Even before it came to theaters on June 17, Disney and Pixar’s newest film Lightyear generated a ton of controversy. For one thing, fans were not thrilled that Disney decided to cast Marvel star Chris Evans as the voice of Buzz Lightyear, instead of using Tim Allen, who voiced the original character throughout the Toy Story franchise. Second, a lot of viewers took issue with the fact that there was not only a lesbian couple, but that they share a brief kiss. That scene alone caused the film to be banned in a number of countries, including Saudi Arabia.
Not long after Lightyear was released, it was bombed with a number of negative reviews. However, director Angus MacLane is defending the new Pixar film and clarifying what he thinks caused the massive amount of negative reviews — internet trolls. Twitter user @sherelleigh said that they loved Lightyear and could not understand why it had such low ratings, and MacLane responded:
A lot of times people may look at reviews before deciding to see a movie, but MacLane provided a great reason as to why everyone should see Lightyear and not look at reviews. According to MacLane, a majority of the negative reviews came from people who didn’t actually see the movie. MacLane tweeted:
Before the film’s release, Disney clarified that the film was based on the real-life Space Ranger who inspired the toy Buzz Lightyear, which is why the Chris Evans casting choice was made. Disney also decided to put the same-sex kiss back into the film after originally leaving it on the cutting room floor. That decision was made not long after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the controversial Parental Rights In Education bill into law.
Check here for our review of the film:
