'Lightyear' airs today, the first Pixar movie on Disney+ with scenes in IMAX's extended aspect ratio

"Lightyear" was the first Pixar film in two years to hit theaters. A month and a half later, it finally arrives on the Disney+ streaming platform. Today, August 3, subscribers can watch the "Toy Story" spinoff at home. It should be noted that this is the first Disney and Pixar animated film on Disney+ with scenes in IMAX's extended aspect ratio.

With IMAX Enhanced, the movie comes with IMAX's exclusive Extended Aspect Ratio, which gives audiences up to 26% more frames for key movie sequences, with no special equipment required. This means more of the action is visible on your screen.

Angus MacLane, who directed the film, said in a statement, "We are thrilled that Disney and Pixar's 'Lightyear' will be the first IMAX-enhanced animated feature to launch on Disney+. Leveraging the technology of IMAX throughout the filmmaking process has allowed us to create an elevated viewing experience for "Lightyear" fans in theaters, at home and beyond."

"Lightyear" joins 15 Marvel titles available in IMAX Enhanced on Disney+. These include "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", "Avengers: Endgame, Eternals", "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness", and more.

The animated film stars Chris Evans as space guard Buzz Lightyear from Andy's favorite movie he watched as a kid. Unlike the rest of the "Toy Story" franchise, "Lightyear" tells the origin story of human Buzz and explores him as he tries to find a way back home after being stranded on a hostile planet with his commander and his crew. He accidentally time-jumps 62 years into the future, where the planet is taken over by the evil Emperor Zurg (James Brolin) and his army of robots.

There was a lot of confusion about how "Lightyear" connects to the other four films in the "Toy Story" series. That might explain why the new movie wasn't the success Pixar expected. It essentially became a box office failure, grossing just $222.4 million worldwide, about $20 million more than its announced budget. In comparison, "Toy Story 3" and "Toy Story 4" earned over $1 billion at the box office.

Let's hope "Lightyear" does better on Disney+ than in theaters, especially since it will have scenes in IMAX's extended aspect ratio.