How NASA Influenced Disney’s ‘Lightyear’ Movie

Pixar’s newest film Lightyear is officially here!

Hollywood Studios is ready for “Lightyear!”

If you’ve ever wondered what made Andy from Toy Story want a Buzz Lightyear toy, this is that movie. Ahead of its release, the film was already making headlines for being banned in several countries, and we’ve also seen some merchandise start to pop up in the Disney parks! Now, Disney is sharing an inside look at how the movie was made.

Disney recently shared that, in order to make the movie, the director of the movie, Angus MacLane, and the producer, Galyn Susman, as well as the rest of the Lightyear production team were invited by NASA to the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

©Pixar

There at the space center, the production team was able to see what all of the space flight machines look like in real life and the were also able to talk to astronauts to get a sense of what it’s like to be in space. They saw things like the original control center for the Apollo missions, as well as a replica of the International Space Station.

©️Disney

“We tend to be a bit obsessive about research at Pixar. The goal was to take our key creatives and expose them to the people, the environments, and the experiences that would impact the film’s design and language,” Susman said about the experience. The NASA team also learned about moviemaking, and Tom Marshburn, an astronaut who showed the production team around the space center, even brought a picture of the production team with him to the ISS!

©️Disney

The experience at the Houston Space Center helped the Lightyear production team with design elements in the movie.

Lightyear premiered in theaters today, and Disney is celebrating by giving away free Lightyear collectible keys on shopDisney on qualifying purchases, and we’ve even seen a Buzz Lightyear-themed ice cream cone in Disney Springs.

Buzz Lightyear

If you can’t make it to Disney World right now, you can still get in on the Lightyear fun and head to your local McDonald’s for the Buzz Lightyear Happy Meal toys!

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Have you seen Lightyear yet? Let us know your *spoiler-free* thoughts in the comments!