Pixar's Pete Docter Talks About What He Believes Went Wrong With the Audience's Reception of LIGHTYEAR
The movie Lightyear came out in theaters last year to mixed reviews. Some people said it was fantastic, some people said it was boring, some said it was too progressive for a Disney movie, some people were mad that Tim Allen didn’t voice the lead character, and I’m sure there were many more complaints which led to less than stellar box office numbers, but one Pixar exec says he believes the reason is that the audience was confused.
While the movie Lightyear was in the Toy Story universe, it was neither a prequel nor a sequel to the fan-favorite franchise, but it was the favorite movie of the Toy Story character Andy. It was the movie where the Buzz Lightyear toy came from. It explained that plainly in the opening of the film, but it was still too complex for some to wrap their heads around.
In a recent interview with TheWrap, Pixar executive Pete Docter talked about the reason he believes the movie didn’t connect with some audiences, saying:
"We've done a lot of soul-searching about that because we all love the movie. We love the characters and the premise. I think probably what we've ended on in terms of what went wrong is that we asked too much of the audience. When they hear Buzz, they're like, great, where's Mr. Potato Head and Woody and Rex? And then we drop them into this science fiction film that they're like, What?"
He went on to add:
"Even if they've read the material in press, it was just a little too distant, both in concept, and I think in the way that characters were drawn, that they were portrayed. It was much more of a science fiction. And Angus (MacLane, director), to his credit, took it very seriously and genuinely and wanted to represent those characters as real characters. But the characters in 'Toy Story' are much broader, and so I think there was a disconnect between what people wanted/expected and what we were giving to them."
I took my family to see the movie during a special sneak preview, and every one of us thought the movie was so exciting! It was full of action, and a very real-feeling sci-fi storyline with super high stakes, and characters that were relatable, funny, and easy to love and connect to. It was a blast, and I wish people had been able to enjoy it for what it was.
What did you think of Lightyear?