Lightyear: Patricia Heaton says Pixar 'castrated' Buzz by not casting Tim Allen

Patricia Heaton has criticised Pixar for not casting Tim Allen as Buzz in the Toy Story prequel Lightyear.

The Everybody Loves Raymond star took to social media to voice her disappointment at seeing Allen had been replaced by Chris Evans as the voice of the space ranger in the trailer for the origins movie.

Heaton tweeted: "Saw the trailer for Buzz Lightyear and all I can say is Disney/Pixar made a HUGE mistake in not casting my pal Tim Allen in the role that he originated, the role that he owns. Tim IS Buzz! Why would they completely castrate this iconic, beloved character?"

Read more: 'Lightyear': Why did Chris Evans replace Tim Allen as the voice of Buzz?

Lightyear tells the story of the real astronaut Buzz Lightyear - who Allen's action figure in Toy Story is based on.

When fans pointed this out to Heaton she replied: "Okay so the current Buzz Lightyear movie is an origin story – but the reason the character became so beloved is because of what @ofctimallen created. Why remove the one element that makes us want to see it?#stupidHollywooddecisions"

Lightyear director Angus MacLane has tried to explain the distinction between 69-year-old Allen's Buzz and the new action hero voiced by 41-year-old Evans.

He told Entertainment Weekly: "In the Toy Story universe, [Lightyear] would be like a movie that maybe Andy would have seen, that would have made him want a Buzz Lightyear figure."

And MacLane told Vanity Fair: "Tim's version of Buzz is a little goofier and is a little dumber, and so he is the comic relief. In this film, Buzz is the action hero. He's serious and ambitious and funny, but not in a goofy way that would undercut the drama."

He added, "Chris Evans has the gravitas and that movie-star quality that our character needed to separate him and the movie from Tim's version of the toy in Toy Story."

In March 2021, Allen told Parade that he was always keen to return to the role of Buzz Lightyear, but was not expecting to be involved in the origins movie.

He said: "Tom Hanks and I talk about it all the time. They don’t need us in make-up for this. No matter how old we get, we can always do it.

Read more: 'Lightyear' is the film that changed 'Toy Story' Andy's life

"They’re suggesting they’re going to show a movie of a character called Buzz Lightyear that Toy Story’s based on. I’m not sure exactly what they mean by that. So, they’ll be doing a live-action film of some sort.

"The actual four Toy Story movies were only supposed to be two. Three was the magic one. Four, definitely, was a magic one. I found the end of that to be so sad, where ‘To infinity and beyond’ was split between Woody and Buzz.”

Watch: Chris Evans admitted he was intimidated by the role of Buzz Lightyear