Lightyear Filmmakers Break Down The Movie's Shocking Zurg Twist
Warning: Major Spoilers For Lightyear Below!
The director of Lightyear reveals the decision behind the Zurg twist in the film. Since his introduction in Toy Story in 1995, Buzz Lightyear's backstory has been that he was a space ranger sworn to protect the galaxy from the evil emperor Zurg. In the film's 1999 sequelToy Story 2, audiences got to see Zurg for the first time, and it is revealed that Zurg is actually Buzz's father, in a nice homage to the twist ending of The Empire Strikes Back.
When it was announced that Pixar was making Lightyear, the in-universe movie that inspired the Buzz Lightyear toyline it was a question of how the film would incorporate Zurg being Buzz's father into the film, or if they would at all and just regard the Toy Story 2 moment as a joke. In Lightyear, the evil Emperor Zurg is actually revealed to be a future version of Buzz (voiced by James Brolin), who traveled back in time to change his future. In a clever joke to the previous film, when Buzz sees the older version of himself, he first assumes it is his father.
Related: Lightyear Ending Explained (In Detail)
The decision to change Zurg's backstory was revealed by Lightyear director Angus MacLane in an interview with IGN. The filmmakers did try to work with the father element, yet they realized it distracted from the story as audience members would just be waiting for the reveal of his father. Ultimately the choice came down to a thematic one, as making Zurg an older Buzz tied in with the fact that Buzz is his own worst enemy both emotionally and now given a physical manifestation in the form of his older self. MacLane said:
«We explored the father angle. But then the whole time you're like, ‘It's his father. It's his father. Get to it.
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