The Real Reason Buzz Lightyear Freezes Around Humans, According to a Toy Story Theory
Toy Story depicts a world where toys come to life when humans aren't looking, but certain toys, like Buzz Lightyear, are unaware that they are, well, toys.
This has led to a slew of inquiries and speculations about why Buzz still froze among people, with one hypothesis suggesting it was part of his space ranger training.
It introduced audiences to characters who would go on to become pop cultural icons, such as Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen).
According to the hypothesis, part of Buzz's training as a space ranger was "appearing like the locals in order to stay safe" and unnoticed, therefore Buzz froze among humans since the rest of the toys did, almost as an involuntary protection mechanism.
Despite certain narrative gaps that work against the hypothesis, it may make more sense once Lightyear is released, as it will relate the story of the real-life in-universe space ranger who inspired the iconic toy.
Lightyear could then display a bit of Buzz's training as a space ranger, including something along the lines of "acting like the locals," which could have been incorporated into the toy's background and programming, explaining why Buzz is acting so strange.
The most compelling argument against Buzz's space ranger training being the reason he froze around humans is that Buzz Lightyear toys might have simply been programmed to do so, whether or not they were aware of their status as toys.
Perhaps Lightyear will be able to address this long-debated subject about Buzz's actions and emotions in the first half of Toy Story, but it is also possible that it will remain a mystery that can be solved in a variety of ways, the most convincing of which being Buzz's programming.
Buzz Lightyear, who inspired the action figure of the same name, has a solid origin narrative in Lightyear