Cars 2
Cars 2 is a 2011 American computer-animated action film produced by Pixar, and it is the sequel to the 2006 film, Cars. In the film, race car Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and tow truck Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy) head to Japan and Europe to compete in the World Grand Prix, but Mater becomes sidetracked with international espionage. The film is directed by John Lasseter, co-directed by Brad Lewis, written by Ben Queen, and produced by Denise Ream. Cars 2 is also the first film John Lasseter has directed since the original Cars in 2006.
The film was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and was released in the United States on June 24, 2011 and will be released in the United Kingdom on July 22, 2011.The film was presented in Disney Digital 3D and IMAX 3D, as well as traditional two-dimensional and IMAX formats.The film was first announced in 2008, alongside Up, Newt, and Brave (previously known as The Bear and the Bow), and it is the 12th animated film from the studio. The film opened to mixed/average reviews from critics, and is Pixar's worst reviewed feature film to date.
PLOT
Four-time Piston Cup champion race car Lightning McQueen returns home to Radiator Springs and reunites with best friend Mater and girlfriend Sally Carrera. Former oil tycoon Miles Axlerod, now a green power advocate, announces a racing series called the "World Grand Prix", as a means to promote Allinol biofuel. Although McQueen initially refuses to participate, Italian formula race car Francesco Bernoulli's challenge, as well as Mater's intervention, leads McQueen to enter the Grand Prix. At Sally's urging, McQueen agrees to take Mater with him, only to have the tow truck embarrass him repeatedly in Japan with his jovially ignorant antics.
Meanwhile, a group of "lemon" cars led by Professor Zündapp and an unknown mastermind owns the largest untapped oil reserves in the world. They secretly plot to secure their oil profits by using a weapon disguised as a television camera to ignite the Allinol fuel in targeted race cars during the World Grand Prix; with no apparent cause for the explosions, the public would doubt the fuel's safety and depend further on the group's oil. British spies Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell attempt to foil their plot. They attempt to rendezvous with American spy car Rod "Torque" Redline at a World Grand Prix promotional event in Tokyo in order to receive information about the mastermind; however, Redline is cornered by Zündapp's henchmen and passes his information to an unsuspecting Mater before being captured and subsequently killed. As a result, Shiftwell and McMissile mistake Mater as their American contact.
During the first race in Tokyo, McMissile and Holley help a still-oblivious Mater evade Zündapp's henchmen; in the process, Mater inadvertently gives McQueen bad advice which causes him to lose the race. Meanwhile, Zündapp uses the weapon on several race cars. At the end of his patience with Mater's embarrassing behavior as well as causing his loss, McQueen berates Mater, who decides to return to Radiator Springs. McMissile, who still believes Mater is an American spy, drafts him into foiling Zündapp's plot.
In Italy, the site of the second race, a disguised Mater infiltrates the criminals' meeting and discovers Zündapp's plan. Zündapp's henchmen, meanwhile, use their weapon on most of the cars during the race. With the Allinol fuel under suspicion, Axlerod suspends its use for the final race in England; however, McQueen decides to continue using it. The criminals decide to kill McQueen in the next race; upon hearing this, Mater blows his cover and is captured along with McMissile and Shiftwell.
Rendered unconscious, Mater has a mortifying dream where he sees his recent activities in a different perspective and realizes how foolish he has been acting, until he wakes up tied up inside Big Bentley along with McMissile and Shiftwell, minutes away from being crushed by its gears. The criminals use the weapon on McQueen during the race, but nothing happens. Mater manages to escape in order to warn his friends of a bomb planted in McQueen's pit area, but McMissile and Shiftwell find that the bomb was planted on Mater. They warn Mater about the bomb just in time, and Mater flees to protect his friends. However, he is pursued by a repentant McQueen determined to make amends to his friend, unaware of the real danger until they are out of range of Zündapp's remote detonator. He sends his henchmen to kill McQueen and Mater, but they are foiled by the combined efforts of McMissile, Shiftwell, and the Radiator Springs residents. Upon his capture, Zündapp reveals that only the person who installed the bomb can deactivate it. Mater then figures out that the mastermind behind the Allinol plot is Miles Axlerod. Axlerod confirms Mater's suspicion when Mater confronts him and he is able to deactivate the bomb.
For stopping Axlerod's plans, Mater is knighted by the Queen and returns home with his friends, where the cars from the Grand Prix take part in the unofficial Radiator Springs Grand Prix. Fillmore reveals that before the last race, Sarge replaced Lightning's Allinol with Fillmore's organic fuel, which prevented Lightning from being affected by the weapon. McMissile and Shiftwell invite Mater to join them in another spy mission, but he declines, claiming that he is where he belongs.
Development
Cars is the second Pixar film, after Toy Story, to have a sequel. John Lasseter, the director of the film, said that he was convinced of the sequel's story while traveling around the world promoting the first film. He said:
I kept looking out thinking, 'What would Mater do in this situation, you know?' I could imagine him driving around on the wrong side of the road in the UK, going around in big, giant traveling circles in Paris, on the autobahn in Germany, dealing with the motor scooters in Italy, trying to figure out road signs in Japan.
Cars 2 was originally scheduled for a summer 2012 release, but Pixar moved the release up by a year.
In 2009, Disney registered several domain names, hinting to audiences that the title and theme of the film would be in relation to a World Grand Prix.
In March 2011, Jake Mandeville-Anthony, a U.K. screenwriter, sued Disney and Pixar alleging copyright infringement and breach of implied contract. In his complaint he alleged that Cars and Cars 2 are based in part on work that he had submitted early in the 1990s and he sought an injunction to stop the release of Cars 2 and requested actual or statutory damages. On May 13, 2011, Disney responded to the lawsuit, denying "each and every one of Plaintiff's legal claims concerning the purported copyright infringement and substantial similarity of the parties' respective works." On June 22, 2011, the two parties settled the lawsuit, with Mandeville-Anthony receiving a free DVD copy as compensation from the company in advance of the actual DVD release, which is currently scheduled for around November 8.
Casting
In November 2010, Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Jason Isaacs, Joe Mantegna, Peter Jacobson, Bonnie Hunt, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, and Thomas Kretschmann were confirmed as the voice talent featured in the film. From November 2010 until May 2011, Disney released information about the other voice talent, including Jenifer Lewis, Katherine Helmond, Michael Wallis, Darrell Waltrip, Franco Nero, Vanessa Redgrave, Bruce Campbell, Sig Hansen, Michel Michelis, Jeff Gordon, Lewis Hamilton, Brent Musburger, David Hobbs, John Turturro, and Eddie Izzard.
Much of the cast from the original Cars remained intact for the sequel, but three voice actors of the original film have died since its release. George Carlin (who voiced Fillmore) died on June 22, 2008 due to heart failure. Fillmore was cast in Cars 2, and was voiced by Lloyd Sherr.Paul Newman (who voiced Doc Hudson) died on September 26, 2008 due to cancer. After Newman's death, Lasseter said they would "see how the story goes with Doc Hudson," before he was eventually written out.In addition, Joe Ranft (who voiced Red) died on August 16, 2005, ten months before the release of Cars, due to an automobile accident. Red appears in the film, but does not speak or vocalize.
The film was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and was released in the United States on June 24, 2011 and will be released in the United Kingdom on July 22, 2011.The film was presented in Disney Digital 3D and IMAX 3D, as well as traditional two-dimensional and IMAX formats.The film was first announced in 2008, alongside Up, Newt, and Brave (previously known as The Bear and the Bow), and it is the 12th animated film from the studio. The film opened to mixed/average reviews from critics, and is Pixar's worst reviewed feature film to date.
PLOT
Four-time Piston Cup champion race car Lightning McQueen returns home to Radiator Springs and reunites with best friend Mater and girlfriend Sally Carrera. Former oil tycoon Miles Axlerod, now a green power advocate, announces a racing series called the "World Grand Prix", as a means to promote Allinol biofuel. Although McQueen initially refuses to participate, Italian formula race car Francesco Bernoulli's challenge, as well as Mater's intervention, leads McQueen to enter the Grand Prix. At Sally's urging, McQueen agrees to take Mater with him, only to have the tow truck embarrass him repeatedly in Japan with his jovially ignorant antics.
Meanwhile, a group of "lemon" cars led by Professor Zündapp and an unknown mastermind owns the largest untapped oil reserves in the world. They secretly plot to secure their oil profits by using a weapon disguised as a television camera to ignite the Allinol fuel in targeted race cars during the World Grand Prix; with no apparent cause for the explosions, the public would doubt the fuel's safety and depend further on the group's oil. British spies Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell attempt to foil their plot. They attempt to rendezvous with American spy car Rod "Torque" Redline at a World Grand Prix promotional event in Tokyo in order to receive information about the mastermind; however, Redline is cornered by Zündapp's henchmen and passes his information to an unsuspecting Mater before being captured and subsequently killed. As a result, Shiftwell and McMissile mistake Mater as their American contact.
During the first race in Tokyo, McMissile and Holley help a still-oblivious Mater evade Zündapp's henchmen; in the process, Mater inadvertently gives McQueen bad advice which causes him to lose the race. Meanwhile, Zündapp uses the weapon on several race cars. At the end of his patience with Mater's embarrassing behavior as well as causing his loss, McQueen berates Mater, who decides to return to Radiator Springs. McMissile, who still believes Mater is an American spy, drafts him into foiling Zündapp's plot.
In Italy, the site of the second race, a disguised Mater infiltrates the criminals' meeting and discovers Zündapp's plan. Zündapp's henchmen, meanwhile, use their weapon on most of the cars during the race. With the Allinol fuel under suspicion, Axlerod suspends its use for the final race in England; however, McQueen decides to continue using it. The criminals decide to kill McQueen in the next race; upon hearing this, Mater blows his cover and is captured along with McMissile and Shiftwell.
Rendered unconscious, Mater has a mortifying dream where he sees his recent activities in a different perspective and realizes how foolish he has been acting, until he wakes up tied up inside Big Bentley along with McMissile and Shiftwell, minutes away from being crushed by its gears. The criminals use the weapon on McQueen during the race, but nothing happens. Mater manages to escape in order to warn his friends of a bomb planted in McQueen's pit area, but McMissile and Shiftwell find that the bomb was planted on Mater. They warn Mater about the bomb just in time, and Mater flees to protect his friends. However, he is pursued by a repentant McQueen determined to make amends to his friend, unaware of the real danger until they are out of range of Zündapp's remote detonator. He sends his henchmen to kill McQueen and Mater, but they are foiled by the combined efforts of McMissile, Shiftwell, and the Radiator Springs residents. Upon his capture, Zündapp reveals that only the person who installed the bomb can deactivate it. Mater then figures out that the mastermind behind the Allinol plot is Miles Axlerod. Axlerod confirms Mater's suspicion when Mater confronts him and he is able to deactivate the bomb.
For stopping Axlerod's plans, Mater is knighted by the Queen and returns home with his friends, where the cars from the Grand Prix take part in the unofficial Radiator Springs Grand Prix. Fillmore reveals that before the last race, Sarge replaced Lightning's Allinol with Fillmore's organic fuel, which prevented Lightning from being affected by the weapon. McMissile and Shiftwell invite Mater to join them in another spy mission, but he declines, claiming that he is where he belongs.
Cars is the second Pixar film, after Toy Story, to have a sequel. John Lasseter, the director of the film, said that he was convinced of the sequel's story while traveling around the world promoting the first film. He said:
I kept looking out thinking, 'What would Mater do in this situation, you know?' I could imagine him driving around on the wrong side of the road in the UK, going around in big, giant traveling circles in Paris, on the autobahn in Germany, dealing with the motor scooters in Italy, trying to figure out road signs in Japan.
Cars 2 was originally scheduled for a summer 2012 release, but Pixar moved the release up by a year.
In 2009, Disney registered several domain names, hinting to audiences that the title and theme of the film would be in relation to a World Grand Prix.
In March 2011, Jake Mandeville-Anthony, a U.K. screenwriter, sued Disney and Pixar alleging copyright infringement and breach of implied contract. In his complaint he alleged that Cars and Cars 2 are based in part on work that he had submitted early in the 1990s and he sought an injunction to stop the release of Cars 2 and requested actual or statutory damages. On May 13, 2011, Disney responded to the lawsuit, denying "each and every one of Plaintiff's legal claims concerning the purported copyright infringement and substantial similarity of the parties' respective works." On June 22, 2011, the two parties settled the lawsuit, with Mandeville-Anthony receiving a free DVD copy as compensation from the company in advance of the actual DVD release, which is currently scheduled for around November 8.
Casting
In November 2010, Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Jason Isaacs, Joe Mantegna, Peter Jacobson, Bonnie Hunt, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, and Thomas Kretschmann were confirmed as the voice talent featured in the film. From November 2010 until May 2011, Disney released information about the other voice talent, including Jenifer Lewis, Katherine Helmond, Michael Wallis, Darrell Waltrip, Franco Nero, Vanessa Redgrave, Bruce Campbell, Sig Hansen, Michel Michelis, Jeff Gordon, Lewis Hamilton, Brent Musburger, David Hobbs, John Turturro, and Eddie Izzard.
Much of the cast from the original Cars remained intact for the sequel, but three voice actors of the original film have died since its release. George Carlin (who voiced Fillmore) died on June 22, 2008 due to heart failure. Fillmore was cast in Cars 2, and was voiced by Lloyd Sherr.Paul Newman (who voiced Doc Hudson) died on September 26, 2008 due to cancer. After Newman's death, Lasseter said they would "see how the story goes with Doc Hudson," before he was eventually written out.In addition, Joe Ranft (who voiced Red) died on August 16, 2005, ten months before the release of Cars, due to an automobile accident. Red appears in the film, but does not speak or vocalize.
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