In Pixar’s next big-screen offering, Lightyear, Chris Evans takes over the voice of renowned space ranger Buzz Lightyear, whom Tim Allen invented in the animation blockbuster Toy Story.

If you’ve watched the movie or read the reviews, you’ll know that Buzz has a scene-stealing robot sidekick and a therapy cat named Sox. And it looked like Evans could relate to this, since the Hollywood actor confessed that he had his own emotional support partner, or Sox, in real life.

The film portrays the genesis story of Buzz Lightyear as a “real and human” figure, a hero, rather than the space ranger toy of the same name seen in previous Toy Story films. According to the makers, this is Andy, the youngster from Toy Storyfavorite ,’s movie that inspired him to acquire a Buzz Lightyear toy.

During a space adventure in Lightyear, Buzz forces his team to get stuck on a hazardous planet. He attempts to make amends by willingly testing several hyper-speed fuel compositions in the hopes of discovering the one that can return them to Earth.

Each test flight, however, produces time dilation. What is intended to be a four-minute test turns out to be four years for his crew mates on the alien planet, including his closest colleague, Commander Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba).

Sox (Peter Sohn) arrives as a present to help Buzz acclimate after each aborted voyage. Sox (Sohn, a Disney-Pixar animator-director as well as voice talent in films such as Ratatouille and Monsters University, described Sox as a cat who is “very devoted like a dog.”) Later on, the robot cat joins Buzz on his heroic quests, including defeating the enemy Zurg (James Brolin).

“I love the dynamic. I really do. I mean, Peter did amazing work. But I like the idea of someone like Buzz who’s this very autonomous, austere kind of guy, but he’s given an emotional support cat to acclimate — not just from coming back after four years, but just to address problems that he may otherwise overlook,” He said.

“I think that’s a nice metaphor for whether it’s therapy or just the fact that we all need those emotional support moments, we all need to talk about our problems and vent to something, some way. And I just like that relationship, that kind of juxtaposition of someone like Buzz who’s so independent but needing someone like Sox the same way we all do.”

As previously said, Evans already has a SOX in his life, and his name is Dodger. Fans would be aware because the actor’s pet dog is a frequent presence on his Instagram, maybe having more photographs than the fur parent.

“I have a real-life Sox the cat robot, his name’s Dodger. And he is sick of hearing my problems, I can assure you that.” Evans said.

Meanwhile, Lightyear director-writer Angus MacLane revealed in a separate roundtable interview that Evans was “truly the pick” to voice Buzz. They were searching for someone who could do both drama and comedy, who was amusing but not silly, and he met the description.

MacLane said, “It was like an ‘80s action movie — like who would be starring in it that has the kind of gravitas to be a serious action hero, but also have action-comedy chops to it? That really felt like something Chris had done before, but could provide something that was reminiscent of (Toy Story’s Buzz) but not a duplicate. We’re not looking for a repeat event,”.

“You need somebody who can express pathos and have genuine concern for their own safety and experiencing conflict and guilt. And you make this huge laundry list, and they’re like, well, Chris, do we have anybody else we could ask? No, Chris. Let’s ask Chris.” Galyn Susman, a producer, also stated

What aroused Evans’ interest in providing his voice to Buzz was, “getting to explore a character that we all know so well in a slightly more nuanced interpretation, you know what I mean?”

“The Buzz that we all know is obviously a toy and as a toy, there are certain ways that they can move through the world without the weight that we may carry. A toy knows its purpose, a toy doesn’t have to worry about disease or, you know… impacts of the choices that we make as people are a little bit more consequential and it’s fun to put Buzz against that backdrop.” He continued.

Having played two characters recognized for classic catchphrases, Captain America and Buzz Lightyear, Evans was asked which of the two lines he preferred to utter today, “Avengers unite” or “To infinity and beyond.”

“Oh, man. That’s impossible ‘cause obviously ‘To infinity and beyond’ is something I knew well before ‘Avengers assemble.’ It was dear to me in much earlier chapters of my life,” Evan said.

“But as proud as I am to play this role and as honored as I am to be a part of this universe now, that line belongs to someone else. It almost kinda felt like I was wearing someone else’s clothes or something, you know? So you do your best to honor it and put your own spin on it. But let’s be honest, that’s Tim Allen’s line. So personally, at least ‘Avengers assemble,’ I was the first one in the pool for that one.”

Evans, a major Disney fan, acknowledged that if given the chance, he would like to play another role.

He said, “I don’t think I could pull it off, but I was always a really big fan of Robin Hood, the old animated Disney movie Robin Hood,” 

“And I just thought Robin Hood was so cool, you know? I think of all the animated characters in the Disney library, Robin Hood stands alone. I think he’s just smooth and charming and capable. I don’t have that cool British accent, but I’d love to give it a crack.”