Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins



Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins is a 2000 Disney animated direct-to-video film that acts as a pilot to the television series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. In this film, Buzz Lightyear is a space ranger that fights against the evil Emperor Zurg, and canonically this show inspired the existence of the Buzz Lightyear toyline that exists in the Pixar films Toy Story and Toy Story 2. Tim Allen reprises his role as the voice of Buzz Lightyear. The movie was later edited into three episodes of the television show, with the "Andy's Room" sequence removed and Allen's voice replaced by the series' voice actor for Buzz, Patrick Warburton. Also, Tom Hanks doesn't reprise his role as Woody in this film; however, his brother, Jim Hanks, voices Woody. Wallace Shawn, R Lee Ermey, and Joe Ranft reprise their roles as Rex, Sarge, and Wheezy respectively, but John Ratzenberger does not reprise his role as Hamm; instead Andrew Stanton voices Hamm, in which Stanton and Ratzenberger's voices for Hamm sound alike.

[edit] Plot
The movie begins in Andy's bedroom where Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), Buzz (voiced by Tim Allen), Jessie and the other toys are about to watch the VHS copy of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.

In the film, Buzz Lightyear and his partner Warp Darkmatter (voiced by Diedrich Bader) are on a mission to find three missing L.G.M. ("Little Green Men", a noosphere-dwelling race who are the scientists of Star Command's Universe Protection Unit). (NOTE: The little green men are really the pizza planet aliens but have no (said) conection with Buzz Lightyear) They discover the lost L.G.M. in a hidden outpost belonging to Emperor Zurg directly underneath an enormous monster having crater vipers for fingers. They enter in there, the missing LGMs are inside a torture tank. Some of Zurg's minions like Brain Pod #13 and a Grub asks if there's anything. Zurg enters in and is going to pick their brains, Buzz and Warp enter in and they fight some hornets with Zurg escaping. Zurg starts the self-destruct sequence since they have 60 seconds to escape before the hide out explodes. They were attacked by hornets, Warp is trapped and says to Buzz that to go, the hide out explodes and it kills Warp.

Buzz says that he can't have a partner and thinks that it will happen just as same as Warp and says that Zurg robs the universe. Commander Nebula gives Buzz an assignment that a powerful princess named Mira Nova is his new partner. Later, Buzz rescues a shy janitor named Booster from firing.

Zurg's workers are then shown creating in his fortress a new second-in-command called Agent Z, who is flesh and blood but has a robotic arm that can transform into a variety of weapons. Zurg learns of a huge orb on the L.G.M. homeworld called the Uni-Mind, which is responsible for the telepathic link between the creatures. Zurg sends assault forces to capture it.

Meanwhile, the Star Command L.G.M. have built a robot soldier called XR, who is nearly indestructible. XR's mind is a blank slate; therefore he can learn from Buzz Lightyear, to whom he is offered as a partner and XR mimics Buzz. The LGMs discover that their planet is invaded by Zurg in order to get the Uni-Mind. When Buzz and XR set off to defend the L.G.M. planet from invasion, XR mimics Buzz's actions, learning from him. They are confronted by Agent Z, whom they pursue to a rooftop. Agent Z shoots a bomb and XR is destroyed.

The Uni-Mind is stolen by Zurg; in its absence, the L.G.M. can no longer think clearly. They rebuild XR, but because of their confusion the new version is smart and a genius.

Booster is cleaning the floor again and asks what the space rangers are up to, but it's a secret. Buzz says that this is "space ranger" business. After that, Booster walks away, sadly. Commander Nebula decided to launch a full-scale assault on Planet Z, then, XR enters in and says that Zurg takes the universe and the LGMs take him to Booster. Mira says that only one ranger could go to stop Zurg with the Alpha-One. Nebula dismisses their plan and calls them "pig-headed show offs" and decides to launch a full assault at Planet Z in 0800 hours.

Zurg, when his technicians fail to do so, suborns the Uni-Mind so that he can use it to control the minds of others. Zurg's people thereafter begin making a "Mega-Ray" that will use the corrupted Uni-Mind to bend entire populations of people to Zurg's will.

Mira and Buzz each attempt to steal the Alpha-One prototype spacecraft; Mira, using her powers of psychokinesis, wins the face-off and leaves with the ship. Meanwhile, XR gives Booster a "VIP tour" at Buzz's craft and goes inside it. Buzz pursues her in his own craft, not realizing that Booster and XR are inside it, having entered it to play make-believe. Eventually, Buzz catches Mira and stores Alpha-One in his spaceship's cargo bay. At this time Booster and XR are also discovered.

Zurg's Mega-Ray subverts several planets in quick succession such as Rizone and Batheous. He then turns it on Star Command, enjoying the irony of watching his greatest enemies become his mouthpieces. Buzz, not to happy about this, is about to fire Booster, but the red alert rings. Buzz, Mira, Booster, and XR see the Mega-Ray's beam strike Star Command, and enter it to discover its effects. This scene sequence features a reprise of Buzz's famous line from Toy Story "Buzz Lightyear to Star Command: Come in, Star Command!", which he uses to contact their communications receiving center. When they discover that all of the Space Rangers have been suborned by Zurg, they flee in Buzz's Star Cruiser. Zurg sends his victims to destroy them, using Star Command's entire arsenal. When one of his men plant a bomb on the Star Cruiser, they use Alpha-One to escape, just as Buzz's craft explodes and Zurg leaves laughing.

They land on Zurg's home planet, narrowly escaping the defensive "seeker drones". They crash-land the Alpha-One, which is mistaken by Brain Pod #13 for a weather balloon. There, Buzz insists on finishing the mission, alone. They start to argue who gets a nose-ring, Buzz orders them to leave him. Buzz fights Agent Z and arrests him, only to reveal he is Warp Darkmatter. Warp is working at Zurg for years as Double Agent. Zurg is mocking Buzz by the dramatic video of Buzz misses Warp, Buzz says that he is going to end today and Zurg wants to watch the drama as Buzz does his final entry and is keep teasing him. Mira, Booster and XR see Buzz's surrender and his final entry and returns back to Planet Z to help him. Zurg has a plan: he is not going to kill Buzz, but, turning Buzz into Zurg.

Zurg sends Buzz to be shot by the Mega-Ray; XR and Booster rescue him at the last moment. Booster and Mira destroy Agent Z's mechanical arm after Booster lands on Warp. Buzz and Zurg face each other; Zurg thinks he has won, but Buzz and his three friends surround Zurg and pronounce him under arrest and he escapes after the brain pods shoot the mega-ray to the planet of Widows and Orphans.

Zurg manages to escape and says that if Buzz goes to any planet, he can hear his voice mocking Buzz. Booster and XR, under orders from Buzz, capture Warp Darkmatter and leap from Zurg's now-exploding tower. Mira and Buzz restore the Uni-Mind to normal, freeing the suborned peoples and leaving Zurg himself momentarily helpless. His last words before his space ship explodes are "Curse you, Buzz Lightyear!". The unity of the L.G.M. is restored and Warp is arrested much to his betrayal. Buzz makes a new team called Team Lightyear with XR, Mira and Booster. They fly to the galaxy and shouting "TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!".

[edit] Cultural references

 * Like the TV series, there are various references to the Star Wars film franchise in the Buzz Lightyear movie.
 * Mira and Buzz's plan to send a one man ship to slip through Planet Z's defenses is a reference to the plan to attack the Death Star in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, which involved "a small one man ship slipping through the defenses."
 * Star Command is actually modeled after Space Station 77 (Space Mountain) from Disneyland
 * The Uni-Mind of the LGM's is based on the Uni-Mind of the Eternals, a fictional composite being from the Marvel Universe. The Uni-Mind of the Eternals is a collective intelligence in which the participants share in each other's knowledge. This is also like the Borg Collective first introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation.