Tim Allen Revisiting Buzz Lightyear’s Most Memorable Lines Is the Dose of Nostalgia ‘Toy Story 5’ Fans Needed

With ‘Toy Story 5’ days away from hitting theaters, Tim Allen is in full celebration mode, and watching him revisit Buzz Lightyear’s most beloved lines thirty years on is exactly the kind of content the internet was built for. The clip features Allen delivering one of Buzz’s most iconic moments, including the unforgettable “This isn’t flying, this is falling with style,” and the reaction from fans has been immediate and warm.

Allen first voiced Buzz Lightyear in the original ‘Toy Story’ back in 1995, alongside Tom Hanks as Woody, and neither man could have anticipated they would still be returning to those roles more than three decades later. Allen was 42 at the time of the first film, meaning he will be 73 by the time ‘Toy Story 5’ opens on June 19.

The 72-year-old recently appeared on SiriusXM alongside co-stars Tom Hanks, Greta Lee, and Conan O’Brien to promote the new film, and revealed that voicing Buzz has had some genuinely unexpected consequences in everyday life. Allen explained that his voice is now so closely associated with the Space Ranger that he avoids speaking in public at sporting events, with his wife Jane Hajduk reportedly reminding him to whisper if he wants anything so as not to attract a crowd of fans.

That level of recognition has not come without its own creative challenges. Allen has spoken about how those around him pointed out that Buzz was beginning to sound a little older, prompting him to work on recapturing the character’s signature younger energy for the new film. He has also reflected on the creative freedom Pixar gave him from the beginning, noting that the character evolved significantly because they allowed him to bring his own instincts to the role rather than following what the original conception had in mind.

As for what fans can expect from ‘Toy Story 5’ itself, Allen has teased that Buzz anchors what he calls an “unbelievable” opening sequence, before the story pivots to focus significantly on Jessie, voiced by Joan Cusack, who first joined the franchise in ‘Toy Story 2’. Allen has also confirmed that Woody and Buzz “realign” in the new installment, a reunion that has fans especially emotional given how ‘Toy Story 4’ ended with the pair going their separate ways.

Allen has also teased what he personally considers the funniest moment in the film, describing a sequence involving a crashed plane carrying a hundred Buzz Lightyear toys, all trying to find their way back, which he compared to the Tom Hanks survival film in tone and described as “hysterical.”

Allen captured the mood of the press tour well in a recent post on X, sharing an old photo from the original 1995 production alongside a current one and noting that he and Hanks look like “our own children” in the throwback image. For a franchise built on the bittersweet feeling of growing up, there is something deeply fitting about that.

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