Patricia Heaton blasts ‘Lightyear’ for replacing Tim Allen
Patricia Heaton was not cool with them telling Tim Allen to buzz off.
The “Everybody Loves Raymond” actress has put Disney on blast for replacing Allen with “Captain America” star Chris Evans in the new “Toy Story” spin-off, “Lightyear.”
“Saw the trailer for Buzz Lightyear and all I can say is Disney/Pixar made a HUGE mistake in not casting my pal Tim Allen in the role that he originated, the role that he owns,” the 64-year-old sitcom star fumed on Tuesday in a viral Twitter thread with thousands of shares. “Tim IS Buzz! Why would they completely castrate this iconic, beloved character?”
Allen, 69, had memorably voiced the irrepressible wannabe astronaut 1995’s original “Toy Story,” along with its sequels “Toy Story 2” and “Toy Story 3,” as well as countless other projects.
Needless to say, the Twitterati were quick to ridicule “The Middle” actress with one detractor quipping, “a spoiler alert about the Buzz Lightyear castration scene would have been nice.”
“Hey Patricia! Totally agree, the castration scene in the movie felt unnecessary and gross in light of the casting choice,” mocked another. “Seeing Buzz’s genitals was arousing, but knowing they weren’t the penis and balls of the Tool Man himself really steamed me! It was incredibly hard to climax.”
Meanwhile, writer Wajahat Ali accused Heaton of promulgating “perpetual victimhood.”
“Tim Allen is a multi-millionaire with a Disney+ project in the works,” he wrote. “Life is very good for him. All shall be well.”
However, others pointed out that casting Tim Allen wouldn’t have made sense canonically as “Lightyear” isn’t about Buzz Lightyear the toy, but rather the action hero that it was based on.
“Do people not pay attention?” fumed one film fan. “Tim Allen’s Buzz is the toy based off of a person. Chris Evan’s Buzz is the the real person that inspired the toy. The movie is about Buzz Lightyear the Person, not Andy’s toy.”
“Lightyear” producer Galyn Susman has since confirmed that this discrepancy was the reason for casting Chris Evans in the role. “We weren’t making a ‘Toy Story’ movie,” she said in a recent press conference. “We’re making Buzz Lightyear’s movie. And so first and foremost, we just needed a different person playing that Lightyear, separate from the toy.”
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, “Lightyear” director Angus MacLane claimed that Allen wouldn’t be a good fit as his version of Buzz, who “is a little goofier and is a little dumber, and so he is the comic relief.”
“In this film, Buzz is the action hero,” MacLane explained. “He’s serious and ambitious and funny, but not in a goofy way that would undercut the drama. Chris Evans has the gravitas and that movie-star quality that our character needed to separate him and the movie from Tim’s version of the toy in ‘Toy Story.’”
Nonetheless, Heaton refused to back down from her position. “OK, so the current Buzz Lightyear movie is an origin story — but the reason the character became so beloved is because of what [Tim Allen] created,” she wrote in a follow-up tweet. “Why remove the one element that makes us want to see it?”
Meanwhile, some of her supporters postulated that Allen was getting snubbed because of his conservative views, “Disney makes ALL decisions with political implications in mind,” one skeptical commenter wrote. “Tim Allen is conservative so no longer suitable for hire in a Disney production. Stop with the ‘this is not the toy’ or other spin. You know and I know why Allen didn’t voice Buzz.”
Last year, Allen’s “Last Man Standing” sitcom was canceled by Disney-owned ABC, which outraged fans attributed to the fact that the family comedy highlighted conservative values. However, the network denied that the decision was based on politics.
“Lightyear,” which also features the voices of Keke Palmer, Taika Waititi, James Brolin, Peter Sohn and Uzo Aduba, will roll out in theaters on Friday.
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