The Astro Blaster Robots are a group of antagonists in the Buzz Lightyear attractions at the Disney Parks. They are a group of robots who are affiliated with Emperor Zurg in his plans to take over the galaxy.
Background[]
These robots are a group of enemies affiliated with the Evil Emperor Zurg in his notorious plans to take over the galaxy. During this event, it leads Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and the Green Squadron to fight back and save the galaxy under attack by Zurg. Several of the robots who were affiliated with Zurg consist of Batterybots, Dogbots, Cyclopsbots, Boxobots, and even Gigantobot respectively, showing that they are affiliated with Zurg. They are shown to obey their master's orders and are shown to attack guests who attempt to stop Zurg from taking over the Galaxy.
Due to the success of the attraction at Magic Kingdom, the Buzz Lightyear attractions were later constructed at Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland (as "Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters"), Disneyland Paris (as "Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast"), and Shanghai Disneyland (as "Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue") respectively, still featuring the enemy robots in it.
Appearances[]
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin[]
In every Buzz Lightyear-themed ride at the Disney Parks, the robots serve as common enemies in the Buzz Lightyear attractions which guests must shoot the targets (the ones marked with a Z symbol) to earn points while dealing with Zurg throughout the battle at the galaxy. In addition to normal targets which the player can shoot for points, some of the flashing targets that appear during the attraction also appear on the robots to which when shot, players earn extra points for shooting the red flashing targets. In addition to this, the targets not only appear on robots, but also appear on other objects such as Zurg himself, batteries, aliens not part of the Green Squadron, and other objects as well. At the end of each version of the attraction, it is shown that Zurg was defeated during battle against Buzz, causing the robots affiliated with Zurg to surrender to Buzz and the Green Squadron as it is shown that they have celebrated their victory against Zurg.
Video games[]
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters Online[]
The robots from Astro Blasters serve as enemies in the discontinued online game inspired by the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters attraction at Disneyland. They were the enemies that players had to shoot to earn points on their way to fight against Zurg. In addition to having Dogbots, Cyclopsbots, and Batterybots, as enemies, Gigantobot also served as a mini-boss in Online Mode where the player must dodge its attack and then shoot the targets marked by the arrows to counter its attack in order to defeat it. Upon defeating Gigantobot, players then proceeded to fight against Zurg and upon defeating Zurg, the number of points earned during gameplay depended on not just how many targets were shot but also applied to how many Green Squadron members were rescued as well as how many batteries were collected.
Kinect: Disneyland Adventures[]
The robots from Astro Blasters serve as common enemies in the "Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters" segment of the game. They serve as enemies that the player must shoot with their blaster while helping Buzz explore the galaxy to find Zurg and stop him from taking over the galaxy.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Several of the robots seen in the Buzz Lightyear attraction were created exclusively for the Buzz Lightyear attractions at the Disney Parks as they do not appear in the original Toy Story films nor in spin-off series focused on Buzz such as Buzz Lightyear of Star Command or in Lightyear.
- The Boxobot is one of the most recognizable characters from most versions of the Buzz Lightyear attractions aside from Buzz and Zurg, as it was occasionally shown in merchandise inspired by the attraction, despite its minor role.
- When the first Buzz Lightyear opened at Magic Kingdom during its Mattel sponsorship, the Boxobot was originally labeled as a "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robot" from opening day until 1999 where it was decided to rename the robot to a more generic name after Mattel's sponsorship ended.
- Coincidentally, Toy Story 2 would later featured two Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots unrelated to the one from the Disney Parks where they are based on their original incarnations.
- In the Disneyland Paris version of the attraction in the very first room of the ride, 9-Eye from the former attraction Le Visionarium (which closed in 2004), can be seen behind Boxobot in the first scene as a tribute to the attraction.
See also[]