Loving ‘Lightyear’

I love Lightyear.

I love Lightyear with a passion. A deep, unbridled passion that is difficult to put into words. 

Lightyear doesn’t come out for another year and a half, yet I already know that I will love it. 

Lightyear is my new, absolute favorite movie that I have never even seen. 

Can I just attempt to explain why this film is so personal to me? I, like many others, grew up with an absolute love of Toy Story, and my favorite character was always the indomitable Buzz Lightyear! He epitomized the awesome adventure that the vastness of both space and the future had to offer, something that the TV series and iconic direct-to-video movie only cemented further into my young heart. However, there is another reason why this film speaks to me for more than just pure nostalgia. 

You see, I’m a writer by trade, a poet to be precise, but I wasn’t always that way. There was a time, before I found my love of poetry, that I longed to be in the animation business, with Pixar being the end goal! Since I could not, and still cannot, draw to save my life, I figured I would pursue becoming a storywriter for them. So, because of my passion for Pixar, and the fact that my HS English class had an assignment coming due, I would write a fan fiction piece about the origins of a young Buzz Lightyear, much like the film is slated to address. The manifesto was titled “The Boy Who Passed Infinity” and it was the first time that I really enjoyed writing something. I had an absolute blast writing this piece. For the first time in my life, I had found what made me ultimately happy. Looking back at it, the piece is not very good, to put it as lightly as possible, but I will carry that same blissful experience with me as long as I long as I live.

Now, with that initial story becoming, however small, a reality, I cannot help but feel as though someone, somewhere has heard the prayers of my youth, no matter how contrived, reminding me of my origin story, the bliss of life and the hero that I want to be in this universe. Buzz Lightyear helped me find out who I was meant to be. For this, I will be grateful… To Infinity and Beyond!