The Most Terrible Things Buzz Lightyear Has Ever Done
Buzz Lightyear — he's a Space Ranger, defender of the galaxy, and everyone's favorite flying toy (or "falling with style" toy, take your pick). Throughout the entire Toy Story timeline, Buzz has always leapt to the forefront to protect the galaxy, and his friends, from the forces of evil. His adventures have spanned four movies, a plethora of short films, and even an entire animated series. If you need an intergalactic hero to keep you safe to infinity and beyond, Buzz is your guy.
That's not to say that our favorite space cadet hasn't made a few blunders of his own. From the toy store to the daycare center, Buzz's do-good attitude hasn't always resulted in the best outcome for those around him. It may be easy to say that Woody has had the worse track record of this Toy Story duo, but there's still good reason to dig into the most terrible things that Buzz Lightyear has ever done.
Buzz Lightyear's less-than-stellar first impressions
First impressions can be everything, and suffice it to say, Buzz doesn't exactly give the cheeriest impression upon entering the vast new world that is Andy's room. Standing triumphantly on Andy's bed, surveying his new environment as if it were an uncharted planet, Buzz is still in Space Ranger mode, nervously exploring his surroundings, yet to find any signs of "intelligent life."
Suddenly, Woody, the de facto leader of Andy's toys, peeks out to introduce himself, leaving Buzz to act in the most noble fashion possible ... by pointing his laser right at Woody, followed by trying to laser the rest of the toys trying to introduce themselves. While he's able to win over the trust of these new companions through his "flying" routine moments later, Buzz's initial instincts getting the best of him wasn't exactly the friendliest way to introduce himself to the denizens of this new "planet."
Andy's new favorite toy
Up until Buzz's arrival, it was common knowledge that Woody, the snake-booted sheriff himself, was Andy's favorite toy through and through. But that all changes on Andy's birthday when a certain space ranger crash-lands onto Andy's bed, changing the course of Woody's life forever. Buzz slowly assimilates to the world of Andy's toy room, still stuck in his space ranger fantasy and oblivious to the fact that he is, in fact, a toy.
Though it certainly wasn't his plan, Buzz's futuristic action-packed design skyrockets him to the top of Andy's playtime. Over the course of a heartbreaking montage scored to Randy Newman's super catchy song "Strange Things," all of the previous cowboy imagery that adorned Andy's bedroom is no more, slowly but surely becoming a haven for the world of Buzz Lightyear. Unbeknownst to Buzz himself, his presence has made Woody's dream life devolve into a nightmare.
Buzz Lightyear's revenge plot gets him into trouble
In the first Toy Story film, after Woody pushes Buzz out of Andy's window through an elaborate series of accidents, it's not too long before the other toys find out, and Woody becomes a pariah in his own community. Luck is on his side, however, as right before he's pulled to pieces by the other toys, Andy chooses him as his replacement toy to bring to Pizza Planet.
On the ride there, Andy and his mom stop at a gas station where, to Woody's surprise, he discovers that Buzz has been with them the whole time. Things could easily return to normal, if Buzz weren't so willing to embrace the idea of violent revenge against Woody, a concept they don't have on Buzz's planet. But as Buzz is happy to relay to Woody, "We're not on my planet, are we?" If only they were, then this troublesome twosome wouldn't be dragged into a skirmish that throws them out of the van and leaves them alone on the asphalt.
A cruel fate for Flik and Heimlich
Yes, it may technically be in the end credits bloopers for Toy Story 2, but Buzz's needlessly cruel act against Flik and Heimlich from A Bug's Life simply can't be ignored.
As Buzz and his cohorts are chopping their way through the bushes on the way to Al's Toy Barn, there's a "blink and you'll miss it" moment of two bugs falling from a branch that Buzz karate-chops through. But as the end credits reveal, those aren't just ordinary bugs. It's none other than Flik and Heimlich from A Bug's Life, who foolishly think they're appearing in a sequel to their recent Pixar hit. Sadly, their naivety gets in the way of them noticing Buzz's dangerous, relatively humongous presence careening towards them, with nothing to do but scream in terror as Buzz chops their branch into pieces. Maybe they'll survive in the next take?
A dangerous street-crossing adventure
Why did the toys cross the road? Well, in Toy Story 2, the only way that Buzz and the gang can successfully get to Al's Toy Barn is by crossing a treacherously busy street with cars whipping by at speeds that will annihilate these toys in seconds. So what's Buzz's plan? The toys will hide under traffic cones and sneak their way across the road. Foolproof, right?
For a toy, maybe. But for the humans minding their own business, just driving along until a legion of traffic cones comes out of nowhere? It's less than ideal, one might say. As Buzz, Mr. Potato Head, Rex, Slinky, and Hamm make their way staggering across the busy highway, cars careen left and right, trucks lose control on the road, and at least one car crashes and loses a hubcap. The toy team finally reaches its destination, but at what cost of traffic chaos for the humans above?
Utility Belt Buzz takes over
Upon entering Al's Toy Barn in Toy Story 2, Buzz finds himself somewhere he could've never imagined ... in an aisle entirely filled with Buzz Lightyears. And right on display is a brand new Buzz Lightyear, equipped with a shiny new utility belt. Buzz just can't help himself as he reaches for the space-age accessory, only to be confronted by his new nemesis — the utility belt-wielding Buzz Lightyear who, just like our hero one movie ago, is still stuck in the delusion of thinking he's an actual space ranger.
Utility Belt Buzz has no choice, as brutal as it may be, to trap our hero Buzz in a spaceship toy box and place it back on the shelf. Somehow Utility Belt Buzz is able to blend in with the rest of the gang when they swing back around, none the wiser that their real space ranger friend has been trapped against his will in an aisle of doppelgängers.
Buzz Lightyear frees Zurg from his box
After losing his battle with Utility Belt Buzz in Toy Story 2, our favorite space man finds himself locked up in a toy box prison. Of course, original Buzz eventually breaks free, but now he needs to find a way out of Al's Toy Barn so he can complete his mission to rescue the kidnapped Woody. Unfortunately, the only way to get the front doors open is for a human-sized object to activate the automatic doors. Buzz, the crafty adventurer that he is, is able to do so by knocking over a nearby towering pile of games and toys, thus ensuring his exit from the store.
But little does Buzz realize that in his plot to escape the store, one of the toys he's unleashed into the world is his character's arch-nemesis, Evil Emperor Zurg, sworn enemy of the Galactic Alliance! Buzz's plan may have worked in the short-term, but it resulted in this nefarious villain being freed to track down Utility Belt Buzz for a deadly final showdown.
Demo Buzz imprisons the gang
In Toy Story 3, Sunnyside Daycare, where much of the action takes place, doesn't turn out to be all that sunny. Especially not under the tyrannical rule of Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear, a deceivingly lovable stuffed animal who's taking his abandonment issues out on the toys at the daycare center. New toys are subjected to the harsh playtime of the toddlers in the Caterpillar Room, while Lots-o' and his cohorts get to have gentle, relaxed playtime in the Butterfly Room. The system at hand is corrupt, and Buzz isn't going to let it stand.
But when Buzz goes to the other side to complain, he finds himself captured by Lots-o's crew, with his software switched from "play" mode to "demo" mode. Demo Buzz finds our space ranger back to his old delusional mindset, but now under the eye of Lots-o', he's been tricked into thinking his friends are the enemy, leading him to lock them up in a de facto daycare prison. Though the real Buzz is hiding underneath there somewhere, our fearless gang has no choice put to pull a prison escape to foil their Demo nemesis.
A kid's meal Buzz makes a switch
Outside of the main Toy Story films, Woody, Buzz, and the gang get up to all sorts of mischief in the series of Toy Story Toons released by Disney-Pixar. From Hawaiian vacations to dinosaur raves, these bite-sized shorts give us an extra glimpse into the lives of toys when the humans aren't around to play. However, they don't always show Buzz Lightyear in the most positive light. Or, at least, a version of Buzz Lightyear, anyway.
In "Small Fry," a kids meal version of Buzz is sick and tired of not being played with, and he switches places with Bonnie's Buzz in the ball pit of Poultry Palace, leaving our hero Buzz to be trapped in a fast food fortress that reeks of chicken fingers. Luckily, Woody and the gang aren't fooled at all by this new (pint-sized) Buzz, and after some at-home antics, Kids Meal Buzz is back where he belongs and getting help from a support group of fellow abandoned kids' meal toys.
Buzz Lightyear's inner voice
This may not be something "terrible" that Buzz has done, per se, but for much of Toy Story 4, the final film in the Toy Story saga, Buzz Lightyear seems at a loss to figure out how best to make decisions in the world. Early in the film, Woody tells him to listen to his "inner voice," which Buzz — the lovable, literal Boy Scout he is — takes to mean the buttons on his chest plate that activate his catchphrases.
So, for much of the film, Buzz abandons his own agency and leaves his decision-making to the whims of his personal voice box. So as he catapults himself through a carnival wonderland, he only lets his limited series of catchphrases dictate his next move. It's a humorous turn for this character to take, even if it means not really trusting his own gut when trying to save Woody.
A final plan that's messier than expected
In the climax of Toy Story 4, Bonnie and her family are driving away from the town of Grand Basin in their RV, and Woody is still stuck at the town's antique shop. Surely there's no way the two can be reunited by the film's end? Not if Buzz Lightyear has anything to say about it. With the help of Trixie, Mrs. Potato Head, and Buttercup the unicorn, Buzz and the gang disguise themselves as the family's GPS and reroute their road trip back to the carnival to rendezvous with Woody.
It seems like a great plan, until you take Bonnie and her parents into the equation. Poor Bonnie's dad, who's had to deal with flat tires and lost toys all day, is now dealing with, to his knowledge, a fantastically malfunctioning automobile, somehow self-driving back to the carnival from where they just left. Buzz's plan may have worked in getting the van back to Woody, but all at the expense of Bonnie's dad, whose fate lies in the hands of the police and multiple stress headaches.