Lightyear’s producer thinks Sox’s texture is hilarious

The Pixar movie was explained in all of the press that preceded it. LightyearThe following is the “real” Buzz Lightyear — meaning a movie version of the character who inspired the toy from Pixar’s Toy Story franchise. Buzz, a Space Ranger in his thirties on a perilous mission to rescue his colleagues from an unknown world. There are no toys. There is, however, a character heavily inspired by real-life toys: Sox the robotic cat, Buzz Lightyear’s personal companion.

Voted by The Good Dinosaur director Peter Sohn, Sox is assigned as Buzz’s therapeutic aid after Buzz comes back from a harrowing mission in space. The robot cat is able to do complex mathematical calculations and hack computers, but also likes to chase lasers and rub up against Buzz’s leg. Director Angus MacLane tells Polygon that Sox’s design ended up being deliberately simplistic, more like a 1990s robot toy than any high-tech, futuristic sci-fi android companion.

“Sox is kind of like a toy, a simple animatronic toy,” MacLane says. “It’s not a very convincing animal. But it’s doing the best that it can. It’s the one toy in the movie. It’s like a fancy action figure. This is what I love about it. [its] limited movement really funny as an animator, and it contrasts nicely with everything else in the movie.”

Another toylike trait of Sox’s? His texture. Sox isn’t metallic or plastic. He’s flocked, much like Calico Critters or certain types of Breyer Horses. As MacLane describes it, Sox’s texture is a sort of glue sprayed on vinyl, with some poofy fabric attached.

“Flocking is funny. Seeing those seam lines is really entertaining,” laughs producer Galyn Susman. As it turns, the alien-filled world of sci-fi has a flocking texture that adds an intriguing perk. “It’s a fire-retardant material, because people put them in bed with kids, and you don’t want something flammable!”

Why Sox prefers to be a cat over any other animal companion? The answer is simple. MacLane loves cats.

“I thought a cat that was helpful was funny, because they’re not usually very helpful,” he says.

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