Pixar Fest is a major event that recently got underway at Disneyland Resort. With festivities lasting over three months and covering both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, it’s the biggest and longest event of the year. With 27 Pixar movies to date, and Inside Out 2’s release date coming before the event ends, there is plenty for the festival to choose from when it comes to attractions, food, and merchandise, but one movie is conspicuous by its absence.
Pixar Fest previously ran at Disneyland back in 2018 and since then seven films have been released. One of them was a sequel, Toy Story 4, but the rest were original films with original characters. There was a concerted effort on the part of Disneyland Resort and Pixar to spotlight the new characters that have debuted since the last event in this new Pixar Fest, but one of the new characters has been completely overlooked, as there’s next to nothing celebrating Lightyear at Pixar Fest.
Lightyear Is Being Left Out Of Pixar Fest
All of the other movies that Pixar has released since 2018 have a significant presence at Pixar Fest. Ian and Barley from Onward as well as Wade and Ember from Elemental are meet-and-greet characters who can be found at the Pixar Playtime Party at Disneyland. Turning Red, Soul, and Luca all have their floats in the new Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration! parade. New Pixar Fest Marketplace booths are dedicated to Luca, Turning Red, Soul, and Elemental. The best Pixar movies are not left out, of course. Toy Story is going to be at the center of any celebration of all things Pixar, but it’s only the Toy Story version of Buzz Lightyear that you’ll find during Pixar Fest.
I was able to attend a preview of Disneyland’s Pixar Fest and even during a Q&A with some of the people who put the event together, it was clear that Lightyear didn’t really qualify in their minds as one of the Pixar stories that was “new” since the last event. Whether this was because it was simply seen as part of the Toy Story franchise or because the movie was seen as a flop, is unclear.
But there's nothing there. There's no Buzz or Sox character to get a picture with. There's no scene from the movie in the fireworks show projections. He's not in the parade. There isn't any food inspired by the film.
Lightyear Deserves More Recognition
Lightyear is an unusual movie. The fact that the movie was released with an opening piece of text that explained what the film was, how it was not a Toy Story film, but was supposed to be the in-universe movie that inspired the Buzz Lightyear toy, is all you need to see to understand that. It’s clear many didn’t get Lightyear. Some didn’t really understand what the movie was and perhaps that’s why so many stayed away.
Lightyear was a step outside the box for Pixar. It’s a science fiction action/adventure, a genre that has always put butts in theaters seats in live-action but has routinely had difficulty doing the same in animation. Disney has struggled with science fiction for decades. It has tried with movies like Atlantis: The Lost Empire and the epic failure Treasure Planet but for whatever reason sci-fi and animation frequently flop, the recent Spider-Verse movies being the exception that proves the rule.
But Lightyear is a good movie. Chris Evans is the perfect voice to take over in this only slightly more serious version of the story. The action is solid. It’s a got a classic throwback sci-fi feel. The action sequences are solid, It makes me want to run out and by a Buzz Lightyear action figure too.
Based on both critical reviews and fan reaction, Lightyear was fine. But it is true that bythe one metric that truly matters, box office results, was a failure. The movie is the lowest-grossing theatrical release from Pixar save for Onward, which had its run cut short by the pandemic theater closure. It does seem like most people have forgotten it, so it’s at least understandable why Pixar Fest has.
Lightyear’s Buzz Has Been At Disneyland before
The thing is, it wouldn’t have been that hard to include the Lightyear version of Buzz in the Pixar Fest festivities. When Lightyear came out in theaters the character was added to Disneyland. He was differentiated from the traditional Toy Story Buzz by making him a face character rather than wearing a full-body costume. This made him both a Pixar character and a seemingly intentional throwback to the classic Tomorrowland Spaceman.
Even if they had just brought this version of the character back, it would have been something. At least then the movie would get its acknowledgement. Other things could have been done that wouldn’t have required the major investment of a parade float or original animation from Pixar to be inserted into the nighttime spectacular.
If nothing else Lightyear had at least one thing that could have been a highlight of a new Pixar Fest. Among all the new food items, it would have been cool to see the Lightyear sandwich, which reverses the location of bread and toppings, as an item to be bought somewhere in the parks. Sure, it would have been weird, but it would have been pretty cool if they’d pulled it off.
Lightyear Isn’t Just A Toy Story Movie, That Was The Whole Point
More than likely the Lightyear oversight mostly comes down to the fact that it is probably just seen as part of Toy Story, and thus Lightyear doesn’t need specific recognition during Pixar Fest. But the whole point of the project from its inception was that Lightyear was not a Toy Story movie. The fact that we don’t even get a few frames of animation during the projection mapping of the fireworks show makes the whole thing almost silly.
Before Lightyear came out there were rumors that the movie could act as the story behind a newly redeveloped Space Mountain. It makes sense that the movie’s lack of success would kill those ambitions, but pretending the movie doesn’t even exist is a step too far.
