Toy Story, the famous animated feature film arrived in theaters in 1995, has been able to retain a huge community of fans, also thanks to the excellent work done with regard to the characterization of the characters, on all the protagonists Woody and Buzz who, precisely in the first film, had the opportunity to discuss the most disparate issues by placing at the center of the whole key theme of the saga: that of friendship.
Although with the following chapters the extraordinary emotional relationship between the two protagonists has become a consolidated aspect of the entire franchise, in the first film the characters did not immediately get along, a detail that brought the same Woody to show the major flaws of his character, arriving at a certain point to feel a strong envy towards the new toy of his owner Andy.
Although the film is studded with numerous cult moments, in this special we will try to focus on the scene of Buzz Lightyear’s arrival, able in a very short time to compare the two main characters in a simple and effective way.
An unexpected arrival
In the world of Toy Story, toys can come to life, a detail that leads them to perform the most disparate actions when they are not seen by humans, always having the fate of their owner at heart.
Woody, the toy protagonist, is the guide of the community to which it belongs, capable of handling the most complicated situations, including Andy’s birthday party, which the various toys live with apprehension for fear of being somehow replaced by some possible new entries.
However, everything seems to be going the right way, were it not that Buzz Lightyear is among the gifts the child receives, a highly technological puppet with which Woody himself finds himself confronted from the very first minutes of the work.
The Space Ranger is presented to us in a masterly way, through a shot capable of passing from Woody’s astonished face to the full-screen image of the new toy.
The sumptuous sound theme that accompanies the scene (in which we see the shot rising from Buzz’s feet to his face) gives his figure a real sense of grandeur, from which Woody himself is overwhelmed, as evidenced by the astonished expression present in her face.
When Buzz starts looking around, the Cowboy withdraws to avoid being seen, to encourage the fact that the astronaut is an alien element within the community, capable of arousing even a bit of fear in his observers.
The Space Ranger, however, unlike the others, he doesn’t seem to realize he’s a toy, a detail that pushes him to behave as if he had crashed on an alien planet, cloaking the figure of the puppet with a strong ironic charge.
In the first minutes of the work, the viewer experiences the profound distinction that exists between the community led by Woody (aware of its toy status) and Buzz Lightyear, uno Space Ranger intending to carry out his interstellar mission (capable of referring to the same mythology of Star Wars thanks to the quotes to the evil Emperor Zurg) without having the slightest idea that everything is just a figment of his imagination.
The same time as Woody decides to make the acquaintance of the new toy is hilarious, focusing precisely on the contrast between Buzz, in his way very sure of himself but in reality also very naive, and the cowboy, who immediately tries to set the record straight about his status as leader of the community.
Buzz’s movements, marked by studying what he considers a real threat, contrast with the much more relaxed ones of his interlocutor, at least until the astronaut notices Woody’s sheriff’s star, a particular capable in some way of calm him down.
Fall in style
However, some members of the Woody community, including the iconic Rex, Mr. Potato and Slinky, do not hesitate to sympathize with the newcomer, putting highlight the many qualities of the Space Ranger, which actually looks much more interesting than the cowboy.
Replicating in this way the attitude of small children to immediately become attached to the news (leaving everything else to lose), toys begin to feel an ever greater admiration for the new, technological, arrived, which does not hesitate to show all its potential by venturing into a sort of pseudo flight actually the result of immense fortune.
The sequence in which we see Buzz jumping into the void to prove to Woody that he is able to fly represents the beginning of the conflictual relationship that will involve both of them for a good part of the film.
Although Buzz’s inability to fly is evident, the whole toy community seems not to notice it, ignoring a whole series of details noticed only by Woody, who will soon lose his status as a leader, coming in fact isolated and marginalized.
The arrival of Buzz Lightyear represents for Woody the confrontation with the unknown, the inability to immediately open up to changes while trying, in some way, to hinder them, so as to keep the status quo unchanged.
Although the sheriff’s friends are inclined to turn their backs on him quickly enough in times of need, the cowboy from the beginning is attached to his status as leader, proving in some points even quite mean, although capable of having a clear picture of the general situation. without falling victim to the fashions of the moment.
Woody is thus a very multifaceted character, which embodies numerous positive as well as some negative character aspects, in some ways complementary to Buzz, a kind-hearted but exaggeratedly full of self toy.
The first few minutes of the work are therefore fundamental to fully understand the psychology of the characters, able to mature over the course of the film, but who lay the foundations of their distinctive character traits right at the moment of their first meeting.
The confrontation with the unknown, for Woody, will thus become an unsustainable problem at times, as evidenced by the song What strange things, in which the arrival of the Space Ranger in the life of the cowboy overturns practically every certainty.
The sheriff sees his entire world dissolve before his eyes, with Andy modifying his home with posters and numerous Buzz Lightyear themed gadgets, not to mention all the toys in the community, with which Woody no longer seems capable of interacting in any way.
Yet, the very bitter comparison between the two toys will lead them, after various vicissitudes, to understand the real value of friendship, which will be able to overcome all the mistakes made in order to consolidate the relationship of mutual respect between Woody and Buzz, the core of the entire saga.
