History WesternAnimation / Lightyear

* CompanyCrossReferences: One of the buildings on T'Kani Prime is clearly modelled on [[Ride/WaltDisneyWorld Space Mountain]]

* ShoutOut: Upon his first return and seeing Alisha has gotten engaged, he briefly asks why she would marry someone she just met, only for Alisha to remind him that they met three years ago (a time of which Buzz was absent for). If only [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 Elsa]] had such a luxury with Anna.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: There are many deleted scenes which give different aspects on what the whole film could have been like.

See also ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'', another Buzz-centric ''Toy Story'' spin-off which also purported to be the in-universe real series the toys spun off from. With the release of this film, the cartoon is [[RetCon now]] supposed to be an in-universe RecycledTheSeries adaptation of the film as a television series with a different interpretation of the Buzz Lightyear mythos.[[note]]Interestingly enough, director Angus [=MacLane=] previously directed the CG opening sequences for both this series and its pilot movie, ''The Adventure Begins''.[[/note]]

** When Buzz successfully reaches hyperspace comes speeding down onto the planet, the button he presses to slow his ship down reads "Falling With Style", which brings to mind what Woody said about Buzz’s "flying" in ''Toy Story''.

* ButNotTooGay: Alisha has one scene where she shares a quick kiss with Keiko, not at all like the passionate man-woman smooches we've seen in past animated movies.

* AluminumChristmasTrees:
** In the 1980s and 1990s, it was not uncommon for there to be merchandise or [[AnimatedAdaptation children's cartoons]] based on violent, R-rated action films, films that were often very popular among younger viewers (particularly teenagers) despite their ratings. In the case of ''Lightyear'', its R rating would've stemmed not from its violent content but rather from its depiction of a lesbian character in a positive, non-stereotypical manner.
** Moreover, there were a few instances of media aimed at families or younger viewers showing or at least alluding to same-sex relationships in the 1990s. Examples include Willow and Tara on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', a series aimed primarily at teenagers, and the same-sex kiss in the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "Rejoined".

* AerithAndBob: A last name variant; Morrison, Steel, and Hawthorne are common last names, but then the movie presents some over-the-top last names like Lightyear and .... Featheringhamstan.

* AmbiguousSituation: It's made clear that the Zurg seen in the film [[spoiler:is not actually the "real" Zurg, as Old Buzz stole the gear and technology from a much larger Zurg fleet]]. What's not clear is [[spoiler:Old Buzz's relationship to the "real" Zurg. Is there another, more traditional Zurg out there, or is it possible that the "real" Zurg ''is'' Old Buzz, but in the future, and that the events of the film represent the start of some kind of StableTimeLoop?]]

** At around the teaser's thirty-three second mark, when Buzz's CoolStarship is entering space, you can see the Creator/{{Pixar}} lamp in the background as a constellation of stars.

* GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: Implied with the one-armed Zurg robot that attacks the trainees and almost captures Buzz. [[spoiler:After Mo manages to nail it in the head with a harpoon, it eventually reactivates and proceeds to steadily chase them down no matter where they go, even outlasting the destruction of the Zurg ship, which apparently shut down all the other robots, just to kill them, apparently out of {{Revenge}} and the damage they dealt to it messing with its original orders]].

* PlotHole: A minor one occurs at the end of the film. Due to the perfected crystal suffering from an accidental case of NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup [[spoiler:and being destroyed]], it's not explained how the Space Rangers' ship is able to reach hyperspeed.

** Time dilation functions opposite as in the movie. Going near light speed should have made Buzz experience less time that ground control. In the world of the movie, there seems to be a point in which speed becomes proportional to travel time. Instead of t=d/s, it becomes t=d*s. Or similar in effect.

* AerithAndBob: A last name variant; Morrison, Steel, and Hawthorne are common last names, but then the movie presents some over-the-top last names like Lightyear, Burnside, and .... Featheringhamstan.

*** Mo Morrison - Phlegmatic (the neurotic, patient and clumsy LovableCoward

* MythologyGag:
** From ''Franchise/ToyStory'':
*** The first scene recreates the iconic shot of Buzz's POV inside his helmet from the first movie. Also, while attempting to contact Star Command, Buzz asks himself, "why don't they answer?"
*** Buzz's first Mission Journal is exactly word-to-word of his first in ''Toy Story''.
*** Buzz nicknames the main space vessel "the Turnip" due to its resemblance to, in his words, a "root vegetable". The brainwashed Buzz in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'' called Mr. Potato Head a "tumorous root man".
*** Later in the scene, Hawthorne mockingly plays background music while Buzz gives a melodramatic speech. When Buzz realizes this, he says to her "You're mocking me, aren't you?", which is what Buzz says to Woody in the first film.
*** Part of Buzz and Alisha's mission is to check if the planet is safe for habitation before they wake everyone up. In ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'', Code 604.5 requires that all Space Rangers remain in hyper-sleep until awakened by authorized personnel.
*** This same scene also has Buzz wanting to fly the command module by himself, and is asked if he's sure. His response? "I'm Buzz Lightyear; I'm always sure!" That line comes from ''Toy Story 2'', where the other toys questioned if Utility Belt Buzz knew the way to Al's apartment inside the vents.
*** In the first ''Toy Story'' film, Buzz asked Woody if they still use fossil fuels or have discovered "crystalic fusion". The engines in the film are fueled with a blue crystal., with much of the initial plot being how to make said fusion work to achieve hyperspeed travel.
*** When startled by Sox when he first opens his box, Buzz jumps back into a Shotokan karate stance, similarly to the over-exaggerated martial arts-esque hand gestures the ''Toy Story'' Buzz makes when he first met Woody, likely in reference to the toy's "karate chop action".
*** As Buzz finds and puts back on his old Space Ranger suit, the film mimics his famous reveal shot from the original ''Toy Story'', sweeping upwards from between his legs, with Sox taking the place of Woody behind Andy's bed.
*** The second act takes place at a [[FantasyMetals terillium]] mining facility, calling back to how toy Buzz referred to his wings in ''Toy Story'' as a "terillium-carbonic alloy".
*** The sequence with Buzz and co. getting caught in bright orange "Capture Cone" devices and having to navigate their way out brings to mind the street crossing scene from ''Toy Story 2'', where Buzz and the toys hide under traffic cones to cross the street without drawing attention (and causing major property damage in the process).
*** When Izzy is on Zurg's base, [[spoiler:she walks through the vacuum of space via an air lock to get to where Buzz is. However, the destruction Zurg causes makes that part of the ship move upwards, Izzy fails to reach the door and starts to fall. The cinematography and animation of Izzy during the entire sequence is a one-to-one recreation of the "I Will Go Sailing No More" scene in the first film where Buzz tries to fly then falls.]]
*** The team's new starship near the end [[spoiler:looks suspiciously similar to the box the Buzz Lightyear toy is packaged in.]]
*** Buzz jumping over Zurg and using his laser to shoot at him is a near-recreation of the video game scene from ''Toy Story 2''.
*** When Zurg reveals his true form to Buzz, he at first thinks he is his dad. In the sequel, the Zurg action figure admits to being the "father" of the Buzz action figure. [[spoiler:It's actually an alternate future version of Buzz himself.]]
*** In all of the ''Toy Story'' movies, there is a problem with Buzz in some way where he acts crazy. In the first, he [[CloudCuckooLander thinks he's a real space ranger.]] In 2, [[IHatePastMe he meets another Buzz who acts like he did in the first movie.]] In 3, [[BrainwashedAndCrazy he was reset to demo mode and made to attack his friends,]] and had a similar experience in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' where Xehanort's past self takes control of his heart. In 4, [[TookALevelInDumbass he lost a few brain cells and though his "inner voice" was really his voice box.]] ''Lightyear'' continues the trend by [[spoiler:an alternate version of Buzz becoming so obsessed with his mission that he ''becomes'' his arch-enemy Zurg.]]
*** During Buzz's HeroicBSOD after [[spoiler:Izzy accidentally ejects the fuel crystal and one of Zurg's robots gets ahold of it]], he collapses into a position like that when his toy counterpart had a similar breakdown during his "Mrs. Nesbitt" phase. The lighting and cinematography is even similar to how he was moping about during his chat with Woody that got him to snap out of it.
*** After [[spoiler:Buzz refuses to help Zurg and is held down by the red-colored Zurg Bots]], he's held in the same position as Lotso's goons held him to reset him to demo mode, much like how Zurg in this movie was planning [[spoiler:on resetting the timeline so this Buzz never existed in the first place.]]
*** A couple regarding Buzz's Space Ranger suit: [[spoiler:The first version does not have the built-in wings and laser we remember from the toy version. He gets separate attachments for both, with the wings being deployed to escape his ship exploding, just like he used his wings to cut himself and Woody free of Sid's rocket. In the final scene, Buzz and his team are wearing new Space Ranger suits that are more realistically proportioned but otherwise identical to the toy version.]]
*** The shot of Buzz flying into a planet's atmosphere is shot exactly the same as the opening of ''Toy Story 2''.
*** The name on the Space Ranger suit that Darby borrows is "Tempus"; "Tempus from Morph" was a working name for Buzz during the development of ''Toy Story''. Buzz also originally wore a red suit, as does Featheringhamstan.
*** When blasting off in their ship at the film's end, they are on a mission to investigate a disturbance in Gamma Sector 4, the very same mission that ''Franchise/ToyStory's'' Buzz Lightyear believes he was on.
** From ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'':
*** Zurg's drones are colored yellow, just like the Zurg robots from the opening of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'' and the cartoon.
*** Also, one of the voices heard over the radio in the trailer is named Booster.
*** The uniform we first see Izzy in is labeled '42'; the same number used to denote the ship flown by Buzz and his crew in the cartoon.
*** Buzz needing to learn to work with "rookies" was an arc carried over from the PilotMovie.
*** Alisha tells Buzz that he doesn't need to file any mission reports, since nobody ever reads them, much like Warp did in the PilotMovie.
*** Buzz and Sox end up in a darkened part of an old Star Command facility as the latter scans for life signs, similar to how X-R was attempting to detect life on the empty Star Command HQ after Zurg's ray hit them.
*** At the end of the film, [[spoiler:Burnside offers Buzz the chance to recruit anyone he wanted from the Zap Patrol as his team for the new Space Ranger Corps, only for Buzz to note that he "already has a team."]]. This played out similarly in the PilotMovie finale, where Nebula asks Buzz who he picked as his partner, with Buzz revealing he chose everyone who helped him out.

* CordonBleughChef: Buzz finds that in the time he's been gone, sandwiches have evolved from bread-meat-bread to meat-bread-meat. The others are okay with it, and think Buzz's concept is ridiculous (Darby thinks they would have too much bread). Buzz, on the other hand, can't get past touching wet, greasy meat while eating.

** Time dilation functions opposite as in the movie. Going near light speed should have made buzz experience less time that ground control. I'n the world of the movie, there seems to be a point in which speed becomes proportional to travel time. Instead of t=d/s, it becomes t=d*s. Or similar in effect.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: In a meta-sense. In the ''Toy Story'' universe, this movie was released in 1995 at the latest. Alisha being in a same-sex marriage and starting a family with another woman would be extremely radical, if not impossible, for a family movie in TheNineties.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: In a meta-sense. As noted in the quote above, the movie was released (or had been around for a while based on [[WordOfGod director comments]] on it being the first in a 1980s-era trilogy) in 1995 in the ''Toy Story'' universe, a year that in RealLife would be unlikely to depict a lesbian couple in a family movie in a positive manner, making the ''Toy Story'' universe is more progressive than RealLife by about 30-years.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Of a sort. Not within the movie, but as noted in the quote above, the movie was released (or had been around for a while based on [[WordOfGod director comments]] on it being the first in a 1980s-era trilogy) in 1995 in the ''Toy Story'' universe, a year that in real life would be unlikely to depict women kissing in a family movie in a serious manner. Of course, this assumes that the film ''was'' intended as family-friendly.