251-469: Buzz Lightyear is a fictional character in the Disney – Pixar Toy Story franchise . He is a superhero action figure from an in-universe media franchise . Buzz is recognizable by his lime green, purple, and white space suit. Originating as a one-man band toy named Tinny, he evolved into a space ranger action figure during the development of Toy Story , a decision made by director John Lasseter . He
502-540: A Golden Globe for Best Picture , and it received 6 Academy Award nominations, becoming the first animation nominated for Best Picture; it won Best Score, Best Sound , and Best Song. The film was critically acclaimed, with some critics considering it to be the best Disney film. To coincide with the 1992 release of The Mighty Ducks , Disney founded the National Hockey League team The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim . Disney's next animated feature Aladdin
753-566: A Special Achievement Award ( Toy Story ). Lasseter has been nominated on four other occasions—in the category of Animated Feature , for both Monsters, Inc. (2001) and Cars , in the Original Screenplay category for Toy Story and in the Animated Short category for Luxo, Jr. (1986)—while the short Knick Knack (1989) was selected by Terry Gilliam as one of the ten best animated films of all time. In 2008, he
1004-477: A pop culture icon and the greatest or most iconic Pixar character. He was named as one of the most influential toys of the 1990s by Time . His catchphrase "To infinity and beyond" has been described as one of the greatest film quotes of all time and he has been referenced in popular culture, including song lyrics by Beyoncé and Justin Bieber . He was named the "longest-serving astronaut in space" by NASA after
1255-645: A 12-week goodwill visit to South America, funded by the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs . During the trip, the animators began plotting films, taking inspiration from the local environments and music. As a result of the strike, federal mediators compelled the studio to recognize the Screen Cartoonist's Guild and several animators left, leaving it with 694 employees. To recover from their financial losses, Disney rushed into production
1506-441: A 26% growth in revenue. Los Angeles Times called Disney's recovery "a real rarity in the corporate world". On May 1, 1989, Disney opened Disney-MGM Studios, its third amusement park at Walt Disney World, and later became Hollywood Studios . The new park demonstrated to visitors the movie-making process, until 2008, when it was changed to make guests feel they are in movies. Following the opening of Disney-MGM Studios, Disney opened
1757-666: A 2D animated TV series based on the direct-to-video film. From 2008 to 2016, a show titled Toy Story: The Musical on board Disney Cruise Line featured Buzz portrayed by Noel Orput. In Toy Story 3 , the Spanish version of Buzz was voiced by Javier Fernandez-Peña, who returned for Toy Story Toons: Hawaiian Vacation . From 2010, Mike MacRae voiced Buzz in various video games, including Toy Story 3: The Video Game , three instances of Toy Story for Disney Infinity , and Kingdom Hearts III . Corey Burton portrayed Buzz in performances of Disney on Ice in 2010. Teddy Newton voiced
2008-514: A 2D animated feature film directed by one of Lasseter's friends, Jerry Rees , and co-produced by Wilhite (who had, by then, left to start Hyperion Pictures ), and some of the staff of Pixar would be involved in the film alongside Lasseter. While putting together a crew for the planned feature, Lasseter had made some contacts in the computer industry, among them Alvy Ray Smith and Ed Catmull at Lucasfilm Computer Graphics Group . After being fired, and feeling glum knowing his employment with Disney
2259-559: A Buzz Lightyear action figure spent 15 months on board the International Space Station from May 2008 to September 2009. Toy Story originated in the 1988 short Tin Toy , an animated Pixar film about a tin toy and a baby. The film was so successful that Disney approached Pixar to develop more animated films from computer generated animation . A feature film was conceived involving a windup toy named "Tinny" who rivals
2510-442: A Kansas City advertising firm, to run Disney's merchandising; Kamen agreed and transformed Disney's merchandising. Within a year, Kamen had 40 licenses for Mickey Mouse and within two years, had made $ 35 million worth of sales. In 1934, Disney said he made more money from the merchandising of Mickey Mouse than from the character's films. The Waterbury Clock Company created a Mickey Mouse watch, which became so popular it saved
2761-486: A blinking red light bulb on his wrist to act as a laser. A button was included on his chest, which when pushed, provides digitised audio. The lime green and purple color scheme in Buzz's design was created by Lasseter while sketching the character and was chosen as an apology to his wife for working late; lime green was the favorite color of Lasseter and purple was his wife's favorite. The appearance of television actor Ed Kemmer
SECTION 10
#17327717635323012-469: A carousel and Buzz notices that Woody is heartbroken about having to part with Bo again. Buzz suggests that Woody stay behind to be with Bo, knowing that Bonnie will be okay even without him. They share a final goodbye hug and part ways. Buzz is set to appear in Toy Story 5 and will once again be voiced by Tim Allen . In the animated television series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command , Buzz Lightyear
3263-497: A character used for comic relief. He also needed to appear heroic without coming across as arrogant. Director Angus MacLane was influenced by his love of sci-fi action adventure films to imagine Buzz as he would appear to Andy in a blockbuster movie. Describing Buzz as a "cool toy", he considered Buzz's absolute confidence in himself to be the ideal comedic partner for Woody and questioned whether his backstory involving Emperor Zurg could be produced in film. Having worked as an animator on
3514-483: A character, but it became easier to define him once the team framed him not as a superhero but as a cop. Directing animator Rich Quade said that this helped to choreograph the character. Buzz was designed to move bluntly to reflect how he thinks. Story artist Jason Katz commented, "the only universe Buzz patrols is in his head". Directing animator Ash Brannon said that structurally, Buzz is the opposite to Woody's soft, floppy physique. Except for his soft, squeaky head, Buzz
3765-412: A child. The two refuse to listen to his explanations and become further enraged when Buzz frees them and himself from the game. Thinking they will now never be owned, they pursue and attack Buzz, until Woody offers to take the two plushies to Bonnie after Forky is rescued. Buzz, Bunny, and Ducky join forces and are tasked with retrieving keys from an antique store owner to free Forky, who is trapped inside
4016-692: A choir from the US Army marched down Main Street. The icon of the park was the Cinderella Castle . On Thanksgiving Day, cars traveling to the Magic Kingdom caused traffic jams along interstate roads. On December 21, 1971, Roy died of cerebral hemorrhage at St. Joseph Hospital. Donn Tatum , a senior executive and former president of Disney, became the first non-Disney-family-member to become CEO and chairman. Card Walker , who had been with
4267-689: A combination of both – that would be released theatrically. Lasseter said he sees this medium as an excellent way to train and discover new talent in the company as well as a testing ground for new techniques and ideas. In June 2007, Catmull and Lasseter were given control of Disneytoon Studios , a division of Walt Disney Animation Studios housed in a separate facility in Glendale. As president and chief creative officer, respectively, they have supervised three separate studios for Disney, each with its own production pipeline: Pixar, Disney Animation, and Disneytoon. While Disney Animation and Disneytoon are located in
4518-546: A computer graphics engineer at Apple Computer . They married in 1988, and have four sons together in addition to Nancy's son from a previous relationship, born between 1979 or 1980 and 1997. The Lasseters own Lasseter Family Winery in Glen Ellen, California. The property includes a narrow gauge railroad named the Justi Creek Railway, which is approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) long, including
4769-402: A contract dispute, with Disney asking for a larger fee, while Mintz sought to reduce the price. Disney discovered Universal Pictures owned the intellectual property rights to Oswald, and Mintz threatened to produce the shorts without him if he did not accept the reduction in payment. Disney declined and Mintz signed 4 of Walt Disney Studio's primary animators to start his own studio; Iwerks was
5020-458: A contract with Winkler for $ 1,500, to create six series of Alice Comedies , with an option for two more six-episode series. Walt and Roy Disney founded Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio on October 16, 1923, to produce the films. In January 1926, the Disneys moved into a new studio on Hyperion Street and the studio's name was changed to Walt Disney Studio . After producing Alice films over
5271-498: A crush on Jessie. He and Woody decide not to worry about Andy growing up, as they will always have each other as friends for "infinity and beyond". Woody, Buzz, and the other toys accidentally end up in a daycare center after Andy's mother mistakes them for trash while Andy is packing for college. Buzz decides that the best thing the toys can do is to stay together at the daycare, causing Woody to strike out on his own in search of Andy. Andy's toys are greeted by Lots-o’-Huggin' Bear who
SECTION 20
#17327717635325522-687: A deal in which all parties would obtain 27% equity in streaming service Hulu , and Disney added ABC Family and Disney Channel to the streaming service. On December 16, Roy E. Disney died of stomach cancer ; he was the last member of the Disney family to work for Disney. In March 2010, Haim Saban reacquired from Disney the Power Rangers franchise, including its 700-episode library, for around $ 100 million. Shortly after, Disney sold Miramax Films to an investment group headed by Ronald Tutor for $ 660 million. During that time, Disney released
5773-463: A deep friendship with Woody and their bond continues throughout the Toy Story films. He eventually discovers that he is just a toy, which leads to a personal crisis and moments of self reflection upon discovering other Buzz Lightyear action figures in a toy store. Buzz accepts that he is not a space ranger while helping Woody to reach Andy in a moving van, where he activates his wings to glide through
6024-465: A delegation of animators to the Disney studio in 1981 and showed a clip from Miyazaki's first feature film, The Castle of Cagliostro (1979). Lasseter was so deeply moved that in 1985 he insisted on showing that clip and other examples of Miyazaki's work after dinner to a woman he had just met (who would become his wife). He visited Miyazaki during his first trip to Japan in 1987 and saw drawings for My Neighbor Totoro (1988). After Lasseter became
6275-455: A dentist waiting room in Pixar's 2003 film Finding Nemo . He also appears in all three Toy Story Toons episodes Hawaiian Vacation , Small Fry , and Partysaurus Rex , and the two specials Toy Story of Terror! and Toy Story That Time Forgot . Buzz and Woody appear as piñatas in Pixar's 2017 film Coco . Buzz also makes an appearance alongside various other Disney characters in
6526-576: A dual role as the twins in The Parent Trap (1961). Another child actor, Kevin Corcoran , was prominent in many Disney live-action films, first appearing in a serial for The Mickey Mouse Club, where he would play a boy named Moochie. He worked alongside Mills in Pollyanna , and starred in features such as Old Yeller (1957), Toby Tyler (1960), and Swiss Family Robinson . In 1964,
6777-447: A fancy Utility Belt. The Utility Belt Buzz comes to life and "arrests" Andy's Buzz and imprisons him in an empty Buzz Lightyear case. The other toys mistake Utility Belt Buzz for Andy's Buzz, who is forced to escape the box on his own. He pursues them to Al's apartment, but inadvertently frees an Evil Emperor Zurg action figure that is intent on destroying him. Andy's Buzz rejoins the group, and convinces Woody to come home. Woody invites
7028-502: A former favorite toy, a ventriloquist's dummy . Tinny was eventually converted into a spaceman and evolved through various design changes eventually transforming into Buzz Lightyear. Disney entered into the joint project with Pixar, then a young production studio chaired by Steve Jobs , for three computer-animated feature films in a $ 26 million deal. The Pixar team working on the project included John Lasseter as director, screenwriters Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter , and Ed Catmull . In
7279-443: A fundamental aspect of the story. In Toy Story (1995), unlike most of the other toys, Buzz initially believes himself to be the "real" Buzz Lightyear and comes to terms with being just a toy. In Toy Story 2 (1999), he encounters other Buzz Lightyear action figures from the toyline who similarly believe themselves to be "real", including his in-universe archenemy and father Emperor Zurg . In Toy Story 3 (2010), Buzz explores
7530-416: A golf course, and 6 hotels. In 1988, Disney's 27th animated film Oliver & Company was released the same day as that of former Disney animator Don Bluth's The Land Before Time . Oliver & Company out-competed The Land Before Time , becoming the first animated film to gross over $ 100 million in its initial release, and the highest-grossing animated film in its initial run. Disney became
7781-711: A good candidate for the film. Keane agreed, but first, they decided to do a short test film to see how it worked out and chose Where the Wild Things Are , a decision based on the fact that Disney had considered producing a feature based on the works of Maurice Sendak . Satisfied with the result, Lasseter, Keane and executive Thomas L. Wilhite went on with the project, especially Lasseter who dedicated himself to it, while Keane eventually went on to work with The Great Mouse Detective (1986). Lasseter and his colleagues unknowingly stepped on some of their direct superiors' toes by circumventing them in their enthusiasm to get
Buzz Lightyear - Misplaced Pages Continue
8032-413: A history of alleged sexual misconduct toward employees. In June 2018, Disney announced that he would be leaving the company at the end of the year when his contract expired; he took on a consulting role until then. Following his departure from Disney and Pixar, Lasseter was later hired by Skydance founder and CEO David Ellison to run the animation division Skydance Animation . John Alan Lasseter
8283-606: A joint venture with Infoseek in January 1999, Disney acquired the rest of Infoseek later that year. After unsuccessful negotiations with cruise lines Carnival and Royal Caribbean International , in 1994, Disney announced it would start its own cruise-line operation in 1998. The first two ships of the Disney Cruise Line were named Disney Magic and Disney Wonder , and built by Fincantieri in Italy. To accompany
8534-421: A major success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation division , began to decline. In 1984, Disney's shareholders voted Michael Eisner as CEO, who led a reversal of the company's decline through a combination of international theme park expansion and
8785-480: A merchandising division named Walt Disney Enterprises , and subsidiaries called Disney Film Recording Company, Limited and Liled Realty and Investment Company; the latter of which managed real estate holdings. Walt Disney and his wife held 60% (6,000 shares) of the company, and Roy Disney owned 40%. The comic strip Mickey Mouse debuted on January 13, 1930, in New York Daily Mirror and by 1931,
9036-669: A new character animation program at the California Institute of the Arts (often abbreviated as 'CalArts') and decided to follow his dream of becoming an animator. His mother further encouraged him to take up a career in animation, and, after graduating from Whittier High School in 1975, he enrolled as the second student ( Jerry Rees was the first) in the CalArts Character Animation program created by Disney animators Jack Hannah and T. Hee . Lasseter
9287-423: A new level of visually stunning depth that had not been possible before. He knew adding dimension to animation had been a longtime dream of animators, going back to Walt Disney . Later, he and Glen Keane talked about how great it would be to make an animated feature where the background was computer-generated, and then showed Keane the book The Brave Little Toaster by Thomas Disch , which he thought would be
9538-430: A number of years included "grabbing, kissing, [and] making comments about physical attributes". The alleged sexual misconduct became so well-known that, according to Variety , at various times, Pixar had "minders who were tasked with reining in his impulses". In June 2018, Disney announced that Lasseter was leaving the company at the end of the year, taking a consulting role until then. On January 9, 2019, Lasseter
9789-501: A park called Disney World , which included Magic Kingdom —a larger version of Disneyland—and the City of Tomorrow, at the park's center. By 1967, the company had made expansions to Disneyland, and more rides were added in 1966 and 1967, at a cost of $ 20 million. The new rides included Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room , which was the first attraction to use Audio-Animatronics ; Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress , which debuted at
10040-479: A pivotal role in Woody's story arc in the moment when he decides to move on in the final scenes of the film. He commented, "Buzz had to be the one who kind of gave him permission and said, 'You need to do this. This is for you.'" Producer Jonas Rivera described their relationship in this moment as "sophisticated" due to them having the ability to communicate without speaking. In the 2022 spin-off film Lightyear , Buzz
10291-477: A project that resulted in their first computer-animated short: The Adventures of André & Wally B. , meant to prove it was possible to do character animation on a computer. After his work on the Where the Wild Things Are -test, Lasseter assumed hand-drawn characters in a CGI environment was the only way, but Catmull insisted it could be done, it was just that nobody had given it an attempt before. Because Catmull
Buzz Lightyear - Misplaced Pages Continue
10542-473: A prominent appearance in the interactive 4D attraction Toy Story Mania! as a game host. He was originally intended to be excluded by Disney due to already appearing in the Astro Blasters ride, but Pixar insisted that he should appear, being an essential Toy Story character. He has also appeared alongside other Toy Story characters in Disney on Ice . Various video games have been produced based on
10793-517: A real space ranger. He is particularly convinced that he can fly and attempts to demonstrate this to the other toys in Andy's room. He often uses one of his catchphrases "To infinity and beyond" as a rallying cry when attempting a heroic feat. Despite initially being a figure of fun for Woody, he is often proven to be courageous and the calmer and more sensible of the two, making safer decisions that demonstrate his leadership qualities. Over time Buzz develops
11044-463: A romance with cowgirl figure Jessie , while uncovering his Spanish mode. In Toy Story 4 (2019), he finds his inner voice and bids farewell to Woody, who leaves to be with Bo Peep . The fictional character on which the toy Buzz is based also appears in the 2000 direct-to-video film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins and its subsequent spin-off television series, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command . In these productions, he
11295-518: A screening of Disney's 1963 film The Sword in the Stone at the Wardman Theater, he knew early in his youth that he wanted to become an animator. He then read Preston Blair 's book about animation, and made flipbooks based on Blair's walk cycles. One of his friends had a Super 8 camera that shot single frames, which was used to shoot some of his earlier animation efforts. Lasseter heard of
11546-544: A sequence titled "The Emperor and the Nightingale" (based on The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen ) for a Disney project called Musicana . Musicana was never released but eventually led to the development of Fantasia 2000 (1999). However, after 101 Dalmatians (1961), which in Lasseter's opinion was the film where Disney had reached its highest plateau, he felt that the studio had lost momentum and
11797-439: A series of Lego sets was announced to coincide with the release of Lightyear , including a buildable playset of Buzz's XL-15 spaceship. Buzz Lightyear has also been featured in numerous other licensed merchandise produced by various brands, including action figures by Mattel, costumes, clothing and accessories. Buzz was well received by critics upon his debut in Toy Story . Roger Ebert described him as "the most endearing toy in
12048-554: A settlement." In his role at Skydance, Lasseter serves as producer on all feature films and executive producer on all series, along with Skydance Media CEO David Ellison . Lasseter lives in Glen Ellen, California , with his wife Nancy, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University , whom he met at a computer graphics conference in San Francisco in 1985. Nancy majored in computer graphics applications, and previously worked as
12299-507: A small Buzz character in the short film Toy Story Toons: Small Fry (2011). Additionally, James Brolin voices an older version of Buzz in Lightyear . Chris Evans was cast as the voice of Buzz for the 2022 animated spin-off film Lightyear . After being initially intimidated by the role, Evans said that he used Allen as his inspiration but did not want to do a "shameless impression". Instead, he tried to create his own interpretation of
12550-525: A space hero similar to Major Matt Mason . This character then went through various design iterations, initially named Lunar Larry, which was then changed to Tempus and then Morph, who wore a red space suit. Finally, the dummy character was redesigned into a stuffed cowboy doll named Woody and Morph became Buzz Lightyear. Buzz was designed to be the ultimate child's toy. Lasseter recalled, "We reached back to every favorite idea we could remember. And that of course had to involve outer space". The team knew that being
12801-415: A space hero, Buzz's frame needed to be strong so that it could endure through many space missions, so they designed him with many holes for screws and rivets so that it was clear how he was constructed. They took inspiration from other action figures, incorporating a "karate chop action" into the arms. Buzz was also designed with pop out wings with landing lights to give children the ability to make him fly and
SECTION 50
#173277176353213052-440: A speech at NASA . Aldrin did not receive any endorsement fees for the use of his nickname. In 2009, he admitted to being exasperated by Disney using his name for the character: "You don't want to tangle with Disney, the friend of children. You don't want to challenge their lawyers – for sure, you're going to lose." Originally, when a screen test was being made, Lasseter wanted Buzz to be voiced by Billy Crystal and used audio from
13303-566: A subtle way to illustrate the character's personal growth. Peter Debruge of Variety enjoyed the comedy in Spanish mode Buzz in Toy Story 3 , describing it as "inspired". Tom Charity of CNN was also impressed by Buzz's transformation into a fluent speaker of Spanish, complete with flamenco moves and declarations of love for cowgirl Jessie , describing him as an "intergalactic toreador of love". In contrast, Austin Allison of Collider felt that Pixar struggled to decide what to do with Buzz in
13554-713: A successful director and producer at Pixar, he went on to serve as executive producer on several of Miyazaki's films for their release in the United States and oversaw the translation and dubbing of their English language soundtracks. In addition, the forest spirit Totoro from My Neighbor Totoro makes an appearance as a plush toy in Toy Story 3 (2010). Lasseter is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and served nine consecutive years on its board of governors from 2005 to 2014 when he had to relinquish his seat due to term limits. His last position on
13805-752: A talking duck that would be the studio's new gag character. Donald Duck made his first appearance in 1934 in The Wise Little Hen . Though he did not become popular as quickly as Mickey had, Donald Duck had a featured role in Donald and Pluto (1936), and was given his own series. After a disagreement with Columbia Pictures about the Silly Symphony cartoons, Disney signed a distribution contract with United Artists from 1932 to 1937 to distribute them. In 1932, Disney signed an exclusive contract with Technicolor to produce cartoons in color until
14056-403: A team to rescue Woody. He described Allen's voice as "sweet doltishness" and commented that his "tinny" tone worked well in conveying an emptiness inside Buzz's head. Emily St. James writing for Vox found a moment in Toy Story 2 particularly funny when Buzz faces up to his previous delusion by coming face to face with another Buzz Lightyear that does not realize he is a toy and described it as
14307-494: A ten-year contract to make five films, with Disney as distributor. They would share the cost, profits, and logo credits, calling the films Disney-Pixar productions. During the Disney Renaissance, film division Touchstone also saw success with film such as Pretty Woman (1990), which has the highest number of ticket sales in the U.S. for a romantic comedy and grossed $ 432 million; Sister Act (1992), which
14558-841: A theme song for the television series Zorro . The company hired them as exclusive staff songwriters, an arrangement that lasted 10 years. They wrote many songs for Disney's films and theme parks, and several were commercial hits. In the late 1950s, Disney ventured into comedy with the live-action films The Shaggy Dog (1959), which became the highest-grossing film in the US and Canada for Disney at over $ 9 million, and The Absent Minded Professor (1961), both starring Fred MacMurray . Disney also made live-action films based on children's books including Pollyanna (1960) and Swiss Family Robinson (1960). Child actor Hayley Mills starred in Pollyanna , for which she won an Academy Juvenile Award . Mills starred in 5 other Disney films, including
14809-452: A train station and water tower Lasseter purchased from former Disney animator Ward Kimball . Their residence has a swimming pool with a lazy river that runs through a cave. Lasseter owns a collection of more than 1,000 Hawaiian shirts and wears one every day. Lasseter also collects classic cars , such as a black 1952 Jaguar XK120 . On May 2, 2009, Lasseter received an honorary doctorate from Pepperdine University , where he delivered
15060-464: A tremendous success, with WALL-E winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. After acquiring most of Jetix Europe through the acquisition of Fox Family Worldwide, Disney bought the remainder of the company in 2008 for $ 318 million. Iger introduced D23 in 2009 as Disney's official fan club. In February, Disney announced a deal with DreamWorks Pictures to distribute 30 of their films over
15311-720: A two-year tour of ice shows featuring Disney charters, made its premiere at the Brendan Byrne Meadowlands Arena after Disney licensed its characters to Feld Entertainment . The same month, Disney's animated film The Fox and the Hound was released and became the highest-grossing animated film to that point at $ 40 million. It was the first film that did not involve Walt and the last major work done by Disney's Nine Old Men, who were replaced with younger animators. As profits started to decline, on October 1, 1982, Epcot, then known as EPCOT Center, opened as
SECTION 60
#173277176353215562-556: A venture with The Nature Conservancy , Disney purchased 8,500 acres (3,439 ha) of Everglades headwaters in Florida to protect native animals and plant species, establishing the Disney Wilderness Preserve . On April 3, 1994, Frank Wells died in a helicopter crash; he, Eisner, and Katzenberg helped the company's market value go from $ 2 billion to $ 22 billion since taking office in 1984. On June 15
15813-540: A visit to Griffith Park with his daughters. He said he watched them ride a carousel and thought there "should be ... some kind of amusement enterprise built where the parents and the children could have fun together". Initially planning the construction of an eight-acre (3.2 ha) Mickey Mouse Park near the Burbank studio, Walt changed the planned amusement park's name to Disneylandia, then to Disneyland . A new company, WED Enterprises (now Walt Disney Imagineering ),
16064-651: A way back home while confronting a threat to the universe's safety. Buzz Lightyear is a meetable character at Disney Parks and Resorts , located in Toy Story Land . A dark shooting ride named Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin launched in 1998 in Tomorrowland in Magic Kingdom . Other versions of the ride located in other Disney parks are named Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast, Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue, and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Buzz also makes
16315-422: Is a space ranger working for Star Command, protecting the universe from Evil Emperor Zurg. He works in a team alongside Mira Nova , a princess; Booster, a janitor; and XR, a robot. The series depicts a different version of Buzz Lightyear from his incarnation in Toy Story . It originated in the 2000 direct-to-video film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins , which was written as an origin story. In
16566-551: Is a toy but fails. The two are soon captured by Andy's sadistic neighbor, Sid Phillips . Buzz sees a commercial on a TV in Sid's house which reveals he is a toy. In denial, Buzz tries to fly and ends up breaking his arm. He falls into despair. Sid's toys fix Buzz's arm, and Sid tapes him to a rocket with the intention to blow him up. Woody convinces Buzz his purpose is to make Andy happy; eventually causing Buzz to regain his resolve. He teams up with Woody to escape Sid and return to Andy. As
16817-444: Is a toy. Owen Gleiberman writing for Entertainment Weekly found Buzz to be both "hilarious and touching", noting his egotistical and macho character and commenting, "His belief in his own superpowers, notably the ability to fly, is so complete that the very innocence of his self-delusion becomes oddly charming." Richard Corliss of Time highlighted that in Toy Story 2 , Buzz finally achieves his destiny as an action hero by leading
17068-420: Is based on a character in Andy's favorite film. Like the other toys in Toy Story , Buzz comes to life, but is unaware that he is a toy, instead believing himself to be a real space ranger. An in-universe television commercial advertising Buzz Lightyear toys promotes him as "the world's greatest superhero" and illustrates that Buzz is a toy based on a fictional character in a successful media franchise. His delusion
17319-429: Is causing him to be delayed. As an action figure, Buzz has various features, including a space suit that glows in the dark. He also takes his heroic role very seriously and is prepared to face dangerous enemies by setting his "laser" from stun to kill. His earnestness is often used as a form of comic relief. Being the newest toy in Andy's room, the other toys, except for Woody, are impressed and treat him with reverence like
17570-524: Is characterized as the fictional character in the favorite film of the Toy Story character Andy, which the Buzz Lightyear action figures were based on. For Buzz's character in Lightyear , the Pixar team wanted to create a distinction between the heroic fictional human Buzz and the toy Buzz of Toy Story . Consequently, they needed to ensure he was both a dramatic and comedic character, rather than
17821-626: Is expressed immediately upon entering Andy's room, which he mistakes for a strange planet. He declares that he is stationed in the Gamma Quadrant of Sector Four and is tasked with protecting the galaxy from the Evil Emperor Zurg , the enemy of the Galactic Alliance. He explains to Woody that he must rendezvous with Star Command to deliver information on Zurg's secret weapon, which can destroy entire planets and that Woody
18072-521: Is kidnapped by a greedy toy collector named Al McWhiggin , who is intent on selling him and other "Woody's Roundup" toys to a toy museum in Japan. Buzz leads Mr. Potato Head , Slinky Dog , Rex , and Hamm on a daring rescue mission. They travel to Al's Toy Barn store, to find Woody. Buzz uses traffic cones to help the group cross a busy road. In the store, the toys get separated. Buzz discovers an aisle full of his fellow Buzz Lightyear toys, one of which has
18323-555: Is known for its film studio division, the Walt Disney Studios , which includes Walt Disney Pictures , Walt Disney Animation Studios , Pixar , Marvel Studios , Lucasfilm , 20th Century Studios , 20th Century Animation , and Searchlight Pictures . Disney's other main business units include divisions in television, broadcasting, streaming media, theme park resorts, consumer products, publishing, and international operations. Through these divisions, Disney owns and operates
18574-468: Is named after American astronaut Buzz Aldrin , the second person to walk on the Moon . Buzz Lightyear is a recurring character in all of the Toy Story franchise's animated feature films, including spin-offs. In the Toy Story films he is voiced by Tim Allen . Although Woody serves as the protagonist in the Toy Story filmography, Buzz is a prominent character, with their rivalry and friendship being
18825-578: Is now complete, so your employment with the Disney Studios is now terminated." Wilhite, who was part of Disney's live-action group and therefore had no obligations to the animation studio, was able to arrange to keep Lasseter around temporarily until the Wild Things test project was complete in January 1984, but with the understanding there would be no further work for Lasseter at Disney Animation. The Brave Little Toaster would later become
19076-505: Is one of the biggest and best-known companies in the world and was ranked number 48 on the 2023 Fortune 500 list of biggest companies in the United States by revenue. In 2023, the company's seat in Forbes Global 2000 was 87. Since its founding, the company has won 135 Academy Awards , 26 of which were awarded to Walt . The company has been said to have produced some of the greatest films of all time , as well as revolutionizing
19327-406: Is produced from hard plastic and this rigidity reflects his direct, unironic character. Commenting on Buzz's personality, Allen said he would like to have Buzz's innocence: "I wish I could look at things that simply". He said that in contrast to Woody, Buzz has a limited sense of what is real and this lack of consciousness is used for comedic effect. He noted that the dynamic between the two characters
19578-603: Is seemingly the leader of the daycare toys. He assigns them to the Caterpillar Room, where they are subjected to a rough playtime by young children. Buzz approaches Lotso and requests a transfer to the Butterfly Room but rejects Lotso's offer to join his gang, resulting in Lotso ordering his henchmen to switch Buzz to "demo" mode. Buzz's memories and personality appear to be erased; his space ranger delusions from
19829-412: Is voiced by Tim Allen and Patrick Warburton , respectively. Chris Evans voiced a version of the character in the 2022 spin-off film Lightyear , an in-universe film exploring his origin story , with James Brolin additionally voicing Zurg, an elderly, nihilistic version of Buzz from an alternate future . Buzz received a positive reception on the release of Toy Story . Critics have described him as
20080-459: Is what gives Buzz a personality, stating that his "sense of being" is created in the moment when he sees Woody for the first time. He described Buzz as being "linear" and "duty-oriented", but commented that when he eventually finds his "inner voice", it is "plastic, ...but it works for Buzz". Allen admitted that the character Duke Caboom presented a problem for him due to the similarities in his personality to Buzz's bravado. Consequently, he discussed
20331-512: The 1964 New York World's Fair before moving to Disneyland in 1967; and Dumbo the Flying Elephant . On November 20, 1964, Walt sold most of WED Enterprise to Walt Disney Productions for $ 3.8 million after being persuaded by Roy, who thought Walt having his own company would cause legal problems. Walt formed a new company called Retlaw to handle his personal business, primarily Disneyland Railroad and Disneyland Monorail . When
20582-453: The ABC television network ; cable television networks such as Disney Channel , ESPN , Freeform , FX , and National Geographic ; publishing, merchandising, music, and theater divisions; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as Disney+ , ESPN+ , Hulu , and Hotstar ; and Disney Experiences , which includes several theme parks, resort hotels, and cruise lines around the world. Disney
20833-470: The Church of Christ church his family regularly attended. As a child, Lasseter would race home from school to watch Chuck Jones cartoons on television. While in high school, he read The Art of Animation by Bob Thomas . The book covered the history of Disney animation and explored the making of Disney's 1959 film Sleeping Beauty , which made Lasseter realize he wanted to do animation himself. When he saw
21084-626: The Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Park . That year, the company earned a gross total of $ 24.5 million compared to the $ 11 million the previous year. Disney continued to delegate much of the animation work to the studio's top animators, known as the Nine Old Men . The company produced an average of five films per year throughout the 1950s and 60s. Animated features of this period included Sleeping Beauty (1959), One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), and The Sword in
21335-617: The International Space Station (ISS), where it took part in an experiment and appeared in a video downlink from space whilst the Space Shuttle delivered the largest module of the space station – Kibō , the Japanese Experiment Module pressurized section. The flight was arranged as part of NASA's Toys in Space program that began in 1985. The mission launched with Buzz Lightyear aboard on May 31, 2008, to celebrate
21586-625: The Muppets franchise from the Jim Henson Company for $ 75 million, founding Muppets Holding Company, LLC . Following the success of Disney-Pixar films Finding Nemo (2003), which became the second highest-grossing animated film of all time at $ 936 million, and The Incredibles (2004), Pixar looked for a new distributor once its deal with Disney ended in 2004. Disney sold the loss-making Disney Stores chain of 313 stores to Children's Place on October 20. Disney also sold
21837-430: The Toy Story franchise. In 1995, Buzz appeared in the Toy Story video game based on the story of the first film. Buzz was voiced by Pat Fraley in the computer games Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story and Disney's Activity Center: Toy Story , both released in 1996. A Toy Story 2 video game was released in 1999, in which Buzz is tasked with rescuing Woody. In the 1999 game Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to
22088-514: The Toy Story sequels outside of his identity crisis and being Woody's friend and opined that "the world built around him that fans and Pixar itself wanted to tell was too big for the stories of Toy Story to hold". His starring role in Lightyear was met with a mixed response from critics. In an initial reaction to the film's announcement, The Guardian ' s Ben Child expressed bewilderment, commenting that Buzz had always been defined by his "toy-ness" since his first appearance and felt that it
22339-416: The Toy Story universe, the 2022 animated film Lightyear is Andy's favorite movie starring the fictional character upon which his Buzz Lightyear action figure was based. The film, which was directed by Angus MacLane , tells the story of young astronaut Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Evans) who, after being marooned on a hostile planet with his commander and crew and a talking robot cat called Sox, tries to find
22590-592: The Tree of Life at its center. Receiving positive reviews, Disney's next animated films Mulan and Disney-Pixar film A Bug's Life were released on June 5 and November 20, 1998. Mulan became the year's sixth-highest-grossing film at $ 304 million, and A Bug's Life was the year's fifth-highest at $ 363 million. In a $ 770-million transaction, on June 18, Disney bought a 43% stake of Internet search engine Infoseek for $ 70 million, also giving it Infoseek-acquired Starwave . Starting web portal Go.com in
22841-447: The Where the Wild Things Are project into motion. The project was canceled while being pitched to two of Lasseter's supervisors, animation administrator Ed Hansen, and head of Disney studios, Ron W. Miller , due to lack of perceived cost benefits for the mix of traditional and computer animation. A few minutes after the meeting, Lasseter was summoned by Hansen to his office. As Lasseter recalled, Hansen told him, "Well, John, your project
23092-523: The chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios , Walt Disney Animation Studios , and Disneytoon Studios , as well as the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering . Lasseter began his career as an animator with The Walt Disney Company . After being fired from Disney for promoting computer animation , he joined Lucasfilm , where he worked on then-groundbreaking usage of CGI animation. The Graphics Group of
23343-574: The 1930s, and became one of the best-known Disney songs. Other Silly Symphonies films won the Best Cartoon award from 1931 to 1939, except for 1938, when another Disney film, Ferdinand the Bull , won it. In 1934, Walt Disney announced a feature-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . It would be the first cel animated feature and the first animated feature produced in
23594-442: The 1950s, Disney returned to producing full-length animated feature films, beginning with Cinderella (1950), its first feature in eight years. A critical and commercial success, Cinderella saved Disney after the financial pitfalls of the wartime era; it was its most financially successful film since Snow White , making $ 8 million in its first year. Walt began to reduce his involvement with animation, focusing his attention on
23845-505: The 1960s", starred in 10 Disney films, including That Darn Cat! (1965), The Ugly Dachshund (1966), and The Love Bug (1968). Disney's last child actor of the 1960s was Kurt Russell , who had signed a ten-year contract. He featured in films such as The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit (1968) alongside Dean Jones, The Barefoot Executive (1971), and The Strongest Man in
24096-585: The 2012 song " Boyfriend " by Canadian pop star Justin Bieber in the lyric "I can be your Buzz Lightyear, fly across the globe." The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company , commonly referred to as simply Disney , is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California . Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio ; it also operated under
24347-528: The 2018 Walt Disney Animation Studios film Ralph Breaks the Internet . Prior to the release of Toy Story , Disney offered a licensing deal to various toy manufacturers, including Mattel and Hasbro , but they failed to foresee the success of the film. By April 1995, only five months before the film's release, Thinkway Toys, a small Canadian manufacturer, took on the deal within the tight timeframe. Albert Chan, president and CEO of Thinkway Toys said he saw
24598-599: The 2019 video game Kingdom Hearts III . In June 2019, Buzz appeared as a character skin with the other Toy Story characters in a Toy Story Mash Up Pack in Minecraft . In December 2022, Buzz and Woody were introduced in a content update to Disney Dreamlight Valley . In October 2023, skins based on Buzz and Woody were made available in the video game Fall Guys . Buzz appears in a series of television shorts titled Toy Story Treats , which aired in 1996 on ABC's Saturday mornings. A Buzz Lightyear action figure appears in
24849-491: The Captain being a team player and Buzz being an isolated character. The writers gave Buzz a character to respect and admire in the form of Alicia Hawthorne and used this relationship to eventually show Buzz what he is missing from his life. MacLane explained that Buzz's catchphrase "To infinity and beyond" was used to emphasise the character's story arc: "His personal and moral failure is the realization that he isn’t perfect, and
25100-654: The Computer Division of Lucasfilm was sold to Steve Jobs and became Pixar in 1986. Lasseter oversaw all of Pixar's films and associated projects. He personally directed Toy Story (1995), A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Cars (2006), and Cars 2 (2011), and executive-produced all other Pixar films through 2018. From 2006 to 2018, Lasseter also oversaw all of Walt Disney Animation Studios' (and its division Disneytoon Studios') films and associated projects as executive producer. His works have grossed more than US$ 19 billion, making him one of
25351-678: The Los Angeles area, Pixar is located over 350 miles (563 kilometers) northwest in the Bay Area, where Catmull and Lasseter both live. Accordingly, they appointed a general manager for each studio to manage day-to-day business affairs, then established a routine of spending at least two days per week (usually Tuesdays and Wednesdays) in Southern California. Lasseter is a close friend and admirer of Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki , whom he first met when TMS Entertainment sent
25602-484: The Lucky Rabbit and 26 cartoons featuring the character. On February 6, the company announced it would be merging its ABC Radio networks and 22 stations with Citadel Broadcasting in a $ 2.7 billion deal, though which Disney acquired 52% of television broadcasting company Citadel Communications . The Disney Channel movie High School Musical aired and its soundtrack was certified triple platinum , becoming
25853-471: The Mickey Mouse series, which was made using synchronized sound , becoming the first post-produced sound cartoon. The sound was created using Powers' Cinephone system, which used Lee de Forest 's Phonofilm system. Pat Powers ' company distributed Steamboat Willie , which was an immediate hit. In 1929, the company successfully re-released the two earlier films with synchronized sound. After
26104-509: The NHL team Mighty Ducks in 2005. Roy E. Disney decided to rejoin the company and was given the role of consultant with the title "Director Emeritus". In March 2005, Bob Iger, president of the company, became CEO after Eisner's retirement in September; Iger was officially named head of the company on October 1. Disney's eleventh theme park Hong Kong Disneyland opened on September 12, costing
26355-513: The Rescue , the player controls Buzz instead of Woody. In the 2010 video game tie in Toy Story 3 , the player can play as Buzz in the Toy Box mode. In 2000, a video game titled Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was released that was based on the cartoon series of the same name. It features a playable Buzz Lightyear racing against enemies on different planets. A racing game similar to Mario Kart
26606-540: The South (1946) which would become one of Disney's most controversial films. As a result of its financial problems, Disney began re-releasing its feature films in 1944. In 1948, it began premiering the nature documentary series, True-Life Adventures , which ran until 1960, winning 8 Academy Awards. In 1949, the Walt Disney Music Company was founded to help with profits for merchandising. In
26857-532: The Stone (1963). Sleeping Beauty was a financial loss for the company, and at $ 6 million, had the highest production costs up to that point. One Hundred and One Dalmatians introduced an animation technique using the xerography process to electromagnetically transfer the drawings to animation cels , resulting in a transformed art style for the studio's animated films. In 1956, the Sherman Brothers , Robert and Richard , were asked to produce
27108-559: The US, Tokyo Disneyland , opened in Urayasu . Costing around $ 1.4 billion, construction started in 1979 when Disney and The Oriental Land Company agreed to build a park together. Within its first ten years, the park had over 140 million visitors. After an investment of $ 100 million, on April 18, Disney started a pay-to-watch cable television channel called Disney Channel , a 16-hours-a-day service showing Disney films, twelve programs, and two magazines shows for adults. Although it
27359-526: The US. Its novelty made it a risky venture; Roy tried to persuade Walt not to produce it, arguing it would bankrupt the studio, and while widely anticipated by the public, it was referred to by some critics as "Disney's Folly". Walt directed the animators to take a realistic approach, creating scenes as though they were live action. While making the film, the company created the multiplane camera , consisting of pieces of glass upon which drawings were placed at different distances to create an illusion of depth in
27610-634: The Walt Disney Company at Disneyland in Anaheim during summer breaks and got a job as a Jungle Cruise skipper, where he learned the basics of comedy and comic timing to entertain captive audiences on the ride. Upon graduating in 1979, Lasseter immediately obtained a job as an animator at Walt Disney Productions mostly due to his success with his student project, Lady and the Lamp . The studio had reviewed approximately 10,000 portfolios in
27861-457: The Walt Disney Company, stating the old name only referred to the film industry. With Disney's animation industry declining, the animation department needed its next movie The Great Mouse Detective to be a success. It grossed $ 25 million at the box office, becoming a much-needed financial success. To generate more revenue from merchandising, the company opened its first retail store Disney Store in Glendale in 1987. Because of its success,
28112-613: The Wind ". Pixar's and Disney's first co-release was the first-ever fully computer-generated film Toy Story , which was released on November 19, 1995, to critical acclaim and an end-run gross total of $ 361 million. The film won the Special Achievement Academy Award and was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Original Screenplay . In 1995, Disney announced the $ 19 billion acquisition of television network Capital Cities/ABC Inc., which
28363-526: The World (1975). In late 1959, Walt had an idea to build another park in Palm Beach, Florida , called the City of Tomorrow, a city that would be full of technological improvements. In 1964, the company chose land southwest of Orlando, Florida to build the park and acquired 27,000 acres (10,927 ha). On November 15, 1965, Walt, along with Roy and Florida's governor Haydon Burns , announced plans for
28614-412: The air and proclaims that he is not flying, but "falling with style". "He's always been wonderfully ignorant about who he was, that he was a toy. But his transition has always been, 'Okay, that was a terrible moment for me, let's regroup.'...his core has always been this little authentic soft-hearted [guy]." Tim Allen discussing Buzz Lightyear During the development of Toy Story , Buzz Lightyear
28865-436: The animated film The Jungle Book , which was Disney's most successful film for the next two decades, and the live-action musical The Happiest Millionaire . After Walt's death, the company largely abandoned animation, but made several live-action films. Its animation staff declined from 500 to 125 employees, with the company only hiring 21 people from 1970 to 1977. Disney's first post-Walt animated film The Aristocats
29116-716: The assumption of $ 2.3 billion in debt. The deal included a 76% stake in Fox Kids Europe , Latin American channel Fox Kids , more than 6,500 episodes from Saban Entertainment 's programming library, and Fox Family Channel . In 2001, Disney's operations had a net loss of $ 158 million after a decline in viewership of the ABC television network, as well as decreased tourism due to the September 11 attacks . Disney earnings in fiscal 2001 were $ 120 million compared with
29367-418: The backgrounds. After United Artists attempted to attain future television rights to the Disney shorts, Walt signed a distribution contract with RKO Radio Pictures on March 2, 1936. Walt Disney Productions exceeded its original budget of $ 150,000 for Snow White by ten times; its production eventually cost the company $ 1.5 million. Snow White took 3 years to make, premiering on December 12, 1937. It
29618-405: The best film quote of all time. Time named Buzz Lightyear as one of the most influential toys of the 1990s, highlighting his cultural impact as a persistently popular toy and his involvement with NASA in promoting aerospace science to children. The 2008 song " Single Ladies " by Beyoncé includes the lyric "...and delivers me to a destiny, to infinity and beyond." Buzz Lightyear is mentioned in
29869-535: The board was as first vice president. Lasseter received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood in 2011, located at 6834 Hollywood Boulevard. In November 2017, Lasseter took a six-month leave of absence after acknowledging allegations of workplace sexual misconduct that he described as "missteps" with employees in a memo to staff. The alleged sexual misconduct toward multiple employees over
30120-723: The box office. Later, as products of the South American trip, Disney released the features Saludos Amigos (1942) and The Three Caballeros (1944). This was a new strategy of releasing package films , collections of short cartoons grouped to make feature films. Both performed poorly. Disney released more package films through the rest of the decade, including Make Mine Music (1946) , Fun and Fancy Free (1947), Melody Time (1948), and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), to try to recover from its financial losses. Disney began producing less-expensive live-action films mixed with animation, beginning with Song of
30371-505: The box office; it won two Academy Awards; Best Original Score and Best Original Song for " Under the Sea ". During the Disney Renaissance, composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman wrote several Disney songs until Ashman died in 1991. Together they wrote 6 songs nominated for Academy Awards; with two winning songs—"Under the Sea" and " Beauty and the Beast ". To produce music geared for
30622-416: The box-office-leading Hollywood studio for the first time, with films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Three Men and a Baby (1987) , and Good Morning, Vietnam (1987). The company's gross revenue went from $ 165 million in 1983 to $ 876 million in 1987, and operating income went from −$ 33 million in 1983 to +130 million in 1987. The studio's net income rose by 66%, along with
30873-452: The character by lowering his voice tone while also making it a homage to Allen. Director Angus MacLane explained that his casting was intended to separate the more serious action hero version of the character from Allen's comedic toy version in the Toy Story films, which he described as "a little goofier" and "a little dumber". Lightyear was Evans' first voice acting role. He admitted that speaking Buzz's catchphrase "To infinity and beyond"
31124-413: The character followed during the development. Lasseter considered a one-man band toy to be an outdated idea and decided to change Tinny to an action figure, similar to G.I. Joe . He said, "we started to analyze what a little boy would get these days that would make him so excited that he stopped playing with anything else." G.I. Joe was Lasseter's favorite character in childhood, but later Tinny evolved into
31375-555: The character in Lightyear is recognizable as Buzz Lightyear despite having a human appearance rather than that of a toy and praised Evans for "channeling some of Captain America's get-it-done spirit". Buzz Lightyear has been described by critics as a pop culture icon . He has been listed as one of the greatest Pixar characters. IGN stated that he "may be the most iconic of all Pixar characters". Charlie Green writing for The Guardian considered his entrance in Toy Story as one of
31626-504: The character in the animated short film series Toy Story Toons and in Ralph Breaks the Internet . Other actors have also voiced Buzz, including Pat Fraley who took on the role in the mid-1990s for various productions including Toy Story Treats , Toy Story: The Video Game , Toy Story: Animated Storybook , and Toy Story: Activity . Patrick Warburton also voiced the character in 2000 for Buzz Lightyear of Star Command ,
31877-452: The character with Keanu Reeves , the character's voice actor, who then made some changes to the character. In Toy Story 3 , director Lee Unkrich said that the production team knew they wanted Buzz to switch from his usual state, so after some brainstorming, they decided that he would switch to a Spanish mode. As a result, his personality was changed into the form of a "Latin lover". According to Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley , Buzz plays
32128-402: The children. By summer 1991, Jeff Katzenberg at Disney decided that it should be a buddy film in which two conflicting characters must learn to work together. In September 1991, the Pixar team drew up a new version in which the ventriloquist's dummy is already the favorite toy in the house and Tinny is introduced as its rival, which causes friction between the two characters. Further changes to
32379-557: The company $ 3.5 billion to construct. On January 24, 2006, Disney began talks to acquire Pixar from Steve Jobs for $ 7.4 billion, and Iger appointed Pixar chief creative officer (CCO) John Lasseter and president Edwin Catmull the heads of the Walt Disney Animation Studios . A week later, Disney traded ABC Sports commentator Al Michaels to NBCUniversal , in exchange for the rights to Oswald
32630-407: The company after Eisner refused to promote him to president. After leaving, he co-founded film studio DreamWorks SKG . Wells was later replaced with one of Eisner's friends Michael Ovitz on August 13, 1995. In 1994, Disney wanted to buy one of the major U.S. television networks ABC, NBC, or CBS, which would give the company guaranteed distribution for its programming. Eisner planned to buy NBC but
32881-406: The company announced ImageMovers Digital , which it started in partnership with ImageMovers in 2007, would be closing by 2011. John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter ( / ˈ l æ s ə t ər / LASS -ə-tər ; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, and animator. He has served as the head of animation at Skydance Animation since 2019. Previously, he acted as
33132-528: The company from bankruptcy during the Great Depression . During a promotional event at Macy's, 11,000 Mickey Mouse watches sold in one day; and within two years, two-and-a-half million watches were sold. As Mickey Mouse become a heroic character rather than a mischievous one, Disney needed another character that could produce gags . Disney invited radio presenter Clarence Nash to the animation studio; Disney wanted to use Nash to play Donald Duck ,
33383-519: The company had been doing. To help with the film division, the company started making Saturday-morning cartoons to create new Disney characters for merchandising, and produced films through Touchstone. Under Eisner, Disney became more involved with television, creating Touchstone Television and producing the television sitcom The Golden Girls , which was a hit. The company spent $ 15 million promoting its theme parks, raising visitor numbers by 10%. In 1984, Disney produced The Black Cauldron , then
33634-458: The company is still headquartered. In April 1940, Disney Productions had its initial public offering , with the common stock remaining with Disney and his family. Disney did not want to go public but the company needed the money. Shortly before Snow White's release, work began on the company's next features, Pinocchio and Bambi . Pinocchio was released in February 1940 while Bambi
33885-624: The company opened two more in California, and by 1990, it had 215 throughout the US In 1989, the company garnered $ 411 million in revenue and made a profit of $ 187 million. In 1987, the company signed an agreement with the Government of France to build a resort named Euro Disneyland in Paris; it would consist of two theme parks named Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park ,
34136-766: The company since 1938, became its president. By June 30, 1973, Disney had over 23,000 employees and a gross revenue of $ 257,751,000 over a nine-month period, compared to the year before when it made $ 220,026,000. In November, Disney released the animated film Robin Hood (1973), which became Disney's biggest international-grossing movie at $ 18 million. Throughout the 1970s, Disney released live-action films such as The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes ' sequel Now You See Him, Now You Don't ; The Love Bug sequels Herbie Rides Again (1974) and Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977); Escape to Witch Mountain (1975); and Freaky Friday (1976). In 1976, Card Walker became CEO of
34387-405: The company started looking for a sponsor for the project, Walt renamed the City of Tomorrow, Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow ( Epcot ). Walt, who had been a heavy smoker since World War I, fell very sick and he died on December 15, 1966, aged 65, of lung cancer , at St. Joseph Hospital across the street from the studio. In 1967, the last two films Walt had worked on were released;
34638-406: The company was being run, calling on Eisner to retire; the same week, board member Stanley Gold retired for the same reasons. Gold and Disney formed the "Save Disney" campaign. In 2004, at the company's annual meeting, the shareholders in a 43% vote voted Eisner out as chairman. On March 4, George J. Mitchell , who was a member of the board, was named as replacement. In April, Disney purchased
34889-489: The company's attention. Disney, which since 1996 had owned a 25% stake in the Major League Baseball team California Angels , bought out the team in 1998 for $ 110 million, renamed it Anaheim Angels and renovated the stadium for $ 100 million. Hercules (1997) was released on June 13, and underperformed compared to earlier films, grossing $ 252 million. On February 24, Disney and Pixar signed
35140-466: The company's next animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame was released, grossing $ 325 million at the box office. Because Ovitz's management style was different from Eisner's, Ovitz was fired as the company's president in 1996. Disney lost a $ 10.4 million lawsuit in September 1997 to Marsu B.V. over Disney's failure to produce as contracted 13 half-hour Marsupilami cartoon shows. Instead, Disney felt other internal "hot properties" deserved
35391-454: The company's profits were from its theme parks; in 1982, there were 12 million visitors to Walt Disney World, a figure that declined by 5% the following June. On July 9, 1982, Disney released Tron , one of the first films to extensively use computer-generated imagery (CGI). It was a big influence on other CGI movies, though it received mixed reviews. In 1982, the company lost $ 27 million. On April 15, 1983, Disney's first park outside
35642-403: The company, with Tatum remaining chairman until 1980, when Walker replaced him. In 1977, Roy E. Disney , Roy O. Disney's son and the only Disney working for the company, resigned as an executive because of disagreements with company decisions. In 1977, Disney released the successful animated film The Rescuers , which grossed $ 48 million. The live-acton/animated musical Pete's Dragon
35893-446: The computer scientists about filmmaking, animation, and art. The short turned out to be more revolutionary than Lasseter first had visualized before he came to Lucasfilm. His original idea had been to create only the backgrounds on computers, but in the final short everything was computer-animated, including the characters. After the short CGI film was presented at SIGGRAPH in the summer of 1984, Lasseter returned to Los Angeles with
36144-620: The cruises, Disney bought Gorda Cay as the line's private island, and spent $ 25 million remodeling it and renaming it Castaway Cay. On July 30, 1998, Disney Magic set sail as the line's first voyage. Marking the end of the Disney Renaissance, Tarzan (1999) was released on June 12, garnering $ 448 million at the box office and critical acclaim; it claimed the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Phil Collins ' " You'll Be in My Heart ". Disney-Pixar film Toy Story 2
36395-483: The deal as an opportunity while many manufacturers considered it a risk to produce toys for the first CGI film. Lasseter explained that in the film, Buzz Lightyear was designed as a 12-inch action figure and therefore he wanted the same size for the real Buzz Lightyear toy. This differed from the standard 5 and a half inch action figures produced in North America. Chan had reservations about the size and price but
36646-526: The deal was canceled because General Electric wanted to keep a majority stake. In 1994, Disney's annual revenue reached $ 10 billion, 48% coming from film, 34% from theme parks, and 18% from merchandising. Disney's total net income was up 25% from the previous year at $ 1.1 billion. Grossing over $ 346 million, Pocahontas was released on June 16, garnering the Academy Awards for Best Musical or Comedy Score and Best Song for " Colors of
36897-491: The deal was completed, resulting in the companies terminating merger negotiations. On November 17, 1989, Disney released The Little Mermaid , which was the start of the Disney Renaissance , a period in which the company released hugely successful and critically acclaimed animated films. The Little Mermaid became the animated film with the highest gross from its initial run and garnered $ 233 million at
37148-485: The deal with Disney, the Pixar team reworked the story concept within two weeks with the belief that toys could appeal to adults and teenagers. The new story centred around a boy named Andy, a cowboy leading a group of toys, and a space toy, and the film was greenlit by Disney. Lasseter named various influences on the story concept, including Star Wars , the space race , and buddy comedies . The film's script went through various changes during development. The first draft
37399-431: The early 1980s, Lasseter and his colleagues created short films at Pixar using computer software that was still being designed but they had not produced a feature film. When Disney came on board with Lasseter's idea, they pushed for edgier characters. Lasseter recalled that this made them unlikeable: "The characters were yelling, they were cynical, they were always making fun of everybody, and I hated it." Worried about losing
37650-423: The elevator shaft. Utility Belt Buzz stays behind with Zurg, while Andy's Buzz and the other toys steal a Pizza Planet truck and drive to the airport. There they subdue Stinky Pete and rescue Woody and Bullseye in the baggage handling system . Buzz and Woody ride Bullseye onto the runway to rescue Jessie from the airplane before it takes off for Japan. The toys all return home in a stolen baggage cart. Buzz develops
37901-626: The end of 1935, beginning with the Silly Symphony short Flowers and Trees (1932). The film was the first full-color cartoon and won the Academy Award for Best Cartoon. In 1933, The Three Little Pigs , another popular Silly Symphony short, was released and also won the Academy Award for Best Cartoon. The song from the film " Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? ", which was composed by Frank Churchill —who wrote other Silly Symphonies songs—became popular and remained so throughout
38152-422: The film When Harry Met Sally... . Crystal turned the role down, being of the opinion that he was the wrong voice for the character, but later said that the decision was the biggest regret of his career. Several other actors were considered for the role, including Bill Murray who turned it down and Jim Carrey . Chevy Chase also passed on the role, leaving it open for Tim Allen , who cited Chase as his idol and
38403-491: The film resulted in $ 100 million in revenue, Marketing Week described it as a "toy fiasco" for Disney, due to the estimated loss of $ 300 million in unrealised sales as a result of the "Buzz Lightyear drought". This was later referenced as an in-joke in Toy Story 2 , in a scene involving Barbie giving the toys a tour of a toy store and commenting on the unforeseen demand for Buzz Lightyear toys. In subsequent years, sales of Buzz Lightyear figures remained strong. In 2010, with
38654-550: The film to be unsatisfying, describing him as "a lot less endearing than the swaggering lunk we know and love from Toy Story " and commenting that the writers had failed to define who he is. Vulture film critic Alison Willmore found Buzz to be the film's core problem, stating that, in Toy Story , he was a "deluded parody of the kind of one-note character that, as voiced by Evans in Lightyear , he pretty much just is". Film journalist Helen O'Hara wrote in The Guardian that it
38905-401: The film, Buzz is transported to Zurg's spaceship, where he contemplates whether Zurg is his father, a reference to a comedic moment in Toy Story 2 that mimics a Star Wars scene, where Zurg tells a Buzz Lightyear figure that he is his father. Lightyear ' s story flips this by revealing that Zurg is really an older version of Buzz from an alternate timeline. MacLane realised that employing
39156-500: The first Disney Channel film to do so. Disney's 2006 live-action film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was Disney's biggest hit to that date and the third-highest-grossing film ever, making $ 1 billion at the box office. On June 28, the company announced it was replacing George Mitchell as chairman with a board members and former CEO of P&G John E. Pepper Jr. . The sequel High School Musical 2
39407-437: The first commercial film to be shown in stereo . However, Fantasia similarly performed poorly at the box office. In 1941, the company experienced a major setback when 300 of its 800 animators, led by one of the top animators Art Babbitt , went on strike for 5 weeks for unionization and higher pay. Walt Disney publicly accused the strikers of being party to a communist conspiracy, and fired many of them, including some of
39658-433: The first film return. Lotso takes the opportunity to make Buzz think Andy's toys are minions of Emperor Zurg. Buzz angrily imprisons his friends and is tasked to watch over the "prisoners" every night, while Woody returns to Sunnyside. Attempting to restore Buzz's memories, Andy's toys subdue him, but accidentally reset him to his "Spanish Mode". Woody manages to convince him that Andy's toys are his "amigos". Spanish Buzz helps
39909-519: The first fully computer-generated photorealistic animated character, a knight composed of elements from a stained glass window. This effect was the first CGI character to be scanned and painted directly onto film using a laser. Lasseter and Catmull's collaboration, which has since lasted over thirty years, would ultimately result in Toy Story (1995), which was the first-ever computer-animated feature film . Additionally, Lasseter created THX 's robot mascot Tex. He made his first appearance in 1996 with
40160-457: The first light cycle sequences for an upcoming film entitled Tron (1982), featuring state-of-the-art computer-generated imagery (CGI), that he saw the huge potential of this new technology in animation. Up to that time, the studio had used a multiplane camera to add depth to its animation. Lasseter realized that computers could be used to make films with three-dimensional backgrounds where traditionally animated characters could interact to add
40411-470: The first one being Toy Story . Dow Jones & Company , wanting to replace 3 companies in its industrial average , chose to add Disney in May 1991, stating Disney "reflects the importance of entertainment and leisure activities in the economy". Disney's next animated film Beauty and the Beast was released on November 13, 1991, and grossed nearly $ 430 million. It was the first animated film to win
40662-583: The first season, over ten million children and five million adults watched it daily; and two million Mickey Mouse ears, which the cast wore, were sold. In December 1954, the five-part miniseries Davy Crockett , premiered as part of Disneyland , starring Fess Parker . According to writer Neal Gabler , "[It] became an overnight national sensation", selling 10 million Crockett coonskin caps. The show's theme song " The Ballad of Davy Crockett " became part of American pop culture, selling 10 million records. Los Angeles Times called it "the greatest merchandising fad
40913-455: The first two Toy Story sequels, he decided that for Lightyear , Buzz's character trait was "a disagreement over the nature of reality", referring to Toy Story , in which Buzz believes himself to be a space ranger and Toy Story 2 , where he believes that he is the Buzz Lightyear. Using his own personal experience of time passing at Pixar as his inspiration, he imagined Buzz rapidly travelling through time and consequently losing his connection to
41164-409: The five greatest character introductions in film. Richard Fink of MovieWeb ranked him as the best Pixar character and cited his catchphrase "To infinity and beyond" as one of the "most iconic film quotes of all time". Yardbarker writer Chris Morgan also listed it as one of the most memorable catchphrases in film. In November 2014, the catchphrase ranked in top position in a Radio Times poll as
41415-567: The former favorite toy, quickly becomes jealous. It soon becomes apparent that Buzz is unaware he is a toy, genuinely believing that he is a space ranger sent to stop the Evil Emperor Zurg . He further believes that his red light bulb "laser" is a deadly weapon, his wings are functional aircraft-grade steel, and that he cannot breathe with his helmet open. After Woody unintentionally knocks Buzz out of Andy's bedroom window, Buzz follows and confronts Woody in Andy's car. The two become separated from Andy while fighting, and Woody tries to convince Buzz he
41666-433: The highly successful Disney Renaissance period of animation in the 1990s. In 2005, under new CEO Bob Iger , the company continued to expand into a major entertainment conglomerate with the acquisitions of Pixar , Marvel Entertainment , Lucasfilm , and 21st Century Fox . In 2020, Bob Chapek became the head of Disney after Iger's retirement. However, Chapek was ousted in 2022 and Iger was reinstated as CEO. The company
41917-495: The holiday season of 1996. With the assumption that Woody would be the most popular character, only 50,000 Buzz Lightyear toys were manufactured compared to 200,000 Woody toys. The supply deficit resulted in hundreds of shoppers queuing in the hope of purchasing a Buzz Lightyear toy and required the delivery of emergency supplies, with the BBC describing Buzz as "the year's most sought-after Christmas present". Although character sales from
42168-455: The hope of directing The Brave Little Toaster at Hyperion Pictures. He soon learned that funding had fallen through and called Catmull with the bad news. Catmull called back with a job offer, and Lasseter joined Lucasfilm as a full-time employee in October 1984 and moved to the Bay Area. After that, he worked with ILM on the special effects on Young Sherlock Holmes , where he made
42419-400: The important people in his life: "This felt like a natural fit for Buzz as a hero out of time, a well-worn story in the science fiction drama." He cited various influences on his depiction of Buzz's story, including Star Wars , Star Trek and Alien . MacLane framed Buzz in the heroic form of Captain America , reinforced by casting Evans in the role, but their personalities differed due to
42670-437: The landfill, the toys are pushed onto a conveyor belt. Buzz and Woody rescue Lotso from a shredder and help him reach an emergency stop button. Lotso abandons them and they fall into an incinerator . The three toy aliens operating a claw rescue them and they make their way home. Andy donates them all to Bonnie , a little girl Woody met at the daycare. When introducing her to Buzz, Andy describes him as "the coolest toy ever". As
42921-496: The late 1970s in search of talent, then selected only about 150 candidates as apprentices, of which only about 45 were kept on permanently. In the fall of 1979, Disney animator Mel Shaw told the Los Angeles Times that "John's got an instinctive feel for character and movement and shows every indication of blossoming here at our studios ... In time, he'll make a fine contribution." At that same time, Lasseter worked on
43172-561: The live action/animation musical film Mary Poppins was released to major commercial success and rapturous critical acclaim, becoming the year's highest-grossing film and winning five Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Julie Andrews as Poppins and Best Song for the Sherman Brothers, who also won Best Score for the film's " Chim Chim Cher-ee ". Throughout the 1960s, Dean Jones , whom The Guardian called "the figure who most represented Walt Disney Productions in
43423-545: The live-action Alice in Wonderland and the Disney-Pixar film Toy Story 3 , both of which grossed a little over $ 1 billion, making them the sixth-and-seventh films to do so; and Toy Story 3 became the first animated film to make over $ 1 billion and the highest-grossing animated film. That year, Disney became the first studio to release two $ 1-billion-dollar-earning films in one calendar year. In 2010,
43674-587: The mainstream, including music for movie soundtracks, Disney founded the recording label Hollywood Records on January 1, 1990. In September 1990, Disney arranged for financing of up to $ 200 million by a unit of Nomura Securities for Interscope films made for Disney. On October 23, Disney formed Touchwood Pacific Partners , which replaced the Silver Screen Partnership series as the company's movie studios' primary source of funding. Disney's first animated sequel The Rescuers Down Under
43925-418: The most financially successful filmmakers of all time. Of the ten animated films that have grossed over US$ 1 billion, five of them were executive produced by Lasseter: Toy Story 3 (2010)—the first animated film to surpass $ 1 billion—and Frozen (2013)—the third-highest-grossing animated film of all time—as well as Zootopia (2016), Finding Dory (2016), and Incredibles 2 (2018). Frozen also held
44176-462: The most-expensive animated movie at $ 40 million, their first animated film to feature computer-generated imagery, and their first PG-rated animation because of its adult themes. The film was a box-office failure, leading the company to move the animation department from the studio in Burbank to a warehouse in Glendale, California . The film-financing partnership Silver Screen Partners II, which
44427-603: The most-watched live broadcast to that date. While the park's opening day was disastrous (restaurants ran out of food, the Mark Twain Riverboat began to sink, other rides malfunctioned, and the drinking fountains were not working in the 100 °F. (38 °C) heat), the park became a success with 161,657 visitors in its first week and 20,000 visitors a day in its first month. After its first year, 3.6 million people had visited, and after its second year, four million more guests came, making it more popular than
44678-635: The movie" due to him being under the illusion that he is a space ranger, while noting the "poignancy" of the moment when he discovers that he is just a toy. In a review of the film for The New York Times , Janet Maslin considered the rivalry between Woody and Buzz as a highlight and praised Allen for "posturing manfully" in the role of Buzz. Leonard Klady of Variety also appreciated the emotional impact of Buzz facing up to his true identity. The Los Angeles Times considered Buzz to be "one of 'Toy Story's' pleasant surprises" citing his "self-absorbed and delusional" personality and his inability to realize that he
44929-407: The names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing it to its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film Steamboat Willie . The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse , who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon. After becoming
45180-411: The need to embrace his imperfections." He recalled that in Toy Story the catchphrase is a joke: "you can't go beyond infinity", but in Lightyear , it was used as a "secret handshake" shared with his friend Alicia. Producer Galyn Susman said that it had two meanings in the film, initially being about Buzz's next adventure and finally being "much more about being together and being here in the present." In
45431-429: The next 10 years, Pixar evolved from a computer company that did animation work on the side into an animation studio. Lasseter oversaw all of Pixar's films and associated projects as executive producer. As well as Toy Story , he also personally directed A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Cars (2006), and Cars 2 (2011). He has won two Academy Awards , for Animated Short Film ( Tin Toy ), as well as
45682-445: The next 4 years, Winkler handed the role of distributing the studio's shorts to her husband, Charles Mintz . In 1927, Mintz asked for a new series, and Disney created his first series of fully animated shorts, starring a character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit . The series was produced by Winkler Pictures and distributed by Universal Pictures . The Walt Disney Studios completed 26 Oswald shorts. In 1928, Disney and Mintz entered into
45933-610: The next five years through Touchstone Pictures, with Disney getting 10% of the gross. The 2009 film Up garnered Disney $ 735 million at the box office, and the film won Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. Later that year, Disney launched a television channel named Disney XD , aimed at older children. The company bought Marvel Entertainment and its assets for $ 4 billion in August, adding Marvel's comic-book characters to its merchandising line-up. In September, Disney partnered with News Corporation and NBCUniversal in
46184-420: The only company he had ever wanted to work for, Lasseter could not find the strength to tell Catmull that he had been fired. Catmull later telephoned Smith that day and mentioned that Lasseter was not working at Disney. Smith told Catmull to put down the phone and hire Lasseter right now. Lasseter agreed instantly to work freelance with Catmull and his colleagues and joined them for a week of December 1983 on
46435-434: The only top animator to remain with the Disney brothers. Disney and Iwerks replaced Oswald with a mouse character originally named Mortimer Mouse , before Disney's wife urged him to change the name to Mickey Mouse . In May 1928, Mickey Mouse debuted in test screenings of the shorts Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho . Later that year, the studio produced Steamboat Willie , its first sound film and third short in
46686-575: The opening of Toy Story Midway Mania! at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney California Adventure Park theme parks. While on board the ISS, the action figure "ate" dinner with the ten astronauts and cosmonauts and was seen peering out of a window. It returned after 15 months on September 11, 2009, aboard mission STS-128 , as it carried the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo as its primary payload. Its return
46937-413: The original Buzz. He criticised the film for not having a closer connection to toy Buzz and commented, "There’s really no Toy Story Buzz without Woody". In February 2023, Allen was confirmed to be returning to the role for Toy Story 5 . Buzz Lightyear is a toy given as a birthday present to a boy named Andy. He is a space ranger toy with electronic features, including flashing lights and catchphrases and
47188-539: The original theatrical release of Independence Day . Since then, Tex has appeared in some THX trailers. Due to George Lucas 's financially crippling divorce, he was forced to sell off Lucasfilm Computer Graphics, by this time renamed the Pixar Graphics Group, founded by Smith and Catmull, with Lasseter as one of the founding employees. It was spun off as a separate corporation with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as its majority shareholder in 1986. Over
47439-466: The other Roundup toys to come with them; Jessie and Bullseye agree, but Stinky Pete refuses and locks them in (and Buzz out) when they try to escape. Al reappears and takes Woody and the Roundup toys to the airport. Andy's Buzz and Utility Belt Buzz pursue Al into the elevator shaft with the other toys. Zurg confronts them, and reveals he is Utility Belt Buzz's father. Rex accidentally knocks him down
47690-404: The park, whose construction costs totaled $ 17 million. In October, with the success of Disneyland, ABC allowed Disney to produce The Mickey Mouse Club , a variety show for children; the show included a daily Disney cartoon, a children's newsreel, and a talent show. It was presented by a host, and talented children and adults called "Mousketeers" and "Mooseketeers", respectively. After
47941-663: The park. Construction began in July 1954. To finance the construction of Disneyland, Disney sold his home at Smoke Tree Ranch in Palm Springs and the company promoted it with a television series of the same name aired on ABC . The Disneyland television series, which would be the first in a long-running series of successful anthology television programs for the company, was a success and garnered over 50% of viewers in its time slot, along with praise from critics. In August, Walt formed another company Disneyland, Inc. to finance
48192-537: The previous year's $ 920 million. To help reduce costs, Disney announced it would lay off 4,000 employees and close 300–400 Disney stores. After winning the World Series in 2002 , Disney sold the Anaheim Angels for $ 180 million in 2003. In 2003, Disney became the first studio to garner $ 3 billion in a year at the box office. The same year, Roy Disney announced his retirement because of how
48443-498: The reason he chose to accept the role. Allen was cast due to Lasseter enjoying his standup comedy, as he wanted the character to be funny. The honesty in Allen's first reading for Buzz influenced Pixar to change him to a character who is unaware that he is a toy. Lasseter explained that casting Allen "gave us that quality we wanted of a macho guy with a soft underbelly. Tim's perfect at doing an everyday guy". For both Allen and Tom Hanks ,
48694-549: The release of Steamboat Willie at the Colony Theater in New York, Mickey Mouse became an immensely popular character. Disney Brothers Studio made several cartoons featuring Mickey and other characters. In August 1929, the company began making the Silly Symphony series with Columbia Pictures as the distributor, because the Disney brothers felt they were not receiving their share of profits from Powers. Powers ended his contract with Iwerks, who later started his own studio. Carl W. Stalling played an important role in starting
48945-443: The release of Toy Story 3 , over a million Buzz Lightyear action figures were sold. In 2019, Disney reported that the Buzz figure was the Disney Store 's best selling toy of all time in the UK. By 2022, Disney had sold more than 35 million Buzz Lightyears. In May 2008, NASA and Disney announced that a Buzz Lightyear action figure would join the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-124 . The 12-inch toy remained on
49196-466: The same plot point as in Toy Story 2 would not have worked with audiences because it would be expected: "What we were really going for was the idea that Buzz's greatest enemy is himself, literally and figuratively". Buzz Lightyear, an action figure, is given to a boy named Andy Davis from his mother as a birthday present. He quickly impresses the other toys with his skills, flashy accessories and wings, and soon becomes Andy's favorite toy. Sheriff Woody,
49447-411: The same year, The Lion King was released and was a massive success, becoming the second-highest-grossing film of all time behind Jurassic Park and the highest-grossing animated film of all time, with a gross total of $ 969 million. It was critically praised and garnered two Academy Awards—Best Score and Best Song for " Can You Feel the Love Tonight ". Soon after its release, Katzenberg left
49698-429: The second theme park in Walt Disney World, with around 10,000 people in attendance during the opening. The park cost over $ 900 million to construct, and consisted of the Future World pavilion and World Showcase representing Mexico, China, Germany, Italy, America, Japan, France, the UK, and Canada; Morocco and Norway were added in 1984 and 1988, respectively. The animation industry continued to decline and 69% of
49949-409: The series, and composed the music for early films but left the company after Iwerks' departure. In September, theater manager Harry Woodin requested permission to start a Mickey Mouse Club at his theater the Fox Dome to boost attendance. Disney agreed, but David E. Dow started the first-such club at Elsinore Theatre before Woodin could start his. On December 21, the first meeting at Elsinore Theatre
50200-432: The shares, forced out CEO Miller and replaced him with Michael Eisner , a former president of Paramount Pictures , and appointed Frank Wells as president. Eisner's first act was to make it a major film studio, which at the time it was not considered. Eisner appointed Jeffrey Katzenberg as chairman and Roy E. Disney as head of animation. Eisner wanted to produce an animated film every 18 months rather than four years, as
50451-500: The stocks. He offered to buy 49% for $ 1.3 billion or the entire company for $ 2.75 billion. Disney, which had less than $ 10 million, rejected Steinberg's offer and offered to buy all of his stock for $ 326 million. Steinberg agreed, and Disney paid it all with part of a $ 1.3 billion bank loan, putting the company $ 866 million in debt. In 1984, shareholders Roy E. Disney, Sid Bass , Lillian and Diane Disney , and Irwin L. Jacobs —who together owned about 36% of
50702-435: The store. They succeed, but the mission to rescue Forky fails due to the antique store owner's cat. After Woody and Bo Peep have a falling-out, Buzz's inner voice guides him to rejoin Andy's toys. Later, Forky is freed by Woody and reports that Woody and several other toys need rescuing. Buzz, Jessie and the others take over the controls of the RV and force Bonnie's dad to drive it back to the carnival. Woody and Buzz meet up at
50953-405: The strip was published in 60 newspapers in the US, and in 20 other countries. After realizing releasing merchandise based on the characters would generate more revenue, a man in New York offered Disney $ 300 for license to put Mickey Mouse on writing tablets he was manufacturing. Disney accepted and Mickey Mouse became the first licensed character. In 1933, Disney asked Kay Kamen , the owner of
51204-579: The studio's 4th animated feature Dumbo (1941) on a cheaper budget, which performed well at the box office, infusing the studio with much needed cash. After US entry into World War II, many of the company's animators were drafted into the army. 500 United States Army soldiers occupied the studio for 8 months to protect a nearby Lockheed aircraft plant. While they were there, the soldiers fixed equipment in large soundstages and converted storage sheds into ammunition depots. The United States Navy asked Disney to produce propaganda films to gain support for
51455-432: The studio's best. Roy unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the company's main distributors to invest in the studio, which could no longer afford to offset production costs with employee layoffs. The anthology film The Reluctant Dragon (1941), ran $ 100,000 short of its production cost, contributing to the studio's financial woes. While negotiations to end the strike were underway, Walt and studio animators embarked on
51706-402: The studio's increasingly diverse portfolio of projects, including live-action films (of which Treasure Island was the studio's first), television and amusement parks . In 1950 the company made its first foray into television when NBC aired " One Hour in Wonderland ", a promotional program for Disney's next animated film, Alice in Wonderland (1951), and sponsored by Coca-Cola . Alice
51957-507: The studio. The final one, in 1923, was entitled Alice's Wonderland and depicted child actress Virginia Davis interacting with animated characters. While Laugh-O-Gram's shorts were popular in Kansas City, the studio went bankrupt in 1923 and Disney moved to Los Angeles, to join his brother Roy O. Disney , who was recovering from tuberculosis . Shortly after Walt's move, New York film distributor Margaret J. Winkler purchased Alice's Wonderland , which began to gain popularity. Disney signed
52208-547: The theme park industry. The company, which has been public since 1940, trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with ticker symbol DIS and has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1991. In August 2020, about two-thirds of the stock was owned by large financial institutions. The company celebrated their 100th anniversary on October 16, 2023. In 1921, American animators Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks founded Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, Missouri . Iwerks and Disney went on to create short films at
52459-519: The title of the highest-grossing animated film of all time until 2019, and was the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time at the end of its theatrical run. He has won two Academy Awards , for Best Animated Short Film (for Tin Toy ), as well as a Special Achievement Award (for Toy Story ). In November 2017, Lasseter took a six-month sabbatical from Pixar and Disney Animation after acknowledging what he called "missteps" in his behavior with employees. According to various news outlets, Lasseter had
52710-434: The toys escape Sunnyside; making no secret of his love for Jessie. Lotso confronts them as they reach the dumpster outside the daycare. In the ensuing altercation, Lotso and all of Andy's toys are dumped into a garbage truck. Buzz rescues Jessie from the trash, but is crushed by a broken TV. Jessie breaks down in tears over Buzz's "dead" body, only for Buzz to awaken unharmed with his usual personality and memories restored. At
52961-575: The toys settle in at Bonnie's house, Buzz performs a rumba with Jessie to the Spanish version of " You've Got a Friend in Me ", to the amusement of the other toys. When Woody and Bonnie's new favorite toy, Forky , are separated from the group during an RV trip, Buzz, guided by his "inner voice", pursues them into a carnival. He is captured by a vendor and placed with other toys as a prize, where he encounters conjoined plushies Bunny and Ducky . They are initially antagonistic, as they believe Buzz has come to lower their chances of ever being won and owned by
53212-498: The two pursue Andy's van, Woody is attacked by Sid's dog Scud . Buzz fights off the dog to rescue Woody, and Woody uses RC to rescue Buzz. When the two are still unable to catch up to Andy, Woody is forced to light the rocket and launch them into the air; Buzz opens his wings to sever the tape holding him to the rocket, saving them from exploding and flying solo for the first time, albeit, while carrying Woody. After they are reunited with Andy, Buzz and Woody remain close friends. Woody
53463-467: The voice of Woody , it was their first time working on an animated film. Allen admitted that he was initially sceptical that the film would be successful as he thought it "too high tech" and too similar to a video game. Allen continued to voice Buzz in all of the Toy Story feature films and also voiced the character for Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins , a spin-off released for direct-to-video in 2000. In addition, Allen also voiced
53714-428: The war, and with the studio badly in need of profits, Disney agreed, signing a contract for 20 war-related shorts for $ 90,000. Most of the company's employees worked on the project, which spawned films such as Victory Through Air Power , and others which included some of the company's characters. In August 1942, Disney released its fifth feature film, Bambi, after five years in development, and performed poorly at
53965-458: The water park Typhoon Lagoon in June 1989; in 2022 it had 1.9 million visitors and was the most popular water park in the world. Also in 1989, Disney signed an agreement-in-principle to acquire The Jim Henson Company from its founder. The deal included Henson's programming library and Muppet characters —excluding the Muppets created for Sesame Street —as well as Henson's personal creative services. Henson, however, died in May 1990 before
54216-402: The world had ever seen". In June 1955, Disney's 15th animated film Lady and the Tramp was released and performed better at the box office than any other Disney films since Snow White . Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955; it was a major media event, broadcast live on ABC with actors Art Linkletter , Bob Cummings , and Ronald Reagan hosting. It garnered over 90 million viewers, becoming
54467-412: Was Walt's dream. EPCOT became less the City of Tomorrow, and more another amusement park. After 18 months of construction at a cost of around $ 400 million, Walt Disney World's first park the Magic Kingdom, along with Disney's Contemporary Resort and Disney's Polynesian Resort , opened on October 1, 1971, with 10,400 visitors. A parade with over 1,000 band members, 4,000 Disney entertainers, and
54718-491: Was a response to other Science fiction films of the era. In September, 12 animators, which was over 15% of the department, resigned. Led by Don Bluth , they left because of a conflict with the training program and the atmosphere, and started their own company Don Bluth Productions . In 1981, Disney released Dumbo to VHS and Alice in Wonderland the following year, leading Disney to eventually release all its films on home media. On July 24, Walt Disney's World on Ice ,
54969-429: Was also an inspiration for Lightyear. Kemmer played Commander Buzz Corry in Space Patrol , one of the first science-fiction series on American television . Buzz Lightyear was named in honor of Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin , the second person to walk on the Moon . The film producers thought that Aldrin had "the coolest astronaut name". Aldrin acknowledged the tribute when he pulled a Buzz Lightyear toy out during
55220-436: Was an immediate critical and commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing film up to that point, grossing $ 8 million (equivalent to $ 169,555,556 in 2023 dollars); after re-releases, it grossed a total of $ 998,440,000 in the US adjusted for inflation. Using the profits from Snow White , Disney financed the construction of a new 51-acre studio complex in Burbank , which the company fully moved into in 1940 and where
55471-422: Was attended by around 1,200 children. On July 24, 1930, Joseph Conley, president of King Features Syndicate , wrote to the Disney studio and asked the company to produce a Mickey Mouse comic strip; production started in November and samples were sent to King Features. On December 16, 1930, the Walt Disney Studios partnership was reorganized as a corporation with the name Walt Disney Productions, Limited, which had
55722-572: Was born on January 12, 1957, in Hollywood , California . His mother, Jewell Mae (née Risley; 1918–2005), was an art teacher at Bell Gardens High School , and his father, Paul Eual Lasseter (1924–2011), was a parts manager at a Chevrolet dealership. Lasseter is a fraternal twin ; his sister Johanna Lasseter-Curtis, who became a baker based in the Lake Tahoe area, is six minutes older. Lasseter grew up in Whittier, California . His mother's profession contributed to his growing preoccupation with animation. He often drew cartoons during services at
55973-441: Was celebrated in a parade led by Buzz Aldrin at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World . The Buzz Lightyear figure was named by NASA as the "longest-serving astronaut in space". In 2012, it was donated to the Smithsonian 's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. In 2009, Disney announced new merchandise for the Toy Story franchise, including an Ultimate Buzz Lightyear robot and the Lego Toy Story product line, which
56224-400: Was conceived to be the opposite to Andy's favorite toy Woody. Writer Andrew Stanton explained that while Woody is an old cowboy doll, Buzz is a "flashy, new space ranger toy with all the gizmos". Their rivalry over their status as Andy's favorite toy is a fundamental aspect of the story, which Stanton said evolved into "a classic buddy picture". Stanton said that it took time to develop Buzz as
56475-433: Was convinced to trust Lasseter's judgement. Anne Osberg, the president of Disney Consumer Products admitted that she had underestimated the merchandising potential of the Toy Story characters when compared to Mickey Mouse : "I saw Buzz as not competitive with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ". Due to the enormous success of Toy Story upon its release, Thinkway Toys was unable to meet the demand for Buzz Lightyear figures in
56726-470: Was expected to do well, the company lost $ 48 million after its first year, with around 916,000 subscribers. In 1983, Walt's son-in-law Ron W. Miller , who had been president since 1978, became its CEO, and Raymond Watson became chairman. Miller wanted the studio to produce more content for mature audiences, and Disney founded film distribution label Touchstone Pictures to produce movies geared toward adults and teenagers in 1984. Splash (1984)
56977-411: Was financially unsuccessful, falling $ 1 million short of the production budget. In February 1953, Disney's next animated film Peter Pan was released to financial success; it was the last Disney film distributed by RKO after Disney ended its contract and created its own distribution company Buena Vista Distribution . According to Walt, he first had the idea of building an amusement park during
57228-544: Was formed in 1952 to design and construct the park. Drawing inspiration from amusement parks in the US and Europe, Walt approached the design of Disneyland with an emphasis on thematic storytelling and cleanliness, innovative approaches for amusement parks of the time. The plan to build the park in Burbank was abandoned when Walt realized 8 acres would not be enough to accomplish his vision. Disney acquired 160 acres (65 ha) of orange groves in Anaheim , southeast of LA in neighboring Orange County , at $ 6,200 per acre to build
57479-649: Was hired to head Skydance Animation , a new animation division of Skydance Media formed in 2017. In a statement, Lasseter said "I have spent the last year away from the industry in deep reflection, learning how my actions unintentionally made colleagues uncomfortable, which I deeply regret and apologize for. It has been humbling, but I believe it will make me a better leader." An investigation conducted prior to his hiring found that no previous claims of sexual assault, propositioning or harassment had been filed against Lasseter, and "[...] there were no findings of secret settlements by Disney or Lasseter to any parties asking for
57730-863: Was honored with the Winsor McCay Award , the lifetime achievement award for animators. Disney announced that it would be purchasing Pixar in January 2006, and Lasseter was named the chief creative officer of both Pixar and Walt Disney Feature Animation, the latter of which he renamed Walt Disney Animation Studios . Lasseter was also named principal creative adviser at Walt Disney Imagineering , where he helped design attractions for Disney Parks . He oversaw all of Walt Disney Animation Studios' films and associated projects as executive producer. He reported directly to Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger , bypassing Disney's studio and theme park executives. He also received green-light power on films with Roy E. Disney 's consent. In December 2006, Lasseter announced that Disney Animation would start producing animated shorts – 2D, CGI, or
57981-404: Was impossible to expect an audience to reimagine him after several decades. Stephanie Zacharek writing for Time was "staggered" on discovering that Buzz Lightyear was not a toy but a movie character, "a case of commerce imitating art" and criticized the film's plot twist for causing the audience to have less sympathy for the character. Nicholas Barber of the BBC found Buzz's characterization in
58232-435: Was introduced with the construction of a five-foot model of Buzz Lightyear built from 40,000 Lego bricks shown at the Licensing International Expo in June 2009. In July 2010, to coincide with the release of Toy Story 3 , Lego released a buildable Construct-a-Buzz set and other playsets featuring a Buzz Lightyear minifigure . Buzz was also included as a minifigure in the 2016 Lego Disney minifigures product line. In April 2022,
58483-403: Was just another example of an unnecessary origin story for a character that had already appeared onscreen "fully formed". Conversely, Alex Abad-Santox writing for Vox thought that the film successfully conveys the same character traits in Lightyear as the "daring, stubborn, strong" character previously seen in the Toy Story films. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times also appreciated that
58734-416: Was like "wearing someone else's clothes" and felt that the line belonged to Allen. The casting announcement caused confusion in the media and prompted Hanks, who had remained friends with Allen since the first Toy Story film, to question why he had not been recast in the role. Allen responded to the casting in June 2022, stating that he had not commented earlier as he felt that Lightyear had no connection to
58985-425: Was not allowed to hire animators, he was given the title "Interface Designer"; "Nobody knew what that was but they didn't question it in budget meetings". Lasseter spent a lot of time at Lucasfilm in the San Francisco Bay Area in the spring of 1984, where he worked together closely with Catmull and his team of computer science researchers. Lasseter learned how to use some of their software, and in turn, he taught
59236-467: Was often repeating itself. Between 1980 and 1981, he coincidentally came across some video tapes from one of the then new computer-graphics conferences, who showed some of the very beginnings of computer animation, primarily floating spheres and such, which he experienced as a revelation. But it was not until shortly after, when he was invited by his friends Jerry Rees and Bill Kroyer , while working on Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), to come and see
59487-459: Was one of the financially successful comedies of the early 1990s, grossing $ 231 million; action film Con Air (1997), which grossed $ 224 million; and the highest-grossing film of 1998 at $ 553 million Armageddon . At Disney World, the company opened Disney's Animal Kingdom , the largest theme park in the world covering 580 acres (230 ha) on Earth Day , April 22, 1998. It had six animal-themed lands, over 2,000 animals, and
59738-402: Was organized in 1985, financed films for Disney with $ 193 million. In January 1987, Silver Screen Partners III began financing movies for Disney with $ 300 million raised by E.F. Hutton , the largest amount raised for a film-financing limited partnership. Silver Screen IV was also set up to finance Disney's studios. In 1986, the company changed its name from Walt Disney Productions to
59989-460: Was postponed. Despite Pinocchio 's critical acclaim (it won the Academy Awards for Best Song and Best Score and was lauded for groundbreaking achievements in animation), the film performed poorly at the box office, due to World War II affecting the international box office. The company's third feature Fantasia (1940) introduced groundbreaking advancements in cinema technology, chiefly Fantasound , an early surround sound system making it
60240-437: Was produced in March 1991 and followed Tinny, a one-man band toy, who is given to a boy as a birthday gift. The boy's family take Tinny on holiday but accidentally leave him at a gas station, where he meets the ventriloquist's dummy. From there, the two characters have to work out how to find their way back to Tinny's owners. After a series of adventures they find their way to a kindergarten playground where they are reunited with
60491-664: Was released in 1970; according to Dave Kehr of Chicago Tribune , "the absence of his [Walt's] hand is evident". The following year, the anti-fascist musical Bedknobs and Broomsticks was released and won the Oscar for Best Special Visual Effects . At the time of Walt's death, Roy was ready to retire but wanted to keep Walt's legacy alive; he became the first CEO and chairman of the company. In May 1967, Roy had legislation passed by Florida's legislatures to grant Disney World its own quasi-government agency in an area called Reedy Creek Improvement District . Roy changed Disney World's name to Walt Disney World to remind people it
60742-422: Was released in 1977, grossing $ 16 million in the US and Canada, but was a disappointment to the company. In 1979, Disney's first PG-rated film and most expensive film to that point at $ 26 million The Black Hole was released, showing Disney could use special effects. It grossed $ 35 million, a disappointment to the company, which thought it would be a hit like Star Wars (1977). The Black Hole
60993-450: Was released in 2001 with the title Toy Story Racer . In 2003, Buzz and Woody appeared in a skateboarding game titled Disney’s Extreme Skate Adventure . He also appears alongside Woody and the other toys in the 2009 shooting game Toy Story Mania! , a game based on the attraction in Disney parks. In 2013, a Toy Story in Space playset featuring Buzz was announced for the toys-to-life video game Disney Infinity . Woody and Buzz appear in
61244-440: Was released in 2007 on Disney Channel and broke several cable rating records. In April 2007, the Muppets Holding Company was moved from Disney Consumer Products to the Walt Disney Studios division and renamed the Muppets Studios to relaunch the division. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End became the highest-grossing film of 2007 at $ 960 million. Disney-Pixar films Ratatouille (2007) and WALL-E (2008) were
61495-531: Was released on November 11, 1992, and grossed $ 504 million, becoming the highest-grossing animated film to that point, and the first animated film to gross a half-billion dollars. It won two Academy Awards—Best Song for " A Whole New World " and Best Score; and "A Whole New World" was the first-and-only Disney song to win the Grammy for Song of the Year . For $ 60 million, Disney broadened its range of mature-audience films by acquiring independent film distributor Miramax Films in 1993. The same year, in
61746-469: Was released on November 13, garnering praise and $ 511 million at the box office. To replace Ovitz, Eisner named ABC network chief Bob Iger Disney's president and chief operating officer in January 2000. In November, Disney sold DIC Entertainment back to Andy Heyward . Disney had another huge success with Pixar when they released Monsters, Inc. in 2001. Later, Disney bought children's cable network Fox Family Worldwide for $ 3 billion and
61997-432: Was released on November 16, 1990, and created using Computer Animation Production System (CAPS), digital software developed by Disney and Pixar —the computer division of Lucasfilm —becoming the first feature film to be entirely created digitally. Although the film struggled in the box office, grossing $ 47 million, it received positive reviews. In 1991, Disney and Pixar agreed to a deal to make three films together,
62248-490: Was taught by three members of Disney's Nine Old Men team of veteran animators— Eric Larson , Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston —and his classmates included future animators and directors like Brad Bird , John Musker , Henry Selick , Tim Burton , and Chris Buck . During his time there, he produced two animated shorts— Lady and the Lamp (1979) and Nitemare (1980)—which each won the student Academy Award for Animation. While at CalArts, Lasseter first started working for
62499-424: Was the first film released under the label, and a much-needed success, grossing over $ 6 million in its first week. Disney's first R-rated film Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) was released and was another hit, grossing $ 62 million. The following year, Disney's first PG-13 rated film Adventures in Babysitting was released. In 1984, Saul Steinberg attempted to buy out the company, holding 11% of
62750-601: Was then the 2nd-largest corporate takeover in US history. Through the deal, Disney would obtain broadcast network ABC, an 80% majority stake in sports networks ESPN and ESPN 2 , 50% in Lifetime Television , a majority stake of DIC Entertainment , and a 38% minority stake in A&E Television Networks . Following the deal, the company started Radio Disney , a youth-focused radio program on ABC Radio Network , on November 18, 1996. The Walt Disney Company launched its official website disney.com on February 22, 1996, mainly to promote its theme parks and merchandise. On June 19,
63001-510: Was to end shortly, Lasseter visited a computer graphics conference in November 1983 at the Queen Mary in Long Beach , where he met and talked to Catmull again. Catmull inquired about The Brave Little Toaster , which Lasseter explained had been shelved. From his experience at Lucasfilm, Catmull assumed Lasseter was simply between projects since Hollywood studios have traditionally laid off employees when they lack enough productions to keep them busy. Still devastated at being forced out of
#531468