Lightyear's Creators Explain Why Andy Never Had A Sox In Toy Story

Audiences will be traveling to infinity and beyond with the newest film by Pixar Animation Studios, "Lightyear." Directed by Angus MacLane, the co-director of "Finding Dory," the film acts as the movie within the world of the "Toy Story" universe that inspires the creation of the Buzz Lightyear action figure. 

"Lightyear" will see the origin of everyone's favorite space ranger as he and a scrappy team of rookies work to take down an imposing alien robot force that threatens their chances of returning to Earth. Starring Chris Evans in the title role and co-starring Keke Palmer, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, and Peter Sohn, the film shows a lot of promise. With a sci-fi look that harkens back to beloved movies such as "Star Wars," "Alien," and "Interstellar," the film will be taking things up a few notches to deliver something beyond the realm of your typical family-friendly film. 

While there's plenty of intense sci-fi action, "Lightyear" can't help but throw in some laughs, many of which will be coming from the adorable robot cat Sox. Voiced by Peter Sohn, who previously played Emile in "Ratatouille," Sox is Buzz's loyal companion who tags along on his journey and likely helps out in some nifty ways. With the film being what probably inspired Andy to get a Buzz action figure in "Toy Story," one might wonder, why doesn't Andy have a Sox toy as well? In a recent interview with the filmmakers, we find out. 

In a press interview for "Lightyear" with director Angus MacLane, producer Galyn Susman, and composer Michael Giacchino, it is jokingly proposed that the creators now need to go back to the original "Toy Story" and add a Sox toy. MacLane plays along with the idea, explaining that the issue may have been that "Andy's mom couldn't get it, it was sold out everywhere." It's easy to imagine that Buzz Lightyear toys would be hard to come by in the "Toy Story" universe. Even in the real world following the first film's release, manufacturers who underestimated the success of "Toy Story" didn't make enough Buzz figures to satisfy demand — which they make an in-joke about in "Toy Story 2" (via The Wall Street Journal).

MacLane continues the idea with an even more likely scenario as to why Andy never got a Sox toy. He continues, "That's an expensive toy, it would've been like Worlds of Wonder or Tiger Electronics, it would've been a kind of fancy $70 toy." He goes on to compare it to his own childhood where he wishes he could have owned an AT-AT toy from "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" but wasn't able to get one. 

It's easy to forget that Andy does only have a single mother. While what has happened to his father has mostly remained vague, it's likely that his mother would have a hard time affording more than one sought-after toy. Fortunately, the interview ends happily, with MacLane and others assuming that Andy would take his Buzz figure over to his friend who owns a Sox toy, where they can complete their adventures together.