I’m gonna be honest here, and say that I still really have very little motivation to post on this blog. Maintaining any sort of public presence (even a modest one, I have no delusions of fame) has become too much of a battleground, and I continue to be completely burned out from it all. That being said, I also mentioned in my last blog post that I would be around whenever I found any Lightyear news that I especially wanted to write about. So, since I’m excited to have found the cover art for several of the different Lightyear books online, I thought I’d pop on here and post them.
If you’d like to see the original links and descriptions to these publications, you can look up my post from this past October when they were first listed. No more detail has been added to their summaries that I noticed, so there’s really no point in me copying and pasting that information all over again. But here are the images, in order of the books’ reading level…
This one was initially listed as a tabbed board book for younger readers. It gives us a fantastic look at Buzz’s teammates – and Zurg! Yeah, Zurg was shown in the most recent trailer (that I didn’t post about, sue me, I was just enjoying it with my friends), but this is a clearer image of his face than we’ve seen before in the shadows.
According to the cast list posted on Behind the Voice Actors, the other characters shown here are (in order clockwise, after Buzz):
- Alicia Hawthorne, voiced by Uzo Aduba
- Izzy Hawthorne, voiced by Keke Palmer
- Sox the cat, voiced by Peter Sohn
- Morrison, voiced by Taika Waititi
- Steel, voiced by Dale Soules
Of course, that leaves what looks like a Zurg bot, and Zurg himself, who has yet to be matched to a voice (although I have my suspicions).
Another image of Buzz, Sox, and his ship. This one was originally listed as a “Pictureback.” In the background you see what is most likely the “crystallic fusion” mentioned in the first Toy Story movie, which – based on how many covers it’s on here – will probably play a significant role in the film.
And more of these two being adorable. This one was first referred to as the Lightyear picture book.
There’s tons of detail on this cover: Buzz, Sox, Izzy, Morrison, Steel… and Zurg! Along with ships and bots and a fiery setting, that I’m not even going to take a chance on publicly analyzing.
On the “Step Into Reading: Step 2” book cover, we see Buzz, Izzy, and Sox, and what looks like the vines/tentacles they’re all fighting in the trailer. And really cool glowy knife things. (I’m not much of a sci-fi fan, so go ahead and judge me if I don’t describe things “right” or notice the “right” things. I won’t call these lightsabers, either, because I don’t look at everything as a Star Wars reference.)
Here’s the “Step Into Reading: Step 3” cover, with Morrison and Steel added to the team.
I think this one is my favorite, because I just love Buzz with his kitty. Obviously, it’s the junior novel, which will be the most detailed retelling of the plot.
The deluxe version of the junior novel is often what fans want most, but this is probably the least exciting as a cover, since it’s just the poster we’ve seen before (which is already hanging on my living room wall).
This book featuring Izzy Hawthorne was originally listed as the middle grade novel. It will tell the story from her perspective, which will be a little more unique – and at the highest reading level, definitely worth reading to supplement the movie. I also love the cover design, and its Star Command frame for the illustration.
These books will all be released on either April 26 or May 3, depending on the title (with one exception being the projector book, listed as releasing on August 2; all dates are from Amazon). There are also other upcoming titles that haven’t been updated with cover art yet. I haven’t decided if I’m going to read any of them ahead of time, like I did with Toy Story 4, or if I’ll wait to be surprised. Goodness knows enough hate was dumped on me before for reading the Toy Story 4 ones, even though I explained back then that it’s sometimes better for my anxiety to go into a movie prepared, so I can enjoy it without any surprises. But judgy fandom gatekeepers don’t like to listen to reason. Anyway, I digress.
There is one other little tidbit I’ve found online, related to this image that was released at the same time as the trailer last week:
There are toys online listed as “Disney Pixar Lightyear Jr. Zap Patrol” for both Izzy Hawthorne and Mo Morrison. And you can clearly see on Morrison’s suit (in the back) that his shoulder says “ZAP” on it. There are no images of the figures yet, and no listings that I’ve seen for any of the other characters. But with New York Toy Fair cancelled for this year, we’re really missing out on our big release of toy news for the coming season.
Lastly, I’ll post the newest trailer here, just in case anyone wants a refresh, and so it’s in a handy place for my own reference:
And the latest poster, because why not (and Buzz’s smolder, as my friend put it):
Just to close with an update on my social media status… my Instagram is still private, and will be staying that way for the foreseeable future. And while my Facebook page is currently still active, I really don’t feel like dealing with trolling on there, either, so I don’t know how much I’ll be using it. I’m just trying to stay in my own little bubble, with my husband and my friends, and enjoy Lightyear in a way I wasn’t free to before, with all the drama surrounding Toy Story 4. I’m researching this movie as much as I did Toy Story 4, even if I’m not sharing every little detail. There’s fun for me in the hunt – as long as I’m careful to steer clear from the haters.
Images and trailer © Disney/Pixar and the books’ respective publishers, Random House and Disney.
Toy Story Fangirl 