Pixar hasn’t got a friend in Patricia Heaton.
The Emmy-winning “Everybody Loves Raymond” alum, 64, and former registered Republican, took to Twitter Tuesday to air her frustrations over “Lightyear” — the origin story of beloved “Toy Story” character Buzz Lightyear, or at least the fictional man who inspired the fictional toy.
“Saw the trailer for Buzz Lightyear and all I can say is Disney/Pixar made a HUGE mistake in not casting my pal @ofctimallen Tim Allen in the role that he originated, the role that he owns,” said Heaton. “Tim IS Buzz!” Why would they completely castrate this iconic, beloved character?”
Allen, 69, originated the role of the toy space cadet toy in 1995’s “Toy Story,” and reprised it until the fourth film — which hit theaters in 2019.
Ahead of the original film’s 25th anniversary in 2020, Allen told the Daily News that he “threw just a little bit more innocence” at the character, who was originally pitched to him as “a little brassier, if that’s possible.”At the time, the “Home Improvement” star even shared one way he could see Buzz and foe-turned-best pal Woody (Tom Hanks) reuniting in yet another sequel.
In “Lightyear” though, Chris Evans — who co-founded civic engagement platform A Starting Point to make way for conversation between political parties, yet is a vocal critic of prominent Republicans — has taken up the mantle of the titular spaceman.
The film, which blasts into theaters Friday and holds an 82% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, has been the subject of controversy on both sides of the aisle due to a scene involving a same-sex kiss.
That scene was originally cut, and only reinstated after Pixar and The Walt Disney Company employees penned a letter to the higher-ups in which they criticized the company having regularly censored overtly gay same sex-affection.” The letter was written in the midst of Disney’s controversial decision to not challenge Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, now law.
Now that the decision has been made to keep the scene, 14 countries have banned the film. China is expected to follow suit.
