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~ Zurg's last words and redemption in Toy Story 2.
Evil Emperor Zurg, also known as Emperor Zurg or simply known as Zurg, is the main antagonist of the in-universe Buzz Lightyear toyline in the Toy Story franchise. A toy based on the character appears as the secondary antagonist of Toy Story 2.
He is the arch nemesis of Buzz Lightyear.
In Toy Story 2, he was voiced by Andrew Stanton, who also played Hopper in the A Bug's Life video game and the short film It's Tough to be a Bug. In the Disney Park attraction "Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin", he was voiced by Ken Mitchroney.
Zurg is a tall, thin-built but broad-chested humanoid of unknown species dressed in royal purple armor and robes. His head is invariably encased in a massive helmet crested with grey horns, through which a pair of piercing red eyes and a grille of yellow teeth. His chest is covered with a grey and purple chassis, probably made of steel, and his hands are covered by steel gauntlets capped with sharp fingers. His feet are encased in long, royal purple robes, and he wears a dramatic black cloak lined with scarlet, with raised lapels in vampiric manner. The clasp on his cape is inscribed with "Z" standing for his name. He carries his signature Ion Blaster on his right hand with a hose connected to a round cage storing his ammo with a neon red light on top that is attached on the back of his cape.
As a Toy he is made of plastic.
Biography[]
Toy Story[]
“
I protect the galaxy from the threat of invasion from the evil Emperor Zurg, sworn enemy of the Galactic Alliance.
„
~ Buzz telling Andy's toys about his fight against Zurg.
Zurg was originally set to appear in the first Toy Story film but was cut out from the final version. However, he makes a cameo on a partially covered drawing by Andy in Strange Things. He is also mentioned three times in the film. First by Andy Davis after Buzz Lightyear arrives, then Buzz during his introduction to Woody and the rest of Andy's toys, being described as the "sworn enemy of the Galactic Alliance", and finally once more by Buzz when he and Woody are lost at the gas station during their argument.
Toy Story Treats[]
Zurg does not physically appear in some Toy Story Treats, but he was mentioned by name.
Toy Story 2[]
“
Zurg: Surrender, Buzz Lightyear! I have won! Utility Belt Buzz: I'll never give in! You killed my father! Zurg: No, Buzz… I am your father! Utility Belt Buzz: NOOOOO!!!
„
~ Emperor Zurg parodying a very famous scene from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
Zurg made his first appearance in the Toy Story franchise in Toy Story 2.
He is first seen in the videogame that Rex is playing. He fights Buzz, but since Rex's arms are small, he cannot execute the combos needed to defeat Zurg, and so Zurg defeats Buzz in the game, much to Rex's distraught.
Later on, when the real Buzz Buzz, Rex, Slinky Dog, Hamm, Mr. Potato Head, and Rex head over to Al's Toy Barn, Buzz gets accidentally swapped with another Buzz Lightyear action figure with a utility belt (an action figure version of the video game). When Andy's Buzz spots Al McWhiggin leaving with Andy's toys and the other Buzz Lightyear - whom anyone will call Utility Belt Buzz - in his bag, he follows them but knocks out a few boxes in the process, but as he leaves, a box is being wedged between the doors, and a Zurg action figure is inside. Zurg breaks out from his box, spots Buzz, and being unaware that he is just a toy (similar to Buzz from the first Toy Story movie and Utility Belt Buzz), follows Buzz to Al's apartment to destroy him.
Eventually, Zurg reaches Al's apartment through the top of the elevator shaft, where he confronts both Buzzes and the oher toys. A fight takes place on top of the elevator between Utility Belt Buzz and Zurg while the original Buzz and the others open the emergency hatch to save Woody. At first, Utility Belt Buzz had the upper hand, but Zurg grabs him and defeats him, demanding he surrenders. Utility Belt Buzz says that he will never give up because Zurg killed his father, but Zurg tells him that he is his father, much to Utility Belt Buzz's distraught. Zurg then prepares to finish off Utility Belt Buzz, but Rex turns away in fear, which causes his large tail to accidentally hit Zurg, sending him screaming in defeat as he falls down the elevator shaft, much to Rex's great delight.
However, Zurg somehow survived his fall but has forgotten that Utility Belt Buzz is his enemy due to the impact. As such, Utility Belt Buzz decides to have spent some fun with Zurg with a game of catch (while also declining Buzz's invitation to save Woody from Al and Stinky Pete), and Zurg seems to enjoy it, telling Utility Belt Buzz to go long as he fires a ball for Utility Belt Buzz to catch. Buzz then bids farewell to Utility Belt Buzz using the same Vulcan salute that he used at Woody while they were still stranded at the gas station from the first film and proceeds to follow Al to the airport with the other toys by driving the Pizza Planet truck (similar to Woody and Buzz chasing the moving truck from the first film).
Toy Story 3[]
“
Jessie: Buzz, what are you doing? Buzz: Silence, minions of Zurg! You're in the custody of the Galactic Alliance!
„
~ Demo Mode Buzz mentions Zurg.
Zurg was mentioned in Toy Story 3 a few times by Buzz after Lots-O' Huggin' Bear switches him to "Demo Mode". He is later mentioned again by Andy when he gives Buzz to his new owner Bonnie Anderson. Zurg eventually appears during the credits of the film, arriving at Sunnyside Daycare Center with a giraffe and a small dinosaur, where he is greeted by Stretch. It is currently unknown whether this Zurg is the same one from the second film, however, it was revealed by Lee Unkrich, the director of Toy Story 3 that this was a different Zurg than the one in Toy Story 2. He appears to be missing his ion blaster.
Zurg is also a boss in the Toy Story 2 video game Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue. He is the titular boss of the game's twelfth level, The Evil Emperor Zurg, and the fourth main boss encountered by Buzz Lightyear. Several of his toy minions also appear frequently as enemies throughout the game and the game's eight level, Al's Space Land, features several hallways lined with Buzz Lightyear and Emperor Zurg toys shooting lasers at each other from their packages.
Gameplay[]
Zurg is fought on top of an elevator within the Elevator Hop, and Buzz must be careful not to fall off the edge during the battle. Zurg will constantly hover above Buzz firing spheres at him that will damage him on contact, although Buzz can deflect these by spinning. The yellow spheres travel towards him and then disappear, whereas the green ones will come back at Buzz and home in on him. Buzz must shoot Zurg with his laser while he's in range to damage him, and once his health has been fully diminished, the boss will topple over the side of the elevator and disappear into the darkness below. Buzz will then be allowed to proceed to the following level.
Zurg Kite[]
The Zurg Kite is the boss of the game's second level Andy’s Neighborhood. As the name suggests, this boss is a kite inspired by the Evil Emperor Zurg. It is fought on a wooden platform at the very top of the tall garden tree, and its only attack is spinning into Buzz. He can hurt the Zurg Kite with his laser while it floats in the air, but it's invulnerable while it's spinning. Upon its defeat, Buzz will obtain a Pizza Planet Token, but he must be careful not to fall out of the tree during the battle.
Toy Story 3 The Video Game[]
Zurg is also in every version of the Toy Story 3 video game, except the Nintendo DS version. He is a boss in the Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, and PC versions. A PlayStation 3 exclusive allows the player to play as Zurg.
Disney INFINITY[]
Zurg is also the main antagonist of the Toy Story playset in Disney INFINITY.
Personality[]
As shown in the film, Zurg was known to be the evilest and most destructive villain in his galaxy, dedicated to ruling it with an iron fist by all means necessary. He is shown to be manipulative, intelligent and ruthless, as he was willing to take down anyone that serves as an obstacle to himself or his plans.
Quotes[]
“
[chuckles] Come to me, my prey.
„
~ Zurg's first words.
“
[growls] Destroy Buzz Lightyear!
„
~ Zurg chasing after Andy's Buzz Lightyear.
“
Rex: Buzz, you could've defeated Zurg all along, you just need to believe in yourself! [shrieks] Zurg: Prepare to die! Rex: [screams] I can't look! Zurg: [got knocked away by Rex's tail] Oof! Whoa-whoa-who-oh-who-o-oa... [falls off the elevator] AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! Rex: I did it! I'VE FINALLY DEFEATED ZURG!!! Ultra Buzz Lightyear: Father...
„
~ Zurg accidentally defeated by Rex when he tried to kill Ultra Buzz Lightyear.
Trivia[]
Emperor Zurg is a parody of Darth Vader of the Star Wars franchise. In fact, in Toy Story 2, during his battle with Bonus Belt Buzz Lightyear, Zurg tells Bonus Belt Buzz that he's his father, and parodies the scene in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back where Darth Vader tells Luke Skywalker that he is his father. Coincidentally, both Toy Story 2 and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace came out in 1999; the difference is that while Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was released on May 19, Toy Story 2 was released on November 24.
While he did not make a physical appearance until Toy Story 2, in the Strange Things song of the first film, if one looks closely at Andy's drawings, a partially covered drawing of Buzz Lightyear shooting at a giant robot that is supposedly Zurg can be seen, hence having horns and a large robe and cape (which can be seen here), though his head is not seen.
He made his very first physical appearance in the ride under the name Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, which opened in October 1998 at Walt Disney World which was of course one year before the sequel was released.
Zurg's species is an issue of much debate. The four predominant theories are that he is either a human, a robot, an alien (as hinted on some concept arts), or a cyborg. To this day, there is no concrete answer, but there is theoretically enough evidence to rule out Zurg being a robot due to his eating and sleeping habits.
When playing catch with Utility Belt Buzz near the end of Toy Story 2, one can see that he has received some damage from the fall off the elevator: one of his horns are slightly bent backwards, one of his mouth lights are not working anymore, a side of the scope on his ion blaster appears to have bent a little up from its place, and his rubber cape is mangled in several spots.
In the novelization of Toy Story 2, as opposed to Ultra Buzz playing catch with Zurg, he is carrying his lifeless body back to Al's Toy Barn to rest. The scene was reminiscent of part of the ending to Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, where Luke has to drag Vader over to his shuttle due to the latter being mortally wounded trying to save him from Palpatine.
And according to John Lasseter on the Toy Story 2 DVD commentary, as Andy's Buzz and the rest of the toys were making their way to the Pizza Planet truck, Ultra Buzz was carrying Zurg and said he was going to be burying his "father", implying that Zurg would have died from the fall. They changed the scene to have Ultra Buzz playing catch with Zurg since they felt that Ultra Buzz carrying a dead Zurg would be too morbid. This is also seen on an early sketch for the film (see here).
During Woody's nightmare earlier in Toy Story 2, some of the mismatched toy arms in the trash can Woody was discarded in belonged to Zurg (although there were a couple of color variations).
Toy Story 4 is the only film where Zurg doesn't appear, make a cameo, or is mentioned.
Zurg also made a cameo appearance in the 2015 Disney live action film Tomorrowland.
Zurg appears at the end of some of the intros of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command as a toy in Andys bedroom hanging out with the other Toys (replacing Hamm), implying that Andy did own a Zurg at one point, and its unknown if that unit is the same one from Toy Story 2. However, as the latter unit didn't appear in Toy Story 3, he was likely either sold, donated, given away, destroyed, or thrown away.
According to the original script of Toy Story 3, he was originally going to have a bigger role in the film, being one of the recalled toys along with Buzz Lightyear. A quite insane Zurg was the first one to introduce Buzz to his ultimate fate of not being repaired but sent to the toy crusher.
It's possible Zurg is a scientist hence he has inventing skills along with high intellect.
In the early concept art, Zurg was originally going to be a small toy alien with a robot body.
A small version of Zurg was in the 2011 Toy Story Toons short film Small Fry.
In the scene with Rex in the car in Al's Toy Barn holding the How to Defeat Zurg book, there is one frame where a clear glimpse of the bottom corner of the book is seen. As a lighthearted jab at Canadians, the cover price is shown as $4.95 and $50 in Canada. It should be about $6.95. In the waiting area for the Disney's Hollywood Studios attraction Toy Story Midway Mania! in Orlando, Florida, there is a large replica of the book's cover that also reflects this joke.
Zurg does not appear in the Toy Story 2 outtakes.
It's a plothole as to how Zurg (the toy) shoots endless amounts of balls out of his ion blaster as its storage cage doesn't look like it can carry those said amounts of them.
According to the front of his box seen when Buzz runs over it before waking him in Toy Story 2, the company he (along with Buzz) is produced by a company named ''Wacka Wacka Toys''.
His villainy may have been due to the fact that Zurg (the toy) actually thinks that he is the real Zurg and not just a toy.
In 2012, Disney Store released a Zurg figure in movie size that is marked the closest one in accuracy. One of the biggest notable inaccuracies are that the said figure cannot fire the balls located inside the ammo cage out of his ion blaster.
As the real-life toy release of him by Disney Store hints, it's possible that he (the toy) talks (when not alive) by pushing his ''Z'' button on his chest.
The deleted scene of him from Toy Story 2 hints his Ion Blaster is powered by a battery.
Had that opening scene of him for the original film not been scrapped, he would be the first character to appear in the Toy Story franchise as opposed to Mr. Potato Head.
In the said deleted opening scene, he has a different design and more of a maniacal persona (similar to his portrayal in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command) as opposed to being more serious and less expressive in his debut in TS2.
Early concept arts show that he was originally going to be black, otherwise red or green instead of purple.
Zurg is depicted as a train in the now defunct World of Cars Online.
In Videogames Toy Story 2 Stinky Pete |
Buzz Lightyear Buggy |
Gunslinger |
Zurg |
Blacksmith Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters Online Astro Blasters Robots Kingdom Hearts Young Xehanort |
King of Toys