Lightyear is jam-packed with moments that make viewers understand why Andy was so excited to own his very own Buzz Lightyear toy in 1995.
As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
- The film opens with a gigantic spacecraft exploring the vast reaches of the cosmos, with one of its hypersleep personnel being awoken and notified of a previously unknown planet just off of the ship’s trajectory. The revived individual is none other than Buzz Lightyear, who like any good Space Ranger, isn’t about to back down from the challenge of a new discovery. Buzz redirects course to the planet.
- Sox figuring out the crystallic fusion formula all on his own over the course of 62 years, with no known assistance from anyone else.
- The laser shield turns out to be every bit as useful and effective as Burnside claims, able to weather out the Zyclops' attacks for at least a week.
- What are each of Zurg's Zyclops equipped with to take on an entire space colony? A Wave-Motion Gun? A BFG? Even MORE insanely powerful weapons? Nope. All they need are exceptionally durable armor for defense, simple blaster hands for offense, propulsion systems for mobility, and teleport discs to fulfill their primary mission of acquiring the XL-15. With only these tools they lay siege to T'Kani Prime and trouble our heroes with far less manpower (or botpower, anyway) than Mook armies tend to have.
- Future Sox's Heel–Face Turn, using his mouth dart to take down an out-of-line Buzz, just as intended.
- Buzz using his iconic wings for the first time to eject from the XL-15 and defeat Zurg.
- Even more awesome is how this one daring moment represents the climax of Buzz’s Character Development as he deliberately chooses to destroy the fuel cell that represents his only way of leaving T'Kani Prime, the ship that the fuel cell is needed for, and the future self that represents his desperation to finish the mission.
- And every Toy Story or Pixar fan should recognize what he says as he does so:Buzz Lightyear: NOT TODAY, ZURG!
- And Zurg gets only a moment to realize how screwed he is before the fuel explodes in his face.
- Not to sell Zurg short: he survives this.
- Buzz and his team working together to land the Armadillo on T'Kani Prime, with Buzz creatively using his escape wings as engines while Izzy steers the ship to a safe landing.
- Mo finally getting to use his pen to help Darby activate the air brakes.
- It all gets better when you realize that the team’s resourcefulness led to the standardized Space Ranger gear that will become the basis of the Buzz Lightyear toy.
- Buzz used wings primarily intended for ejection from his spaceship combined with the wrist blaster he acquired earlier to defeat Zurg and land a ship twice his size.
- Mo's creative use of his pen results in it becoming part of the suit as well, much to his delight.
- Burnside is proven to be a Reasonable Authority Figure at the end when he lets Buzz off the hook for stealing the XL-15 and assigns him with reviving the Space Ranger Corps. It's actually a completely logical move:
- Zurg's attack has proven how important it is that some form of first-line defense is prepared for outside invasion.
- Buzz did disobey direct orders, but that disobedience also allowed the colony to be saved from Zurg's attack.
- Buzz is also the only living member of the original Space Ranger Corps and thus the most qualified person to handle the new division.
- Finally, Buzz is clearly not resisting arrest, denying wrongdoing, or otherwise obstructing justice, meaning that he's learned from his mistakes and can be trusted.
