Ultra Buzz Lightyear (also called Utility Belt Buzz or New Buzz) is a supporting character in the 1999 Disney/Pixar animated film Toy Story 2. Being a toy, he is essentially like every other known Buzz Lightyear manufactured, as he believes he is a real space ranger, but sporting a new accessory belt. Basically a duplicate of Buzz, he is also voiced by Tim Allen.
Background[]
Development[]
Ultra Buzz was originally going to be known as 'Ultra Buzz 2000', who was a sleek, metallic version of the basic Buzz Lightyear himself, whose wings pop out from the sides of his jetpack (similar to the real-life original figures of the 1990s). After defeating Zurg, he would gift his belt to our Buzz after defeating Zurg. In this version, he had a had a shorter role than in the final film.
For further information, see Ultra Buzz 2000.
Personality[]
Like Andy's own Buzz Lightyear from the beginning of Toy Story, he was incredibly deluded and actually believed that he himself was the real Buzz Lightyear and would not listen when told that he's really a toy modeled off of the character. Because of this, this Buzz believed he could do everything that a real space ranger was able to do such as fly and that his "laser" was a deadly weapon when it was actually just a light bulb. However, he seems to be far more delusional in personality than Andy's Buzz, so much that it embarrasses the latter to the point of questioning his delusion from the first film "Tell me I wasn't THIS deluded!?"
Physical appearance[]
Ultra Buzz Lightyear is completely identical to the original Buzz, minus sporting a removable blue utility belt surrounding his original green belt with a blue button at the front (for his Anti-Gravity Servo) with silver trim representing the Star Command logo and silver accents between it. The belt also has two red handles at both sides that somehow inflate into circular black magnets which he later discarded when he let go off the wall. There is also a folding grapple hook stored at the back.
Role in the film[]
Ultra Buzz Lightyear first appears in Toy Story 2 in two forms. The first form appears during the opening sequence, where he is seeing flying in space to the planet that is the location of Zurg's fortress. He fights and fires his way through Zurg-Bots, escapes booby traps set by Zurg in his control room, and almost fell to his doom when crossing a gravitational-like bridge, right before he uses his Anti-Gravity Servo on his utility belt to get to Zurg's source of power. But when he reaches for it, the battery turned out to be a hologram, right before Zurg dramatically appears. Buzz then does a battle with Zurg, who eventually uses his ion blaster to blast the top half of Buzz's body into smithereens; however, the opening sequence is revealed to be only a video game that Rex has been playing.
Though not a physical appearance, an image of Ultra Buzz (without the belt) is seen on a game manual Rex reads when the toys arrive in the closed toy store: Al's Toy Barn.
Ultra Buzz Lightyear apprehends Buzz.
Later on, when Andy's Buzz Lightyear discovers an aisle full of new Buzz Lightyear action figures in Al's Toy Barn when he and Mr. Potato Head, Rex, Slinky, and Hamm were searching for Woody, he sees "NEW UTILITY BELT!" on a display stand and climbs up to encounter this Buzz Lightyear action figure. When he foolishly attempts to take this Buzz's belt, Ultra Buzz suddenly springs to life, mistaking him for a rogue space ranger, reprimands him for not obeying the rules that space rangers have to been in hyper sleep until they are awaken by authorized personal, and he calls Star Command on his wrist communicator saying that he's got an AWOL space ranger. He, like the original Buzz in the previous film, believes that he is a real space ranger, although he is apparently even more deluded than Andy's Buzz (e.g. when Andy's Buzz has mumbled whether he has been this deluded in an embarrassment of his former behavior). Ultra Buzz, not knowing he is a toy, presses Andy's Buzz against the glass wall telling to not talk back, and says he has a laser and will use it, to which Andy's Buzz says to him "you mean a laser that's a light bulb?" and presses it. The startled Ultra Buzz jumps up and lands on a plastic planet and gets mad at him for turning on his laser, telling him that he could have killed him and calls him a "traitor". Annoyed by Ultra Buzz's behavior, Andy's Buzz leaves the display to continue his search for Woody, ignoring Ultra Buzz's order to halt. Right after Andy's Buzz jumps off the display and marches away, Ultra Buzz tackles him and they begin to scuffle where Andy's Buzz pins him to a Buzz Lightyear cardboard box on the bottom shelf, but Ultra Buzz flips over him, grabs him, drags and pushes Andy's Buzz into a pin art creating a print of his body. Ultra Buzz then takes Andy's Buzz as his prisoner and utilizes an empty Buzz Lightyear cardboard box as a prison cell. He ties and stuffs Andy's Buzz into the cardboard box as Andy's Buzz tries to convince Ultra Buzz that he not a real space ranger and he is a toy, but he takes no attention and tells him that the cardboard box shall hold him until the court marshal. Ultra Buzz isolates Andy's Buzz by placing him on the shelf with the newer Buzz Lightyear toys. Although he has put up Andy's Buzz on display, Ultra Buzz has not placed him on the shelf properly, making him escape easily.
When Tour Guide Barbie drives the toys into the Buzz Lightyear aisle, Hamm calls to Ultra Buzz, thinking he is Andy's Buzz. Ultra Buzz turns on his laser as Tour Guide Barbie stops the car. He is at first suspicious of Andy's toys, but when Rex excitedly claims that he knows how to defeat the Evil Emperor Zurg (having read the video game manual), Ultra Buzz considers Rex as his ally and joins the toys on their quest, thinking that they are on a mission to infiltrate Zurg's fortress and defeat the evil Emperor himself. Hamm asks Ultra Buzz where he got the belt, but he replies that it's standard issue. The toys leave the aisle unknowingly leaving the real Buzz tied up in a box on the shelf, struggling to get out. At the office of the owner of Al's Toy Barn (Al McWhiggin, the same man who has stolen Woody), Ultra Buzz believes him as a possible agent of Zurg. He tells the toys to get into Al's bag, thinking it might lead him to Zurg. After the toys arrive outside the building that houses Al's Penthouse, Ultra Buzz finds the air vent and navigates the toys through the vent and up the elevator shaft with his climbing magnets and grappling hook on his new utility belt, despite Mr. Potato Head growing more suspicious of his cocky attitude ("I'm Buzz Lightyear. I'm always sure!"). During the climb, Rex accidentally pushes the toys to the bottom of the line due to his small arms' inability to grip the grapple rope for much longer and causes Ultra Buzz's strength to give out, prompting him to activate his anti-gravity servos (unaware that he is just a toy). Despite protests from the toys, Ultra Buzz lets go of the wall, and the toys land on the rising elevator that takes them up to level 23. He thought that his anti-gravity servos are really working, not realizing he's riding on the elevator.
Ultra Buzz and Buzz arguing over who the real Buzz is.
Ultra Buzz acts literally when he tells Rex to "use your head," as the toys then use him as a battering ram to break into Al's penthouse. In the ensuing melee that follows, Ultra Buzz and the toys grab Woody and head back for the vent, but Andy's Buzz stops them. He and Ultra Buzz have a brief argument over who is the real Buzz (despite the fact that the two are both the same), and Ultra Buzz tries to tell Woody and the toys that Andy's Buzz was an imposter who was trained by Zurg to imitate his actions after Woody asks which one is the real Buzz. Andy's Buzz opens Ultra Buzz's helmet (causing the other Buzz to suffocate under "toxic" air) and proves that he is the Buzz the other toys recognize by flashing Andy's name written on the bottom of his foot; though before this, the toys were willing to accept him when they were already suspicious and didn't buy Ultra Buzz's behavior. Ultra Buzz is confused at what he is witnessing after regaining his composure, but is stunned to learn from Andy's Buzz about "Code 546," then walks over to Woody and kneels in front of him, addressing Woody as "Your Majesty."
When the toys head back to the elevator after Al packs Woody and the Roundup gang into his case and leaves the room, they encounter a Zurg action figure (unknowingly let loose by Andy's Buzz when leaving Al's Toy Barn), whom Ultra Buzz battles. During this fight, Zurg claims that he is Buzz's father. After Rex accidentally knocks Zurg down the elevator shaft with his tail, Ultra Buzz forlornly thinks he has lost his father. While the toys chase after Al while leaving the elevator, Ultra Buzz offscreen, seems to somehow quickly go to the elevator vents to presumably find Zurg where he fell. After the toys leave the apartment, Andy's Buzz runs into Ultra Buzz one last time when the other Buzz is last seen playing ball with Zurg to form a real father-son bond. He describes Zurg as a "great dad," as Andy's Buzz bids him farewell with a Vulcan salute. It’s unknown what became of him afterwards.
Toy Story 3[]
Although Ultra Buzz does not appear in Toy Story 3, the instruction manual of Buzz Lightyear seen at Sunnyside Daycare mentions the former, stating the utility belt being an upcoming accessory for the figure.
Utility Belt features[]
- Anti-Gravity Servo - when the button in the center of the belt is pressed, it will light up and make noises, mirroring how it was used in Buzz Lightyear: Attack on Zurg (in the game, it lights up and creates a floating bubble around Buzz).
- Climbing Magnets - on each side of the belt, protruding handles can be pulled out and magnets will inflate out of each. These magnets can be used to scale metal surfaces.
- Grappling Hook - In addition, a folding grappling hook with a zip rope is stored in the back compartment of the belt which can also be held by another person.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- When Ultra Buzz fights with Zurg, the latter claims he is the former's father, a word-to-word parody of when Darth Vader reveals that he is Luke Skywalker's father in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
- It's very possible Ultra Buzz's Utility Belt was inspired by Batman's utility belt of the same name, hence the gadgets, the name and that the latter's has a grappling hook.
- Unknown to many, Ultra Buzz was planned ever since the sequel started production back in 1996, which was of course one year after the original film was released.
- Originally after the sequel's troubled development, the toymakers didn't have enough time to actually adjust their toys to account for the script change, so they started off releasing his concept art-based designs mentioned above, and it wasn't until 2001 when Hasbro released the first figure of Ultra Buzz's final design in the film in the Toy Story and Beyond! toy line.
- He first appeared in Buzz Lightyear: Attack on Zurg in the opening sequence of the movie, before we see the toy version of him later on.
- The scene of Andy's Buzz Lightyear climbing up the display wall to encounter Ultra Buzz Lightyear standing tall is a direct resemblance to the scene of Woody climbing up Andy's bed to encounter the original Buzz standing tall in the first film.
- The part where Ultra Buzz tackles Woody and yells "Watch Yourself!" in Al's apartment mirrors the part when the original Buzz tackles Woody and yells "Watch Yourself!" in Andy's room in the previous film.
- The part where Andy's Buzz opens Ultra Buzz's helmet to make him gasp for air mirrors the part when Woody opens Andy's Buzz's helmet in the previous film. And like the first movie, Woody looks down at a suffocated Buzz embarrassed, but this time the other toys looked the same way as he did.
- Ultra Buzz, realizing that his boosters on his jet pack are not working after he and Andy's other toys tried to escape Al's car, is very similar to the original Buzz realizing that his laser is not working after aiming it at the Mutant Toys from the previous film.
- Like Andy's Buzz from the first film, Ultra Buzz believes himself to be a real space ranger, albeit worse this time.
- There is also a Toy Story Collection version of Ultra Buzz.
- In Toy Story 2: The Video Game, Ultra Buzz is a boss at Al's Space Land riding a moon buggy. Strangely, however, he doesn't wear the utility belt.
- It‘s unknown if Ultra Buzz ever finally knew he was a toy.
- It’s highly questionable as to how his inflating magnets actually work, but according to the concept art, the magnets located at the sides of the belt are held by metal strips inside, and the magnets pop into circles when they are pulled out, even though this is still physically impossible.[1]
- Code 6404.5, as Ultra Buzz mentions, is actually the California "No-Smoking" Code.
- In the novelization of Toy Story 2, Ultra Buzz is not shown playing catch with Zurg, but instead a prototype version of the film scene was used where he carries his lifeless body back to Al's Toy Barn to rest. The scene was reminiscent of part of the ending to Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, where Luke has to drag Vader over to his shuttle due to the latter being mortally wounded trying to save him from Palpatine. It was changed to avoid being too tragic.
- Like in the video game, Ultra Buzz Lightyear jumps over Zurg while out dodging the blasting of Zurg's fake Ion Blaster, but unlike the video game, Buzz shot Zurg first with his fake laser, even though it only hurt Zurg's eyes instead before they continue battling.
- When this Buzz was in toy-mode, his serious facial expression was identical to the original toy mode facial expression seen on Andy’s Buzz in the original film which the latter discarded to a happier one in the sequel.
- Before he and the toys invade Al's room, there is a brief scene where Ultra Buzz is incorrectly missing his utility belt, turning him into regular Buzz Lightyear.
- When Ultra Buzz begins to deploy his climbing magnets via grabbing the handels at the sides of his Utility Belt, his fingers sink into the sides, meaning it wouldn't be possible for him to pull them out since the handlebars are sunk inside.
- Although the original Techno Gear Buzz toy release of him by Mattel includes a working grappling hook in the utility belt that can be removed (although no magnets, likely due to limitations), the final version's Toy Story Collection release lacks any of the gimmicks (save for the blue light up button) and the belt is not removable from the latter's waist.
Variants[]
- Buzz Lightyear
- Ultra Buzz 2000
- Buzz Lightyear (Star Command)
- Buzz Lightyear (Lightyear)
- Malfunctioning Buzz Lightyear Army
