Cars holds something of an odd place in the Pixar pantheon. A pet project of the studios creative big cheese John Lasseter, its been largely looked down upon as one of the lesser films produced by the Emeryville bods, and isnt exactly one of their bigger earners. Unless you take into account the merchandising, which has spawned an empire all its own. So, naturally, theres a sequel revving its engine up for release next year and now, according to Movieline, a direct-to-video spin-off called Planes.
Yes, for a team that once stood firmly against sequels (and worked itself to the bone rescuing Toy Story 2 from a DTV grave), there really does seem to have been an attitude shift in recent years, with sequels to some of the big hits, like Monsters Inc in production And with a whole company spin-off (the new Canadian arm of the studio), were guessing this could be just the start.
But before leaping to any conclusions, lets have a little faith in the people behind Buzz, Woody and Lightning McQueen, shall we? Toy Story 3 was excellent and no one should count them out as money-grabbing factory-film types just yet.
No one has seen a frame of Planes, which will be set in the same vehicles-as-characters world as Radiator Springs and could well be a charming, fully realised adventure all its own.
If Planes is a success, we expect Trains to follow along shortly, followed by Cars 3 and a re-release under the banner title of Planes, Trains & Automobiles, with the ghost of John Hughes shaking his fist in frustration on the corner of the box art.
James White
Yes, for a team that once stood firmly against sequels (and worked itself to the bone rescuing Toy Story 2 from a DTV grave), there really does seem to have been an attitude shift in recent years, with sequels to some of the big hits, like Monsters Inc in production And with a whole company spin-off (the new Canadian arm of the studio), were guessing this could be just the start.
But before leaping to any conclusions, lets have a little faith in the people behind Buzz, Woody and Lightning McQueen, shall we? Toy Story 3 was excellent and no one should count them out as money-grabbing factory-film types just yet.
No one has seen a frame of Planes, which will be set in the same vehicles-as-characters world as Radiator Springs and could well be a charming, fully realised adventure all its own.
If Planes is a success, we expect Trains to follow along shortly, followed by Cars 3 and a re-release under the banner title of Planes, Trains & Automobiles, with the ghost of John Hughes shaking his fist in frustration on the corner of the box art.
James White
I ask myself the same thing every time I watch it. I wonder how the Cars came into existence in the first place...a Holy Tire?
