Buzz Lightyear, member of the elite Universe Protection Unit of the Space Ranger Corps, crash lands on a strange planet. He calls Star Command to no avail, wondering why they never respond. His spaceship has been nearly destroyed in the landing, and he is unsure about the stability of the terrain and the breathability of the atmosphere. He carefully puts on his helmet, steps out of his spaceship, and looks around for signs of intelligent life. Suddenly, Sheriff Woody hops up onto Andy’s bed to greet the new addition to Andy’s room. Buzz immediately shoots his built-in laser at him and interrogates him. Once he sees the sheriff badge on his cowboy vest, he trusts his authority and turns off his laser. Wondering about the commotion on the bed, the other toys climb up. Buzz defensively jumps in front of Sheriff Woody and again shoots his laser. “Do you know these life forms?” Buzz shouts at Woody. “Yes,” he says. “They’re Andy’s toys.” Buzz stops his laser, and Mr. Potato Head, Ham, Rex, Slink, Bo Beep, and all the other toys in the room gather around the spaceman, a creature unlike any they have ever seen before. Buzz shows off his spacesuit by pushing his various buttons. “Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!” heroically emanates from his top-notch speaker system at the push of the red button. He pushes the blue button, and his high-pressure space wings extend. “He can even fly!” exclaims Bo Beep. “Where are you from?” asks Rex, enthralled by the godlike creature. “I am stationed in the Gamma Quadrant of Sector 4, where I work to protect the galaxy from the threat of invasion from the evil Emperor Zerg, sworn enemy of the Galactic Alliance.” “Oh,” says Ham. “Well I’m from PlaySkool.” “And I’m from Little Tikes,” says Mr. Potato Head. Buzz continues to display the many impressive features of his space gear as the toys marvel. Sheriff Woody, Andy’s oldest and wisest toy, is the only one uninterested in Buzz. He irritatedly exclaims, “It’s not a real laser; it’s just a little light bulb that blinks! And his wings aren’t really made out of a Trillium carbonic alloy; they’re plastic! He can’t fly!” But Buzz continues basking in the adulation as though Woody has not even spoken, and none of the toys care to listen to him either. They enthusiastically welcome this new superhero to Andy’s room.

Over the next few days, all the toys but Woody help Buzz repair his broken spaceship. “Another unidirectional bonding strip,” Buzz orders, and they promptly hand him more tape. Woody becomes fed up with the episode and confronts Buzz, saying, “Listen, Mr. Lightyear. You better stop it with this whole spaceman charade. It’s getting on my nerves.” “Are you saying you would like to file a complaint with Star Command?,” retorts Buzz. Woody angrily pushes him back, causing his space helmet to fling open. Buzz impulsively grabs his own neck and gasps for air, falling to the ground and flopping around like a fish out of water. Eventually he realizes that the air in the new environment is suitable and begins to breathe it in. “How dare you open a spaceman’s helmet on an uncharted planet! My eyes could have been sucked from their sockets!” Buzz yells at Woody. Still uncomfortable with his surroundings, he stubbornly places his helmet back into its original position. Woody nearly suffocates too because he is laughing so hard at Buzz’s genuine belief that he is the real Buzz Lightyear and not just a toy like the rest of them.

The next evening, Andy decides to take Buzz and Woody with him to Pizza Planet, his favorite, space-themed pizzeria. Inside Pizza Planet, Buzz is so fascinated with the decorative glow-in-the-dark spaceships that he wanders away from Andy and Woody to get a closer look. Woody angrily runs after him, afraid that he will get caught walking around. Before they can try to find Andy again, he has gone home, unaware that the two of them are missing. Buzz and Woody are now stranded at Pizza Planet and left to somehow find their way back home.

Confused and dejected, Buzz and Woody walk aimlessly down the street. Suddenly, Buzz’s attention is caught by a deep voice calling out “Buzz Lightyear! Come in, Buzz Lightyear! This is Star Command!” He frantically searches for the source of the voice. Behind him he finds a TV screen in a toy store window. He watches it intently. “Buzz Lightyear, the world needs your help! Buzz Lightyear, the world’s greatest superhero, now the world’s greatest toy! Buzz has it all: Built-in communicator with Star Command! Authentic laser light! High-quality voice simulator! And best of all, high-pressure space wings! Available at all toy outlets in the Tri-County area. This is not a flying toy.” In disbelief, Buzz climbs through the window of the toy store to see for himself. Sure enough, he sees row on top of row of Buzz Lightyears sitting idly in spaceships identical to his. He stares at them with an opened mouth and watery eyes as he is forced to believe that he is not the one and only, real Buzz Lightyear. Crushed by his realization, he wanders through the store sobbing. Later, Woody finally finds him in the back of the store, sitting in a Barbie Dreamhouse drinking tea with the Barbies. In a stupor, Buzz cries to Woody, “One minute you’re saving the galaxy, the next minute you’re drinking Darjeeling with dolls! What has my life come to?!”


After a seemingly endless journey through town, Buzz and Woody finally arrive in front of Andy’s house. They sneak up to the kitchen window to get inside, but stop when they notice Andy and his mom in the kitchen making dinner. Hiding behind the window sill, they hear Andy crying, “Mom, I still can’t find Buzz or Woody! I’ve searched everywhere!” His mom replies, “It’s okay honey, we can always get you other ones.” Andy cries even louder, “No, mom, we can’t! It wouldn’t be the same! I need my Buzz and my Woody!” At the sound of this, Buzz again begins to sob. Ever since he was created, he had believed that his sole mission was to be a noble space ranger. He now realized that there are far more important things in life and embraced the fact that his true function is to be Andy’s special toy.

As soon as Andy and his mom leave the kitchen, Buzz and Woody scurry up to Andy’s room. All the other toys run to them, ecstatic to see them and asking all about their adventures. As Buzz tells them about the epiphanies he has had, they awkwardly gape at him in silence. Finally, Slink says to Woody, “Did he crash into something without his helmet flying home?” None of the toys can believe what they are hearing. How could Buzz not be the superhero he convinced them he was? Woody assures them that he has been right all along that Buzz is just a toy and that he has finally come to realize it. The toys cannot understand this and refuse to accept it, wanting to believe that they have a real space ranger as a friend. Eventually, Buzz and Woody give up trying to reason with them for one night; they can explain more after they recover from their arduous adventure. They climb back up onto Andy’s bed, where they are happy to know that they belong, and peacefully fall asleep.