Tim Allen’s Hilarious TOY STORY Oops: ‘Why Did That Man Swallow Buzz Lightyear!?’

Published: June 3, 2026

By Michaela Gordoni

Tim Allen, known for the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the TOY STORY movies, recently told a hilarious story about when he used his “Buzz” voice outside of the studio.

“If there’s a certain group that hears me in a restaurant, it’s kids [who] recognize that voice,” Allen explained in a recent podcast interview. “And my favorite story: I was in an elevator and…this kid was being lousy to his mother, so I said, ‘You gotta watch it, kid. You gotta learn.’ That kid froze and looked at me, but I thought he was going to have some sort of seizure because he’s screaming, ‘Why did that man swallow Buzz Lightyear!?”

He said the child was absolutely terrified.

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When Allen did voice work for TOY STORY 5, some of the Pixar crew thought his voice sounded different.

“We did the first session and everybody said, in a nice way, ‘Buzz is starting to sound a little old!’ Because I panicked after that, I couldn’t get my voice to register, and it was gravely,” Allen recalled.

However, the staff helped him get good ole’ Buzz’s voice back.

“Luckily, we got an opera and stage coach from New York City. She got with me she said, ‘Your voice doesn’t get old, but at your age you gotta warm up….’ I never warmed up,” he admitted. “It was weird because I said, ‘You’re going to get somebody else to do this aren’t you?’”

“They said no, and the voice came back. It was a real challenge, and because of that I took care of my voice,” Allen said.

TOY STORY 5 is all about toys vs. tech. The synopsis reads, “The toys are back in Disney and Pixar’s TOY STORY 5, and this time it’s Toy meets Tech. Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang’s jobs are challenged when they’re introduced to what kids are obsessed with today….electronics!”

Tom Hanks, who voices cowboy Woody, said there’s a “moment in the movie where we look out on the cityscape and we see that blue glow of a phone in bedrooms and whatnot, and it does strike terror into the heart.”

“It’s very timely. It’s important,” Greta Lee, who voices Lilypad, added of the movie’s message.

The movie is co-directed by Andrew Stanton and Kenna Harris and is produced by Lindsey Collins. Joan Cusack will return as cowgirl Jessie. It comes out on Friday, June 19.

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