To infinity and beyond: Tim Allen teases details behind ‘Toy Story 5'

Originally appeared on E! Online

Tim Allen is paging Star Command one more time.

Nearly three decades after first bringing Buzz Lightyear to life in 1995’s "Toy Story," the actor offered details about his first voice session for the upcoming "Toy Story 5," set to hit theatres in June 2026.

“It’s really, really weird to get back in it,” the 71-year-old admitted to Collider in an interview published Dec. 27. “It was really a struggle to get, and then maybe two hours in, I was doing Buzz.”

"The Santa Clause" actor — who starred opposite Tom Hanks’ Sheriff Woody in all four previous "Toy Story" movies — teased that the latest installment in the beloved animated franchise is “very, very clever,” stressing that the filmmakers at Disney and Pixar aren’t just chasing box office glory.

“I don’t really believe it’s about the money,” he insisted. “I’m sure they want it to be a success, but that’s not why they did it. Had they not come up with a brilliant script, they wouldn’t have done it and they wouldn’t have called me and Tom.”

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Allen added, “I’m so blessed to be Buzz Lightyear, to be honest.”

While the sitcom star is happy to be back in the voiceover booth, he previously spoke out about being replaced by Chris Evans in the 2022 spinoff movie "Lightyear," which told the tale of the fictional astronaut who inspired the action figure in the "Toy Story" universe.

“The brass that did the first four movies is not this,” Allen told "Extra" at the time. “It's a whole new team that really had nothing to do with the first movies.”

Emphasizing that there’s “no Toy Story Buzz without Woody,” the "Home Improvement" alum questioned the spinoff’s link to the Oscar-winning film series.

“I'm a plot guy,” he went on. “It would seem to be a big adventure story, and as I see, it's not a big adventure story. It's a wonderful story, it just doesn't seem to have any connection to the toy. It has no relationship to Buzz.”

As for Evans, he had nothing but respect for the original Space Ranger.

“It's a tough legacy to try and touch what Tim Allen did,” the "Captain America" star told E! News, “so you have to honor that and use it as a blueprint, but still try and find a way to add your own interpretation.”