To infinity and beyond! Given that the Toy Story franchise is one of the most popular animated film franchises of all time, I am sure we are all extremely aware of this saying! After the films were a success, Buzz Lightyear, our favorite toy character, had his own feature and spin-off series that provided us a more in-depth look into this Guardian of the Galaxy’s life.
‘Buzz Lightyear of Star Command’ was a well-liked cartoon series produced in 2000, among several spin-offs and films. We will look at some of the other Buzz Lightyear movies that have been released since we said goodbye to him in Toy Story as we explore this series today.
The All new movie Lightyear
The most current Disney Pixar film, Lightyear, which debuted on June 17, chronicles Buzz Lightyear’s voyage as the Space Ranger ends up stranded on a far-off planet. The film can be described as a science fiction adventure movie because it gives us a glimpse into Buzz Lightyear’s past as he travels across space to get home. Agnus MacLane directs the film, and Chris Evans provides the voice of Buzz Lightyear.
The film does a decent job of delving into the beginnings of everyone’s favorite Space Ranger, and both critics and viewers have given it positive reviews. The story revolves around Lightyear being imprisoned on the planet “T’Kani Prime,” where the villainous Emperor Zurg causes mischief. The crew of Lightyear is attacked by Zurg and his army of robots, who also want to take their fuel supply. As he tries to find a path back to his house, Lightyear battles to protect his crew from Zurg attacks.
According to early reviews, the film offers stunning images, animations, and soundtracks that inspire nostalgia. It is unquestionably a fantastic spin-off and a lot of fun to watch. It should be noted, though, that this is not the first spin-off to focus on the life of Buzz Lightyear. Let us take a look at the animated series from the 2000s that focused on Buzz Lightyear’s space explorations.
What was the 2000s animated series all about?
As a sequel to the motion picture “Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: Adventure Begins,” this animated series titled “Buzz Lightyear of Star Command” was made available. The television show debuted in 2000 and was a part of Disney’s One Saturday Morning shows on UPN and ABC. Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley produced the show, and it had 62 episodes in roughly one season. The 2022 film can be viewed as a reboot of this first television series, which was based on the animated sci-fi subgenre.
A group of Space Rangers defends their planet against any dangers in the futuristic world of “Captain Planet,” where the show is set. One of these Space Rangers, Buzz Lightyear, travels on various adventures across the Galaxy to combat crime and ensure that peace is restored. He works for Star Command. Let us examine this show in depth and go over a couple of its venerable episodes!
Exploring the initial episodes and the overall story arc
This animated series kicked off with a pilot titled ‘The Adventure Begins- Part 1’, which later had two more parts. The episode begins with an introduction of Buzz Lightyear, the Galaxy’s greatest hero who strives to protect the world from evil forces. As the title theme plays in the background, the screen flashes the title ‘Buzz Lightyear of Star Command’ while Buzz Lightyear says his signature slogan ‘To Infinity and Beyond!’ Lightyear then formally introduces himself as a ‘Space Ranger’ who works for the Star Command.
The Star Command is an organization that fights off intergalactic crimes and maintains peace in the Galaxy. These Space Rangers serve as field agents that actively participate in missions to fight evil. Lightyear also introduces his colleague ‘Warp Darkmatter’ when a missing report interrupts his presentation. Three ‘Little Green Men’, who work as scientists for the Star Command, are missing, and Lightyear is determined to find them even if it means that he needs to travel to infinity.
Lightyear starts recording mission logs when Warp shows up and tells him that he does not need to log these reports since no one reads them anyway. The two of them set out to explore the Galaxy in search of these Little Green Men and stumble across some more LGMs who can sense the presence of the kind with a mind link known as ‘Uni-Mind.’ Lightyear inspects the planet they had just landed on and starts to get a bad feeling about this mission. While Warp exclaims that there is nothing to be worried about, a terrifying monster creeps up on him.
The two Space Rangers fight off the monster when more of them keep appearing out of nowhere, and they eventually manage to get rid of them. However, in doing so, they stumble across Emperor Zurg’s laboratory. Inside the laboratory, Emperor Zurg finally makes an appearance, and we learn that he has held some more Little Green Men captive.
Buzz Lightyear and Warp break into the place, and the LGMs accompany them since their Uni-Mind tells them that their friends are nearby. They locate the L.G.M.s and try to free them when Zurg releases his army of robots to fight Buzz Lightyear and Zurg. They fight off these robots and almost manage to escape, but Zurg finally uses his self-destruct machine to destroy the place within sixty seconds.
While Lightyear manages to get the LGMs to their ship, Warp collapses under a huge block of debris and struggles to free himself. Lightyear tries to help him, but Warp insists that he leave the place before the timer on the self-destruct machine sets off and blows the place up. Lightyear reluctantly leaves, while Warp ends up dying in this explosion.
Lightyear returns to Star Command headquarters and informs the other Space Rangers about the day’s events. He is ridden with guilt over his partner’s death and thus, refuses to take on a new partner. He vows that no Ranger will ever fall apart because of him and that he will only work alone.
However, Commander Nebula assigns him a new recruit ‘Princess Mira Nova,’ who has the power of ghosting that enables her to phase through walls. She can also read minds and is quite talented, but at the end of the day, she is a rookie who requires more training. Commander Nebula and Lightyear end up arguing over his refusal to take on a new partner, and Lightyear leaves the room.
Later, ‘Booster,’ one of the janitors at the Star Command Organization, enters a restricted area and ends up in trouble with one of the Space Rangers. Buzz Lightyear gets Booster out of trouble, and Booster expresses his wish to be a Space Ranger. However, Booster needs to pass an entrance exam, and while the two discuss this exam, Lightyear is summoned to ‘Science Bay.’
On a different side of the Galaxy, Emperor Zurg finally learns about the L.G.M. ‘s Uni-Mind. He also discovers an orb on the L.G.M. ‘s home planet that enables this Uni-Mind link to work, and Zurg sends one of his new fighters ‘Agent Z’ to get this orb for him. Agent Z is a powerful villian with a robotic arm riddled with high-tech weapons.
In the next episode, titled ‘The Adventure Begins- Part 2’, the story continues when the L.G.M.s at Star Command build a robot called ‘XR.’ They ask Buzz Lightyear to accept XR as his new partner since this is a robot that cannot be killed. Moreover, XR can always be repaired if he gets damaged. While they converse, the L.G.M. ‘s Uni-Mind tells them about Agent Z’s attack, and Buzz Lightyear and XR prepare to leave for L.G.M. planet.
In the meantime, all the L.G.M.s on their home planet gather near their magical orb to protect it. Zurg’s army of robots also shows up, and Lightyear manages to destroy most of them. However, they now encounter Agent Z, and a fight emerges as this villain manages to destroy the XR robot.
Agent Z manages to steal the Uni-Mind orb and returns to Emperor Zurg at Planet Z. Buzz Lightyear logs the mission report, and he also asks the L.G.M. if they can repair XR. Without the Uni-Mind, the L.G.M.s start to malfunction, and the Space Rangers must get the Uni-Mind orb back from Emperor Zurg.
Zurg wants to reach out and mind-slave all the innocent beings in the Universe by connecting them to this orb, and he thereby corrupts the Uni-Mind to turn into an evil ‘Mega-Ray.’ Meanwhile, the Space Rangers at the Star Command call for an emergency meeting where the L.G.M.s show up with a newly repaired XR. This time, they have fixed the robot to function with a mind of his own. Princess Mira proposes that only one Alpha-One spacecraft would be enough to fight Zurg, but Commander Nebula decides that they must launch a full-scale attack.
As they prepare for the attack, Mira tries to leave on her own in a stolen Alpha-One. Lightyear catches her while she is about to leave, but Mira uses her powers to trick him, and then she escapes. Commander Nebula then asks Lightyear to follow her, and he leaves in his own spaceship. However, Lightyear is unaware of the fact that XR and Booster have managed to sneak into the spacecraft undetected.
As this episode ends, Emperor Zurg’s Mega-Ray is finally ready, and he tests it out on certain smaller planets in the Universe.
Finally, in the last part of the pilot episode titled ‘The Adventure Begins- Part 3’, Lightyear catches up with Mira’s spacecraft and convinces her not to go on this mission alone. He then manages to fit the Alpha-One in his bigger spaceship and finds XR and Booster hiding in their spaceship.
On another side, Emperor Zurg uses his Mega-Ray on the Star Command spaceship, thereby turning all of the Space Rangers as well as Commander Nebula into his mind-slaves. Lightyear and his crew notice this Mega-Ray’s attack on Star Command, and they return to investigate. Here, they find that their entire crew has turned over to the dark side. Lightyear and Mira get some help from Booster and XR as they deflect attacks from their own Space Rangers.
They manage to escape in Buzz Lightyear’s Star Cruiser but find that Zurg had tricked the Space Rangers into planting a bomb on their ship. They decide to then flee in the Alpha-One that Buzz had previously fitted in his bigger ship, and they get away with this plan just as the bomb explodes. However, Emperor Zurg assumes that they had been caught in the middle of the bomb explosion, and he believes that Buzz Lightyear is now dead.
In the meantime, the Alpha-One crashes on Planet Z, and Buzz insists on parting ways so he can finish the mission by himself. He commands the rest of the group to leave, then sets out to fight Agent Z on his own. Buzz Lightyear finds himself in a tough spot as Agent-Z captures him and takes him to Emperor Zurg. Here, it is finally revealed that Agent-Z was no one other than Buzz Lightyear’s former partner ‘Warp Darkmatter’ who faked his death and has been working as a double agent all this time.
Buzz uses his mission log for a last time and sends a secret message asking for help from Mira, Booster, and XR.
Emperor Zurg is eager to use the Mega-Ray on Buzz Lightyear, but XR and Booster show up and rescue Buzz before Zurg can take control of his mind. With some help from Booster, Mira destroys Agent-X’s robotic arm, and the group places him under arrest. They also try to capture Zurg, but the evil mastermind manages to escape. Mira then extends her ghosting powers to Lightyear, who pushes through the walls to access the core of the Mega-Ray in order to restore it back to the Uni-Mind. All the beings under Zurg’s control, including the Star Command, return to normal as peace is restored.
As the episode ends, Buzz Lightyear finally realizes that he cannot work alone, and he creates the ‘Team Lightyear’ that consists of XR, Mira, and Booster.
The next episode, titled ‘The Torque Armada,’ begins with the newly formed Space Rangers Booster and XR. They are on a mission to arrest the villain Torque for terrorism, arson, and many such criminal activities. Torque tries to attack Booster and XR, but Buzz Lightyear and Mira soon join them. They fight Torque and finally place him under arrest, taking him to the prison at Star Command.
Emperor Zurg gets wind of Torque’s arrest, and he sends his army of Hornets to free him from prison. Emperor Zurg then brings Torque to Planet Z, where he implants a cloning device on his chest. Torque now has the power to create multiple clones of himself, and chaos breaks out as multiple Torques spread across space to stir up trouble.
Lightyear and his team of Space Rangers have a difficult day dealing with multiple Torques, as they attempt to restore peace in the Galaxy. Finally, Lightyear faces the original Torque, but the villain uses his multiple clones to restrain him and put him in a deep sleep. Torque then captures Mira, Booster, and XR as well, and they watch helplessly from afar as the Torque clones move ahead with their plans to blow up the Capital Planet.
Mira finally manages to break them free using her powers, and they set out to stop Torque’s plans by creating a protective shield around Capital Planet. Emperor Zurg is furious to find out that Torque’s plans failed to blow up Capital Planet, while ‘Team Lightyear’ and a group of Space Rangers get their hands on Torque and his clones. The episode comes to an end as they place Torque under arrest once again.
In the next episode, titled ‘Gravitina,’ the Star Command Headquarters find themselves in the middle of an asteroid field. Lightyear and his fellow Space Rangers do their best to deflect any asteroids headed towards them, but these asteroid attacks do not seem to be stopping anytime soon.
They conclude that these asteroids must be sent by a power source that is especially aiming these attacks at the Star Command, and Buzz Lightyear leaves with the robot XR to investigate these attacks. They discover that these attacks were caused by ‘Gravitina,’ an evil alien who is the Mistress of the Mass. Gravitina has feelings for Lightyear, and she causes this attack in order to get his attention. Moreover, Gravitina holds the entirety of Star Command hostage until Buzz Lightyear agrees to marry her.
Lightyear tries to charm her, but Gravitina is still determined to destroy Star Command. He tells her that he does not wish to be in a relationship with her and only wants to be friends. This causes Gravitina to go into a frenzy, and her agitated mood reflects on her attacks, causing more trouble back at Star Command. Eventually, Lightyear approaches Gravitina lovingly and kisses her, causing her mood to return to normal as she finally stops her attacks on Star Command. Lightyear and XR return safely, and peace is again restored in the Galaxy.
In this way, Buzz Lightyear and the Space Rangers faced many villains and went on many missions to protect the Star Command and their Galaxy.
All about the brave Space Ranger – Buzz Lightyear
Buzz Lightyear is a celebrated hero at the Star Command and is one of the most accomplished Space Rangers in the Galaxy. Lightyear often uses the catchphrase ‘To Infinity and Beyond,’ before setting out on his missions.
In his early life, Buzz was born on the planet ‘Morph’ where he was raised by his grandmother ‘Nana Lightyear.’ Not much is known about Buzz’s childhood or parents, and his grandmother is the only family he has ever mentioned. While growing up, Buzz developed an interest in the Star Command and always wished to become a Space Ranger. He was also quite interested in weapon-based toys and rockets, and he often asked his Nana for such gifts on occasions such as birthdays or Christmas. There is no clear information as to when exactly he became a Junior Space Ranger, but he enrolled in the Space Ranger Academy and eventually started his training along with Warp Darkmatter and Ty Parsec.
Lightyear graduated from the academy with first-class merit and was quite enthusiastic about fighting evil. In one of his earlier missions, Lightyear captured the villain Lone Wolf’, and in doing so, he accidentally blew up half of Alliance Plaza on Capital Planet.
He also did not have enough evidence to arrest Lone Wolf, and sadly, the villain got away with his crimes. Lightyear was distraught over this incident and questioned the Galaxy’s justice system. Soon after, he decided to quit the Star Command and set out to travel across the Galaxy.
He ended up on a lone planet, where he met ‘Myka’ and ‘Zoey,’ a mother-son duo who were in trouble with the evil Vartkes. Lightyear helped Myka and Zoey get rid of Vartkes, and he rediscovered the meaning of justice and fighting against evil. He then wanted to return to Star Command and was determined to become a better Space Ranger who abides by the laws of justice while fighting evil.
Once again, Lightyear was reunited with Ty Parsec and Warp Darkmatter. Lightyear was especially closer to Ty, and the two became legendary Space Rangers known by everyone at Star Command. However, Ty felt that Lightyear often overshadowed him, and he decided to take up a job on the faraway planet of Canis Lunis.
Later, even Warp Darkmatter betrays Buzz Lightyear, and finally, Lightyear finds a new team along with Princess Mira Nova, Booster, and XR.
Lightyear is trained in martial arts and various forms of self-defense and can easily overpower most of his opponents in combat. He dons a space suit that comes with a laser beam, built-in telecommunication systems, as well as the ability to fly. Moreover, Buzz Lightyear can also create his own weapons at the Star Command and is trained to pilot all forms of vehicles and space crafts. Lightyear is very diligent about his tasks, and he always makes it a point to record mission logs and ensure that his paperwork and reports are in order.
For his service in the Star Command, Lightyear has been awarded various commendations such as ‘Order of Galactic Merit, First Class,’ Blue Medallion of Excellence, The Nebula Heart, and so on. Throughout the series, many Buzz Lightyear clones popped up from alternate universes. While some of these clones, such as ‘Zzub,’ were evil, the others had good intentions and had traveled from the future to help Lightyear out and warn him about his future.
Marvelous Verdict: A Disney Classic that is fresh even today!
This Buzz Lightyear spin-off was one of the best-animated shows created by Disney, as it managed to create a fun universe where Buzz Lightyear’s character could be explored in great detail. The show was packed with entertaining and adventurous storylines that made it a thoroughly enjoyable watch. Fans especially loved how funny the show was and how it had managed to retain the charm of the Toy Story franchise.
Moreover, the show’s animation, theme music, and character designs are also well executed, making it a pretty satisfying spin-off. The writers did a commendable job of creating a galaxy full of characters and creative story arcs, making the show quite popular among kids and adults alike. To sum it up, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was quite a breath of fresh air and is definitely one of the most well-executed spin-off series of all time.
Looking back at some of the important characters
Besides Buzz Lightyear, some important members of the Star Command included Commander Nebula, Princess Mira Nova, Booster, and XR.
Commander Nebula oversaw all crucial decisions of the Star Command and kept an eye on the Rangers, and assigned them specific missions. He did not himself step out on missions often and was a rather short-tempered being who could sometimes be a little irritable. However, he was a great leader to the Space Rangers, constantly recruiting new members and guiding them to become better field agents.
One such being recruited by Commander Nebula was ‘Princess Mira Nova,’ who was heir to the Tangean Throne. She had become a Space Ranger despite the disapproval of her father ‘King Nova,’ and Commander Nebula assigned her to become Buzz Lightyear’s partner. Mira had special powers such as the ability to phase through walls and even read the minds of others. She became a valued member of the Space Rangers team and often led important missions along with Buzz Lightyear.
‘Booster,’ also known as Booster Sinclair Munchapper, used to formerly work as a janitor at the Star Command’s headquarters. He desired to become a Space Ranger, and he was a huge dinosaur-like being from the agricultural planet ‘Jo-Ad .’ While Booster was preparing to take the entrance exam to become a Space Ranger, he once ended up on a mission with Buzz Lightyear and became a Space Ranger under his watchful eye.
Finally, XR was the last member of Buzz Lightyear’s team of Rangers. XR was a robot designed by the Little Green Men so that Buzz could have a partner that could not be destroyed. However, Agent-Z destroyed XR, after which the LGM repaired him with some more advanced features. XR could now process emotions and had a mind of his own. His name is a short form for ‘Experimental Ranger,’ and though he often gets destroyed on missions, the LGMs always managed to rebuild him.
Together, these Space Rangers worked for the peace of the Galaxy and fought off evil forces such as Emperor Zurg. Zurg was the show’s main antagonist, and he ruled an empire on ‘Planet Z .’ Emperor Zurg always looked for ways to destroy the Star Command, and he was especially obsessed with defeating Buzz Lightyear. Zurg had in-built weapons such as rockets in his feet and other advanced weapons in his arms that he used against the Space Ranger. Just like the Star Command had L.G.Ms, Zurg had an army of ‘Grubs,’ who worked in his labs, carried out mechanical repairs, and developed technological weapons for Zurg. However, the Grubs were not gifted scientists and mostly failed to execute their missions or create any worthwhile weapons for Zurg.
Zurg also had a collection of Brain Pods that were cybernetic brains stored in jars who worked as researchers. These Brain Pods created an array of weapons and tech machines for Zurg, but they all secretly desired freedom and wished to escape from Planet Z.
Finally, Zurg commanded an army of robots called ‘Hornets,’ and he often sent these Hornets to fight against the Space Rangers. Though these Hornets were robots, they were pretty easy to defeat, and Buzz Lightyear often destroyed many of them with just one strike.
Buzz Lightyear also faced various other villains such as Agent-Z, the alien lady ‘Gravitina,’ Evil Buzz Lightyear, Torque, NOS-40-A2, and XL.
Conclusion
To sum it up, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was a well-executed spin-off that gave us more insight into the world of everyone’s favorite Space Ranger. It had elements of sci-fi, action, adventure, the triumph of good over evil, and much more that blended to create an exciting animated series. It is most definitely worth a watch, especially for all the Toy Story fans out there!