Patricia Heaton Calls out Disney for Not Using Tim Allen as Voice of Buzz Lightyear in New Movie

By Stephanie Downs

Patricia Heaton still doesn't approve of Chris Evans taking over the role of Buzz Lightyear. On Twitter, Heaton called out Disney for having Evans voice the Toy Story character in Lightyear instead of Tim Allen, who was the original voice of the iconic action figure. She went so far as to say the studio made a "HUGE mistake" with the decision. 

Heaton wrote that she recently saw the trailer for Lightyear, which follows the character's origin story. The actor stated that Disney made a "HUGE mistake" in deciding not to have Allen voice the role once again. She continued to express that Allen "owns" the role and added, "Tim IS Buzz!" The Middle alum ended her message by questioning why the studio decided to "completely castrate this iconic, beloved character."

Fans have been critical of Lightyear ever since it was announced that Evans would be voicing the character instead of Allen. The film, which will be released on Friday, sees the character engaging in an adventure prior to events of the Toy Story franchise movies. In late 2021, Angus MacLane, who directed Lightyear, explained why they decided to cast Evans as Buzz Lightyear. Even though Allen originated the role, MacLane felt as though the Avengers star was perfect for Lightyear. 

He told Collider that he wanted the film to have a "gravitas to it and a seriousness to it, but also have an actor who could bring comedy with that seriousness." MacLane went on to say that it was "very clear from the get-go" that Evans would be the one for the job. He continued, "It was like, 'If you were gonna make a legitimate sci-fi film about Buzz Lightyear, who would you get? Well, Chris Evans.' You need someone that has that star power. If it had to be live-action, who would do it? He can do both. Although that chin would be so weird in live-action. You could never get around that." 

MacLane had a ton of praise for Evans, whom he called an "amazing" partner. The director added, "He totally got the material right away and felt the sense of responsibility to figure out the translation to the character, for this larger context of this sci-fi movie and really deliver on it. He's just been a wonderful creative partner in the whole process."

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