The trailer for Pixar's upcoming scit-fi feature Lightyear has been out for a little bit now, and I’ve been mulling over why I'm so excited about it. Because seriously, I am super excited for this movie. There was a lot of weird confusion and questions around the Extremely Online set following this trailer mainly because folks were trying to figure out whether this is supposed to be the backstory for the toy in Pixar's Toy Story franchise, or if it's simply a spin-off based on the character.
I don't actually care how and why it connects to Toy Story. I know trailers are frequently made by different groups that have nothing to do with the movie production and they're working from incomplete footage, but the tone of this one has all the wonder and excitement of a classic space adventure story. A beautifully grandiose take on Bowie's Star Man plays behind shots of launch preparations, spaceports, longing stares out the window, action and adventure in strange locations. There's even a shot of Buzz's ship on a marshy planet reminiscent of Luke's X-Wing on Dagobah.
If you grew up watching anything Star Wars or Star Trek, how could you not be excited by this? Yeah, I know this will likely have plenty of silly humor and call-backs to Buzz's haughty toy persona from Toy Story, but I'm hoping it can also be an exciting sci-fi adventure film that’s accessible for kids, but enjoyable for anybody who dreams of traveling between the stars.