One of Disney's Biggest 2022 Movies Is Now on Disney+

By Stephanie Downs

Fans can finally check out Lightyear on Disney+. After getting released earlier this summer, the animated film has been released on the streaming service, as our sister site ComicBook.com noted. Lightyear features the origin story of the Toy Story character, who is voiced by Chris Evans. 

Lightyear was added to Disney+ on Aug. 3, which aligned with the 45-day theatrical window that most Disney movies have received. Although, there have been a few exceptions to that timeline including Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which had a longer theatrical release. To announce the news of Lightyear's Disney+ release date, Angus MacLane, the film's director, released a statement about the move. 

"Lightyear looks amazing on the big screen, of course, but we are so excited to bring it to Disney+," MacLane said. "We devoted years of our lives to this film and we are so proud of it. We want to share it with as many people as possible. Disney+ not only gives more fans an opportunity to see Lightyear, it gives us all the means to see it again and again." Even though Lightyear enjoyed some success at the box office, the film was involved in a bit of controversy thanks to the decision to have Evans voice the titular role. Many voiced their disapproval that Tim Allen, who voiced the character in the Toy Story films, did not voice the iconic action figure in Lightyear. 

However, as MacLane said to Collider, Evans was the right one for the job. He explained that he wanted Lightyear to have a "gravitas to it and a seriousness to it, but also have an actor who could bring comedy with that seriousness." As a result, they tasked the Avengers star with voicing Buzz Lightyear. 

"It was very clear from the get-go," MacLane said. "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." The director continued to say that Evans was an "amazing" partner to work with, adding, "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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