz's eyeballs sucked from their sockets as he closes his helmet. When the toys watch Sid preparing to blow up a Combat Carl from the window of Andy's room, Buzz declares he will stop the kid, but is too late because when he has a brief argument with Woody about his laser, Lenny notices Sid lighting a fuse attached to the Combat Carl, prompting the toys to back away as the Combat Carl is blown up, followed by Sid's evil, victorious cheer. Buzz regrets not being able to stop Sid as Woody jokingly states that he will love to see Buzz as a crater.

That evening, when Andy and his family are to go to a family outing at a Pizza Planet restaurant, Woody, wanting to ensure that Andy will pick him instead of Buzz, calls to Buzz that there is trouble (a helpless toy being trapped). Buzz then rushes to "help" the toy, and Woody sends RC to push Buzz into the gap between the table and the wall, but Buzz catches sight of RC racing toward him and jumps out of the way. RC then bumps into a board leaning against the wall, which then falls onto a globe, freeing the sphere, which rolls toward Buzz. While running away from the rolling globe, Buzz trips over some colored pencils, but manages to roll himself out of the globe's way, ending up on a windowsill. The globe then hits a desk lamp, which swings around and hit Buzz, knocking him out of the window. Most of the other toys, especially Mr. Potato Head, indict Woody for attempting to murder Buzz out of jealousy, but Buzz has survived the fall as he emerges out of the bushes to see Woody being taken by Andy into the car. Seeking revenge on Woody, Buzz jumps onto the car's bumper, and while Andy and his mother stop for gas at a gas station, Buzz drops down through the car's sunroof, confronts Woody, and jumps on him, knocking the two out of the car. As they both roll under the car, they continue fighting until the car drives away, leaving the two stranded. Buzz tries to report his mission log to his wrist communicator again, which results in a more intense argument with Woody, during which Buzz accuses Woody of delaying his "rendezvous with Star Command" and putting the security of the entire universe at stake.

After Woody shouts out his most powerful line, Buzz sees Woody is no help to him, but is convinced by Woody (who has caught sight of a Pizza Planet delivery truck) to come back upon hearing that Woody has found a "spaceship". The two then hitch a ride to Pizza Planet, but as they enter the restaurant, Buzz catches sight of a rocket-shaped game, thinking it is a spaceship promised by Woody that will take him to his "destination." Inside, he meets some Aliens, but Woody catches up with him. Unfortunately, Andy's violent next-door neighbor, Sid (who loves to torture toys) takes control of the claw and fishes Buzz and Woody out. The two are taken to Sid's house and up the stairs to Sid's room, where they encounter the mutant toys, whom Buzz refers to them as cannibals. Buzz tries to contact Star Command to send in reinforcements and claims he has adjusted his laser "from stun to kill," making Woody hopeful that they will be able to blink the mutant toys to death.

The next day, the two are brutally tortured by Sid (evidenced by Buzz having two suction cup darts on his helmet and back), and as they head for the open door out to the hallway (despite Buzz claiming that they don't know what's outside), they are stopped by the mutant toys, prompting Buzz to activate his laser, but nothing happens. As Buzz ponders what is wrong with his laser, Woody suddenly grabs Buzz as a hostage and pushes a large button on Buzz's back, making Buzz's arm chop up and down repeatedly to fend off the mutant toys and make their way out the door, despite Buzz telling him to stop. As Woody tries to retreat up the stairs after being stopped by Sid's vicious dog Scud sleeping at the bottom of the stairs, Buzz grabs him, covering Woody's mouth, and warns Woody that another stunt like what Woody has done may lead to their deaths. As they walk across the hallway, they accidentally wake up Sid's vicious dog Scud. Buzz darts into a dark room, and Scud follows him, but backs away when he catches sight of Mr. Phillips, Sid's dad sleeping on a La-Z-Boy.

Then, Buzz hears a voice calling for him. Thinking he can finally rendezvous with Star Command, Buzz opens his wrist communicator, but he realizes that the voice is actually coming from a TV, in which a commercial advertising Buzz Lightyear toys available at Al's Toy Barn is playing. From that commercial (as well as a "MADE IN TAIWAN" message inscribed on the lid of his wrist communicator), Buzz has discovered, for the first time, that he is a toy, much to his dismay. Dejected, he walks out of the room and down the corridors, then catches sight of a window above the stairs. Despite Woody's voice echoing in his mind "You are a toy! You can't fly!", he nevertheless tries his last attempt at proving he was a Space Ranger by opening his wings and jumping from the top of the stairs, aiming toward the window, only to fall to the bottom of the stairs and sever his left arm in the process. There, he is found by Sid's little sister, Hannah, who decides to borrow Buzz for a tea party, nicknaming him as "Mrs. Nesbit." Woody then enters Hannah's room to coax Buzz out of the room. When Buzz sarcastically shows him off as "Mrs. Nesbit," Woody tries to make Buzz come to his senses by opening Buzz's helmet, slapping Buzz's head with his severed arm, and politely closing his helmet. As Buzz moans over not being able to fly out of the window, Woody, seeing the window to Andy's room through the window out of Sid's room, pulls Buzz into Sid's room.

However, due to Buzz being depressed that he is a toy, he refuses to help Woody in his escape plan, only throwing his severed arm on a desk, right next to Woody (and forcing Woody to fake Buzz being there, but making Andy's toys believe that he has severed Buzz's arm, thus ruining any chance at being rescued). Just then, the mutant toys surround Buzz, prompting Woody to fight them off, but the toys have reattached Buzz's severed arm back in place, stunning Woody. Soon, Sid bursts back into a room with a rocket, and while looking for Woody, he steps on Buzz's laser and tapes the rocket onto Buzz's back, stating how he has always desired to "blow a spaceman into orbit," but is forced to delay his launch due to a sudden rainstorm.

Overnight, Woody, who has become trapped in a milk crate due to a toolbox rested on top of the crate, calls for Buzz to free him, and when Buzz doesn't answer, he throws a washer that strikes Buzz's helmet to get his attention. However, Buzz, who has claimed to have started to think clearly for the first time, is still too depressed to help Woody, as he tells Woody that Woody has been right all along: Buzz is not a Space Ranger, but just a "stupid, insignificant toy." In the film's turning point, Woody explains to Buzz what being a toy is and why that is better than being a Space Ranger, even going far as describing the features that Buzz has (having wings, glow-in-the-dark, buttons that make him talk, helmet doing the "whoosh" thing), all of which makes Buzz a "cool toy."

As Woody, too, falls into depression and finally accepts that he will have no chance of standing up to a Buzz Lightyear action figure, Buzz thinks for a moment, looking at Andy's name written on the bottom of his boot that proves his ownership to Andy and considering everything Woody has told him, then becomes determined to get himself and Woody back in the hands of their owner. He then starts to push the toolbox off the crate and manages to free Woody, but not before catching sight of a moving truck that has pulled in front of Andy's house. Just then, Sid wakes up and takes Buzz out of the room, prompting Woody to give chase, but Scud has stationed himself in the way, preparing to attack any toy that emerges out of Sid's room. To save Buzz, Woody has to call for the mutant toys, who help Woody with his plan to escape safely to Sid's backyard, where they move into their final positions. After Woody scares Sid away, Buzz thanks Woody for saving him from Sid as they shake hands, and their friendship is born. Just then, the two hear the sound of Andy's car starting next door, and they rush to catch the car, but Woody has to go back briefly to free Buzz, whose rocket has made him stuck to a fence, causing them both to miss the car.

After the moving truck passes over the two, they make a dash for the truck, unaware that Scud has caught sight of them. Buzz has made it onto the truck's bumper, but as Woody begins his climb up to the bumper, Scud catches up with them and tries to pull Woody off the truck, prompting Buzz to leap onto Scud to fight the dog off. Not wanting Buzz to be left behind, Woody opens the truck's back door for a box of Andy's toys and dig into the box to find RC, whom he tosses onto the street and sends to pick up Buzz. While Buzz rides RC with Scud chasing after him, the other toys, believing Woody is attempting to murder RC, ambush him, causing RC to move around in circles and jump. Buzz finally loses Scud as RC cruises into an intersection in which cross traffic is moving and Scud runs into the intersection, causing cars to swerve and form a circle that entraps Scud. Buzz heaves a sigh of relief after losing Scud.

After Woody is tossed out of the truck, he joins Buzz as they ride RC, then they try to catch up with the moving truck. The other toys see Woody and Buzz riding on RC and feel guilty for what they have done to Woody. As RC gains closer to the truck, Slinky tries to help them back into the truck, but becomes overstretched due to RC's batteries depleting. After losing grip of Slinky and RC comes to a dead stop, Buzz then realizes the rocket taped behind his back, but in order to light the rocket, Woody has to use Buzz's helmet to focus the sunlight onto the rocket fuse. When he succeeds, Buzz holds onto Woody, who holds onto RC, as they rocket toward the moving truck. Woody manages to toss RC back into the truck (and accidentally impacted straight at Potato Head), just as he and Buzz go skyrocketing into the air. Buzz then frees himself from the rocket by opening his wings, and he and Woody plummet to the ground, but a sudden updraft causes the two to glide gracefully in the air, with Buzz describing it as "falling with style", recalling what Woody has said earlier. The two toys pass over the moving truck and reach Andy's car, where they drop down through the car's sunroof and land in an open box next to Andy, finally making him happy once again, now that he has finally found his favorite toys.

On Christmas Day at Andy's new house, Buzz (now with his helmet permanently open for the first time) is seen sitting on the bed, listening to Sarge's voice through the baby monitor. Woody joins Buzz as they sit on the bed together, and Woody asks Buzz if he isn't worried about being replaced and what present for Andy may be worse than him. When the toys hear that Andy has received a puppy, Woody and Buzz look at each other with a surprised, dreaded smile on both their faces.


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