Toy Story 5 is going bigger — much bigger — with Buzz Lightyear.
According to longtime voice actor Tim Allen, the next installment will feature not one, but one hundred Buzzes.
Speaking on LIVE with Kelly and Mark on September 29, Allen said, “There’s just the funniest thing because there’s a whole bunch of Buzzes involved, and there’s a reason why there’s a whole bunch of me. So there’s a hundred of me in a separate story, and I get to play. I’m having so much fun.”
This, Allen said, is the subplot. Mainly, Toy Story is centered on a different character: colorful cowgirl Jessie. “It’s such a great story,” Allen continued. “I can only tell a little bit of it. It’s a Jessie story. Tom [Hanks] and I have to reunite.”
In 2019’s Toy Story 4, Buzz parts ways with Woody in a bittersweet farewell. Many thought the movie would mark the end of the franchise that began in 1995 with the first Toy Story, but the space ranger will once again be teaming up with his old cowboy pal soon.
With Toy Story 4 — the highest-grossing film in the series — marginally surpassing Toy Story 3, a sequel was always likely. But there’s one thing Allen is making sure to avoid when he reprises the role: ad-libbing.
“They don’t like when you ad-lib. When you ad-lib on an animated film they go, ‘Haha, that’s funny. Now we have to rewrite all this stuff.' So the story is good and this also reminds me of that voice. The grunting and the Buzz Lightyear voice, ‘To infinity and beyond,’ that voice…it gets recognized if I’m out, my wife will say, ‘Just shut up. If we go out in public, just don't say anything.’ Because eventually someone will come by and will recognize the voice, of all things.”