Planes: Fire & Rescue (also known as Planes 2: Fire & Rescue) is a 2014 American animated comedy-adventure film produced by Disneytoon Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Bobs Gannaway, written by Gannaway and Jeffrey M. Howard, and produced by Ferrell Barron, it is a sequel to Planes (2013) and a spin-off of Pixar's Cars franchise. Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, Brad Garrett, Teri Hatcher, Danny Mann, and Cedric the Entertainer reprised their roles with new additions to the cast including Hal Holbrook, Julie Bowen, Ed Harris, Regina King, Wes Studi, Patrick Warburton, and Dale Dye. In the film, Dusty Crophopper (Cook) is assigned to become a wildland firefighting plane in Piston Peak National Park after he learns that his engine's gearbox is damaged.
Production began for six months after the start of the previous film. Gannaway intended to give each film its own different genre, Planes: Fire & Rescue being a "an action-disaster film". The filmmakers conducted researched the world of air-attack teams and smokejumpers by working with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and sent a crew to the US Forest Services' annual training exercises for smokejumpers. Mark Mancina composed the musical score again, while Prana Studios returned to provided work on visual effects, animation and compositing.
Planes: Fire & Rescue premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on July 15, 2014, and was theatrically released on July 18, 2014, in Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D and D-BOX formats. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with many calling it an improvement over its predecessor, and grossed $147 million worldwide on a $50 million budget.
Plot[]
Since winning the Wings Around the Globe Rally, Dusty Crophopper has a successful career as a racer. Unfortunately, his engine's gearbox becomes damaged because its too much over-revving. The type of gearbox is now out of production and unavailable anywhere, so Dusty's mechanic Dottie fits a warning light to keep his engine performance low to prevent further damage. Disappointed, Dusty goes on a defiant flight testing his limits. In doing so, he is forced to make landing at Propwash Junction's airport, causing a fire.
The residents put out the fire with some difficulty, but the accident leads government inspector Ryker to condemn the airport for inadequate firefighting protocols. Dusty, feeling remorseful, offers to become a trained firefighter to get the airport reopened, so he travels to Piston Peak National Park, where he meets a fire and rescue crew under the leader command of a helicopter named Blade Ranger. Blade is initially unimpressed by the small newcomer, and Dusty's training proves to be a difficult challenge. Dusty however remains confident and continues to work hard. Maru, the team's mechanic, replaces Dusty's original undercarriage with two pontoons fitted with retractable undercarriage wheels for his new role as a single engine air tanker firefighter. From other crew members, Dusty learns that Blade was formerly an actor who played a police helicopter on the TV series CHoPs but left for unknown reasons. Later, Dusty is devastated by a call from his friends at Propwash Junction, noting that all attempts at finding a replacement gearbox have failed and his racing career is over.
Lightning in a thunderstorm over a forest near Piston Peak starts several spot fires which unite into a serious forest fire. The team fights it and seems to have extinguished it; but later, during the grand reopening of the park's lodge, visiting VIPs fly too low and create air eddies that blow embers about. creates a larger fire, forcing the need to evacuate the lodge. A depressed, Dusty's education falters to Blade's frustration, and things come to a head when Dusty makes a forced landing in a river during a fire dispatch and is swept through the rapids with Blade trying to extract him. Eventually, the pair make it to land, and Dusty confesses his physical disability, to which Blade advises Dusty not to give up. They shelter in an abandoned mine while a fire passes. The situation is complicated in that Blade is also damaged, from protecting Dusty in the fire, and is temporarily grounded for repairs. While Blade is recuperating, Dusty learns that Blade's co-star Nick "Loopin'" Lopez from CHoPs was killed during a stunt gone wrong on set that Blade was helpless to stop, prompting Blade to became a firefighter to save lives for real.
Cad Spinner selfishly diverts the entire water supply to the roof sprinklers to prevent the lodge from burning, which hinders the team from firefighting, so the firefighters instead manage to help the evacuees escape the fire. Dusty is alerted that two elderly campers, named Harvey and Winnie, are trapped on a burning bridge deep in the fire zone. He races to the scene, and is forced to push his engine to the maximum to climb vertically up a waterfall to refill his water tanks to drop water to save the campers, as the only other surface water near is a river too shallow and twisty and rocky for him to scoop from. Meanwhile, Blade shows up and assists the campers. Dusty successfully drops water and extinguishes the fire, but his overstressed gearbox fails completely, and he crashes.
Unconscious, Dusty is airlifted back to base, where he wakes up five days later to learn that not only has his structure been fully repaired, but the base mechanic has built a superior custom refurbished gearbox for his engine to allow full performance again, which means he can race again. Impressed at Dusty's skill and heroism, Blade certifies him a firefighter. Propwash Junction is reopened with Dusty assuming his duty as a firefighter, celebrated with an aerial show with his new colleagues from Piston Peak.
In a mid-credits scene, Cad is seen working as a Death Valley National Park ranger.
Cast[]
- Dane Cook as Dusty Crophopper, a crop duster plane in the town of Propwash Junction who used to be a successful racer ever since winning the Wings Around the Globe Rally, but after learning that his engine's gearbox is damaged, he can no longer race and ultimately becomes the wildland fighter. He was inspired by the Air Tractor AT-502, Cessna, and the PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader.
- Stacy Keach as Skipper Riley, a Chance-Vought F4U Corsair and Dusty's mentor.
- Danny Mann as Sparky, a forklift.
- Julie Bowen as Lil' Dipper, a Super Scooper based on the Grumman G-21 Goose and CL-415 SuperScooper
- Brad Garrett as Chug, a fuel truck.
- Teri Hatcher as Dottie, a forklift.
- Curtis Armstrong as Maru, a forklift mechanic at the Piston Peak Air Attack base
- Ed Harris as Blade Ranger, a veteran fire-and-rescue helicopter. He used to play a police helicopter in CHoPs with his co-star Nick "Loop'n" Lopez but became a firefighter when Nick died during a stunt gone wrong on set. He is inspired by the AgustaWestland AW109, AgustaWestland AW139 and Bell 429 GlobalRanger.
- Wes Studi as Windlifter, a Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane heavy-lift helicopter
- Dale Dye as Cabbie, a Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar retired from military service
- Regina King as Dynamite, the leader of The Smokejumpers, a team of ground vehicles who parachute into fire sites
- Corri English as Pinecone, a smokejumper equipped with a rake tool to clear brush and debris
- Bryan Callen as Avalanche, a bulldozer and a smokejumper
- Danny Pardo as Blackout, a smokejumper equipped with a circular saw
- Matt L. Jones as Drip, a smokejumper equipped with a skid-steer claw to clear fallen trees and brush
- Fred Willard as Secretary of the Interior, a green four-wheel-drive with a roof rack
- Cedric the Entertainer as Leadbottom, a biplane.
- Jerry Stiller as Harvey, an RV and Winnie's husband.
- Anne Meara as Winnie, an RV and Harvey's wife. This would be Meara's final role before her death in 2015.
- Erik Estrada as Nick "Loop'n" Lopez, a helicopter police officer who was the co-star of CHoPs who was killed before Blade became a firefighter
- John Michael Higgins as Superintendent Cad Spinner, a self-absorbed luxury sport utility vehicle whose sole concern was the grand reopening and protection of the park's luxurious lodge.
- Barry Corbin as Ol' Jammer, a tour bus based on the White Model 706
- Hal Holbrook as Mayday, an old fire and rescue truck from Propwash Junction
- Kevin Michael Richardson as Ryker, a transportation management safety truck with a roof-mounted watercannon for firefighting
- Patrick Warburton as Pulaski, a yellow structural firefighting fire truck with a roof-mounted watercannon for firefighting. Pulaski's namesake, Ed Pulaski, was known for his heroism in saving most of his crew during the Great Fire of 1910 by sheltering in an abandoned mine. He also invented the firefighting axes/adze used by wildfire firefighters that bears his name.[citation needed]
- Brad Paisley as Bubba, a Pickup truck
- Kari Wahlgren as Patch
- René Auberjonois as André
- Steve Schirripa as Steve
- Brent Musburger as Brent Mustangburger, a Ford Mustang
- John Ratzenberger as Brodi