One of Hollywood’s biggest stars Tom Hanks has now weighed in on the most recent controversy from Disney after they recast Tim Allen as the voice of Buzz Lightyear.
Hanks, who played Buzz Lightyear’s best friend Woody in the Toy Story series, was speaking with CinemaBlend when the issue of the recasting came up.
“How about that? Actually, I wanted to go head-to-head with Tim Allen, and then they didn’t let Tim Allen do it,” he told the film journal. “I don’t understand that.”
The interviewer then pushed the multiple Academy Award winning actor even further, pressing him on the studio’s decision to recast Tim Allen, an open conservative in Hollywood, with Captain America actor Chris Evans.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know,” Hanks said, seeming annoyed by the Studio’s decision.
“Here’s the thing — just as long as people come back to the motion picture theater. I want to go back in the theater with a bunch of strangers and leave with something in common. That’s what I want to do and, going to see a movie with him [Allen] — I’m looking forward to that,” he continued, expressing his admiration for his fellow actor and his draw on the big screen.
Tom Hanks’s 2nd statement could also be seen as a slight towards Disney following the catastrophically unsuccessful release of the new Lightyear film. The film, which was made almost 30 years after the original and pitched as a prequel, was described as a “flop” by the New York Post after earning barely $100 million in its first 3 weeks despite having a budget of over $200 million.
Tim Allen had previously scorned Disney as well, telling his own interview about the Lightyear film, “So I’m not sure what the idea [is]… I’m a plot guy. If this was done in 1997, 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.”
Disney has made a lot of decisions recently to appease the woke young adults crowd. Lightyear seems to be another one of those films. Do you think the media giant can survive if they keep making choices like this one?
