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Everyone remembers Toy Story. Almost nobody remembers the TV show that expanded its universe years before Lightyear ever existed. Long before Pixar released Lightyear, Disney had already created an in-universe Buzz Lightyear origin story: Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. With over 60 episodes, an all-star voice cast, a dedicated fanbase, and an entire sci-fi universe built around Buzz, it seemed destined to become a Disney staple.
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You push this button, then you go out the front door, and I'll go blow up the Zerd ship
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Ready? Ready. No, wait, not ready. Hang on. Okay, got it. That would have been embarrassing
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This wasn't Disney's first attempt at a Buzz Lightyear prequel, but you might not know that because they've done everything in their power
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to erase the original from existence. The reception of Lightyear's launch in 2022 was mixed, to say the least
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While you can say a lot of things about the quality of Lightyear as a film, the premise was nothing short of stellar
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A new story set in Buzz's in-universe franchise? The canonical movie that got Andy interested in Space Rangers in the first place
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That's such a great idea. Why didn't we get something like this earlier? We've been charged to protect the galaxy from the threat of invasion
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from any sworn enemies of the Galactic Alliance. Well, as it turns out, we did get it earlier
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22 years earlier. And what we got back then is way better than Lightyear ever could have been
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and way more true to the spirit of the Toy Story franchise as a whole. It had a unique sci-fi world, dozens of episodes, and even a tie-in video game
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Disney put a lot of effort into this prequel back in the day, but now they want to forget it ever happened
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Let's go, Rangers! Where to next, Buzz? That's what you have to ask
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To infinity and beyond! Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was a 2D animated TV series
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that ran on the Disney Channel for a single season between October of the year 2000 and January of 2001
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Despite that short four-month-long trip around the sun, Star Command boasted an impressive 62 episodes
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Because, shockingly, that's how TV shows used to work, especially animated shows for kids
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Disney actually ordered 65 episodes of the show, which was the number they typically used for syndication purposes
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But it was later decided that the first three episodes would be combined into a direct-to-video movie called Buzz Lightyear of Star Command The Adventure Begins
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which was released before the show and acted as a sort of long-form pilot episode
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The high concept for Star Command was a canonical television series within the Toy Story universe
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that starred the character of Buzz Lightyear and his novice team of Space Rangers
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including Princess Miranova, the happy-go-lucky booster Sinclair Munchapper, and the robotic XR
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While Tim Allen reprised his role as Buzz Lightyear for the movie, he would not return for the rest of the TV show
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Instead, the character of Buzz would be played by Patrick Warburton, who might be an even better fit than Allen
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You lose, Lawbreaker. Buzz Lightyear Yes the long arm of the law reaches even into a cesspool like this And while the writing was definitely unambiguously targeted at children the humor and messaging still holds up all these years later
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We're not saying it was mind-bendingly brilliant or secretly mature or anything
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though there was a shocking amount of gunplay for a kid's show. It was good
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And at the time, Disney spared no expense when it came to the marketing and tie-ins
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The Star Command Adventure Begins movie had a fully 3D rendered intro
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with most of the voice cast of Toy Story in it. Disney made a ton of merchandise
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and there was even a video game. So why have most people never heard of Star Command
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And why is it conspicuously missing from the Disney Plus catalog? To find answers to these questions
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we first have to figure out why this show was even made in the first place
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Shouldn't we just hang up on it now? Wait for it. Can't you unlike it
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Yeah, never get tired of hearing that, do you? Nope. Thanks to the wild success of the direct-to-video Aladdin sequels
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Disney started up their own cottage industry of cheaply made follow-ups and spinoffs of their beloved animated classics
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And originally, one of these cheap follow-ups was Toy Story 2. Yeah, the second Toy Story movie actually started its life as a cynical direct-to-video cash grab
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What happened? We've been shelved. But the more Pixar developed the idea, the more Disney liked it
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And so they decided to put more resources into the project and give it a theatrical release
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but this left a big hole in Disney's home video release schedule that needed to be filled
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Luckily, because of the success of the original Toy Story, a sequel film wasn't the only new installment in the works
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Disney wanted a TV show as well, so they approached Tad Stones, who had created Darkwing Duck as well as the Aladdin sequels and subsequent TV shows
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Disney asked him to pitch a few concepts, and he came back with a G.I. Joe-inspired show about Combat Carl
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a Woody's Roundup Western, and of course, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
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Disney thought the Star Command idea had the best chance of taking off, so the show was quickly approved
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And to fill the gap of their schedule left by Toy Story 2, Disney ordered the first three episodes of Star Command
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to be repackaged as a feature film they could sell on VHS and DVD
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Hey, wait a minute, what happened? What happens next? Come on, let's see the next episode
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Stones enlisted his longtime writing and producing partners, Bob Shuley and Mark McCorkle, to work on the show alongside him
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They were responsible for fleshing out the world that Buzz inhabited. To that end there were some genuinely great alien and ship designs and some pretty interesting lore being injected into a silly kid space show However silly kid space show is sort of a key phrase here
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Don't ever touch me. I've got a thing about personal space. It's never been officially confirmed, but according to a rumor corroborated by Stones
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Toy Story director John Lasseter wasn't a fan of Star Command, and he may have gone so far as to use his influence at Disney
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to quietly put the show to rest since he was also directing Toy Story 2
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I saw in another interview you said that John hated Buzz Lightyear. Buzz Lightyear's Star Command, which evidently John Lasseter hates
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We can only speculate on why Lasseter may not have liked Star Command
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Maybe it was too childish and didn't have the same gravitas as the original Toy Story film
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Maybe he felt the admittedly cheap 2D animation damaged Pixar's brand as the up-and-coming leader in 3D animated technology
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Maybe he didn't like the idea of anyone but him having creative control over a Toy Story property
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Or maybe he just didn't think it was very good. What I believe in will live on
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Hope, freedom, and justice. Oh, that's rich! Oh, please, please tell me about that
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Had it! Excellent! Had it to my collection! That's as much of a lead as we have as far as chasing down the reason why the show never got a second season
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But why has Disney been so staunchly devoted to keeping Star Command a dirty secret all these years later
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Well, the answer might still be John Lasseter. All of our films from Toy Story on at Pixar have been made in 3D
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because within the computer, they're truly three-dimensional environments. Lasseter was the chief creative officer of both Pixar and Disney Animation Studios between 2006 and 2018
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meaning that if he really was intent on burying Star Command, he would have been able to for 12 whole years
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It's one of the perks of being an evil emperor. That and all the popcorn shrimp you can eat
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Now, we're not implying that Lasseter has some kind of years-long irrational grudge
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against a TV show he didn't make, but if he really didn't like the show
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then it wouldn't take much for him to keep it off the radar. This would explain why the show never shows up
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when Disney celebrates any kind of anniversary. It isn't available to stream
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and then they released Lightyear in 2022, which completely overwrites and ignores Star Command's lore
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The description of the movie on Disney Plus even says it's the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear
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And not for nothing but Lightyear is pretty clearly the inferior product First of all Chris Evans is no Patrick Warburton and he certainly no Tim Allen It did not go as planned The mission was unsuccessful Affirmative
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This grounded, low-energy performance just doesn't feel right for Buzz's character. It might as well
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not be him at all, but of course, that's only part of a larger issue with tone in Lightyear
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Look. Lightyear. Look at him. Not looking. Look. Look. Look. Look. Look. No, no, no, no. Look at the rookie
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Remember that this movie is the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear
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It's the movie that Andy canonically watched and was so enthralled with
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that he begged his mom for a Buzz Lightyear action figure in 1995
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Does this realistic 3D animated film with muted colors and spaceship interiors
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out of the Expanse universe really look like the sort of thing that would have encouraged a little boy in the 90s to play like this
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And does it match the aesthetic and stylistic choices of the sequel movie
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The obvious answer here is no. So we meet again, bud Lightyear, for the last time
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Not today, sir. Instead, Lightyear is the culmination of years of Disney and Pixar taking themselves too seriously
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They shot for the moon with an attempted combination of heart and technical achievement
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but they landed in the empty vacuum of space instead. Lightyear was little more than a time, energy, and resource suck
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No matter how hard the company tries, that movie will not be remembered two or three decades from now
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But what might be remembered is the little 2D animated show that they've tried so hard to make us forget
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Wow, they really nailed the details. To infinity and back again! Most of the details
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Buzz Lightyear of Star Command may have been a simple little project born of Disney's spinoff assembly line
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but it was made by people who genuinely cared about what they put their names on
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It actually felt like it could have existed within the Toy Story universe
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and as a thing Andy watched and enjoyed. It was that creative impetus that really made Star Command unique
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the drive to make something that felt at home with Woody and the gang. Unfortunately, despite all of Star Command's fine qualities
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it seems as though Disney isn't interested in pulling it down from the shelf and blowing the dust off
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The smart bet to make is that Star Command will effectively remain Lost Media
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and most people will never learn of its existence. But maybe if fans make enough noise, Disney will reconsider their silence
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With the Toy Story franchise ever expanding, now might be the perfect time for them to open the vault and let Buzz Lightyear of Star Command soar to infinity and beyond