studioAT Launched as a pilot to a TV series this film debuted when Toy Story was at its peak in between films 1 and 2 of the series.The big bonus this pilot has is that it features the voice of Tim Allen. Don't get me wrong, Patrick Warburton did a good job in the series that followed, but Allen's voice is so distinctive you know that its him.Yes, it's a shameless cash in on the feature films success in a way that only Disney could exploit, but it's harmless fun for both adults and kids alike.

breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com After the success of Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999), Disney and Pixar studios thought it would be profitable for them to make a spin-off of one of the main characters, specifically Buzz Lightyear. Yes, having a Woody spin-off would have been interesting but honestly, I'm not quite sure any child would be interested a "western setting" TV show. Science fiction and futuristic worlds is what the majority people love now because it's a boundless area for exploration.The story of this movie is about Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Tim Allen (from the Toy Story franchise), which enters the screen like any other space ranger would; confronting evil. There's really no need to go into plot for this review because it is very simplistic and understandable. And although this video is made mainly for the kids, young to old adults should be able to enjoy this film as well without having to shake their heads all that much.Along with Tim Allen is Nicole Sullivan (Mira Nova), Larry Miller (XR), Stephen Furst (Booster) and Wayne Knight as the Evil Emperor Zurg. All of these actors give commendable performances as their characters. My two favorite characters were XR and Emperor Zurg. Larry Miller gives XR a great sense of humor and a lot of sarcasm to the table. As for Zurg, Wayne Knight just knows how to make Zurg sound evil but only on the surface and not too dark. Even Zurg has some comedic moments that are fun to watch. "Nanna Zurg"? Cute Zurg, real cute.The animation, although I would not say totally looks professional, it at least looks good on the TV screen. From what I saw, there were only a few real visible continuity issues but overall the film was fairly persistent on sticking to what it output. There were even a couple of Easter eggs, for example, a small time on screen the viewer may see a magic lamp...cough cough Aladdin (1992) or...a giant three pronged claw that latches onto a mystical orb that belongs to the little green men...cough cough Toy Story (1995). It's all in there, it just needs to be looked at with a keen eye. Action sequences are well animated too. The colors mesh well with the surroundings that they belong to and what they represent. Adam Berry is the composer to this film and I must say that he did a great job creating a main theme for our beloved Pixar character. The tune is catchy and also entertaining. I am still disappointed that the studio didn't make a Woody spin-off. I still think that would've been cool. Oh well. This film led up to a great TV series so that's a plus.Having a spin-off of one of Pixar's most memorable characters was an excellent decision on Disney's part. The whole video is a blast.

Victor Field In "Toy Story 2," Woody finds out that he came from the TV show "Woody's Roundup"; Buzz Lightyear did it the other way around and for real. The trouble is that "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command" never really worked as a series, and this video feature doesn't really cut it - and that's without taking either of its truly great predecessors into consideration. If you do...Essentially a feature-length pilot for the TV series*, "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins" opens with a Pixar-animated prologue wherein Andy's toys get ready to watch the very movie we're about to (the subsequent series also begins with Buzz, Woody, Slinky etc congregating in front of the TV); the point of this is never clear, especially since Woody's reference to how Buzz is drawn underlines how different the two ventures are. The story has Buzz and his partner Warp Darkmatter rescuing three Little Green Men from Emperor Zurg, but when Warp is killed in the fighting our hero swears he won't have any partners anymore; as fans of the show know he wound up with three of them anyway, and this relates how he got together with Mira, Booster and XR.The movie's got its moments (like the throwaway gag where XR reads a Victoria's Circuit catalogue) and it's hardly boring, but I can't imagine many viewers who've seen more than, oh, five movies being surprised at the movie's biggest plot twist; and the wit and depth of the previous movies is sucked out, leaving little more than a standard comedy-action cartoon. True, it makes sense that a toy like Buzz would inspire a cash-in TV series in the world according to "Toy Story," but do we actually have to see it? Watchable but bland; however, you can't deny that "He-Man" et al never had end credit songs from William Shatner(!).*Like several other Disney TV cartoons ("TaleSpin," "Chip'N'Dale Rescue Rangers"), the pilot was later edited down and shown on the series in several parts, in this case three. In that version (those versions?), Shatner's song and the prologue with the video are absent, and Tim Allen's voice is replaced by Patrick Warburton, who provided Buzz's voice on the series.

pjbump ... but then, he's a big Toy Story fanatic anyway. Yes, this is essentially the pilot for a Disney "One Saturday Morning" cartoon offering, but it does help provide a bit more background as to the legend of Buzz Lightyear. If you're buying or renting a movie for a Toy Story fan, this will do just fine. I love Diedrich Bader as the voice of "Agent Z".