LIGHTYEAR (2022)

For Disney/Pixar, seeing a sure bet like this TOY STORY offshoot, The Buzz Lightyear Origin Story, turn into a hubristic New Coke moment, must have been bewildering.*  Particularly as the film is beautifully crafted & darn entertaining.  Yet the explanation of its commercial failure (ok, an explanation) is apparent to anyone with half an ear to the ground: it was sold as TOY STORY addendum, but made as STAR WARS adventure.  (And not just any STAR WARS mind you, but as something that held to the vibe of the initial ‘70s/’80s trilogy.  (Admittedly, some story beats really too close to the original for comfort.  Call it homage.)  Lots of buzz at the time about swapping in Chris Evans as voice actor for original Buzz Tim Allen.  (Evans excellent, BTW.)  Yet not a peep about an even stranger alteration: a slight, but noticeable physical tweak that transforms Buzz, in face & body heft, into a Chris Pratt doppelgänger.  Weird.  (Was he up for the part?)  Briefly, Buzz and his Space Rangers need a new power supply to get off the inhospitable planet they crash landed on.  Testing a new energy crystal takes Buzz only four days in space, but lasts four years back on the planet.  Many tests later, his generation has aged out (or died), his New Space Rangers now two generations removed.  (Ask Einstein; you enjoy a clever twist on Luke Skywalker’s Darth Vader reveal.)  For the millions who passed on this as a probable failed TOY STORY origin story, but who’ve waited long & hard for one of the many STAR WARS reboots to remember what made Episodes IV & V great ‘Pop’ cinema, this one’s for you.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY/LINK:  *You can almost hear the Creatives arguing with Publicity not to package this solely as a TOY STORY family film, but to play up its (junior) STAR WARS vibe.    https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2012/12/star-wars-1977.html

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *For the four or five of you who may not recall: 1985 saw Coca-Cola (temporarily) discontinue production of ‘Old Coke’ for the slightly sweeter ’New Coke’ after tests showed a preference for . . . Pepsi!  Yikes!  They completely overlooked two things.  ONE: they never informed customers this wouldn’t just be an additional flavor choice, but that the original Coke recipe was coming off the market.  TWO: Pepsi only beat Coca-Cola in sampling where you’d get a mini-cup.  Sure, the sweeter Pepsi took honors on the first four or five sips, but soon turned cloying.  At least Up North.  Down South, even sweeter R.C. Cola vies with Pepsi for top spot.  Yuck.