Planes is a 2013 American animated sports comedy film produced by Disneytoon Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed and co-written by Klay Hall and produced by Traci Balthazor-Flynn, it is a spin-off of Pixar's Cars franchise. Despite not being produced by Pixar, the film was co-written and executive produced by Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios' then-chief creative officer John Lasseter, who directed the first two Cars films, while the remaining writers of the film included Jeffrey M. Howard. The film stars the voices of Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, Priyanka Chopra in her Hollywood debut, Brad Garrett, Teri Hatcher, Danny Mann, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Roger Craig Smith, John Cleese, Carlos Alazraqui, Sinbad, Val Kilmer, and Anthony Edwards. In the film, Dusty Crophopper (Cook), a crop duster plane in the town of Propwash Junction, wants to complete Wings Around the Globe with racing planes, especially Ripslinger (Smith), despite his fear of heights, with the help of naval aviator Skipper Riley (Keach), who trains him.
Based on the concept created by Lasseter, the writers made a conscious effort to not remake Cars in a new setting by rejecting ideas that were too close to ideas while reusing Keach's Skipper and Mann's Sparky from Cars Toons episode "Air Mater". The production team conducted research by interviewing several pilots of plane types that were included in the movie. Jon Cryer was initially announced as the voice of Dusty, before being replaced by Cook. Despite dropping out, Cryer received credit on the film for "additional story material". The musical score was composed by Mark Mancina, while Prana Studios provided work on visual effects, animation and compositing.
Planes premiered on August 2, 2013, at a special screening at The Fly-In Theater at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, an annual gathering of aviation enthusiasts in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Like many of Disneytoon's films, it was initially set to be released as a direct-to-video film, but was instead theatrically released on August 9, 2013 in the Disney Digital 3D and RealD 3D formats. The film grossed $240.2 million worldwide on a $50 million budget, despite receiving generally negative reviews from critics, who criticized the plot and humor but praised its voice acting and animation. A sequel, titled Planes: Fire & Rescue, was theatrically released on July 18, 2014.
Plot[]
Dusty Crophopper, a young crop duster plane, works at a cornfield in Propwash Junction, Minnesota, and practices aerobatic maneuvers in his spare time, who dreams of becoming a racer, but are scorned by his boss, Leadbottom, and his forklift/mechanic friend, Dottie. However, he is supported by his fuel truck friend, Chug. Dusty and Chug train for qualifiers for the upcoming Wings Around the Globe Rally. On the night before the qualifiers, Dusty asks an elderly navy war plane named Skipper Riley to teach him how to fly well, but Skipper declines. The next day, Dusty qualifies for the race on a legal technicality, as one of the planes in the qualifiers was disqualified for using an illegal fuel intake.
Skipper decides to mentor Dusty, and discovers Dusty has a fear of heights. With training complete, Dusty travels to New York City for the race. There, he befriends a Mexican racer named El Chupacabra, who falls in love with a French-Canadian racer named Rochelle but consistently fails to woo her. Three-time defending champion Ripslinger rudely dismisses Dusty. Dusty falls in love with an Indian plane named Ishani, who becomes supportive of him. During the first leg of the race from New York to Iceland, Dusty's refusal to fly high causes him to finish in last place.
During the second leg of the race to Germany, Dusty shows good sportsmanship by saving another racer, Bulldog, from crashing, winning Bulldog's respect but finishing last again. After the third leg of the race to Agra in India, Ishani invites Dusty to fly around the Taj Mahal and advises him to fly low through the Himalayas by following some railroad tracks. After flying through a tunnel (and narrowly missing a train), Dusty is in first place at Upper Mustang in Nepal, but he is upset to discover that Ishani set him up in exchange for a new propeller from Ripslinger's team, and he shuns her.
The fifth leg is over the Hump (the mountains between northeast India and south China) to Shanghai, where Dusty gets into first place again. He manages to help El Chupacabra win over Rochelle with a romantic song. In the sixth leg of the race across the Pacific, Ripslinger, refusing to lose to a crop duster, has his sidekicks Ned and Zed clip off Dusty's navigation antenna. Lost and low on fuel, Dusty comes across the USS Dwight D. Flysenhower, which allows him to land and refuel. On the carrier, Dusty discovers that contrary to Skipper's own descriptions, he only flew one mission during war. Before he can obtain answers, a thunderstorm strikes, and he is forced to depart by the carrier crew. However, he ends up crashing into the Pacific Ocean and is severely damaged.
Dusty is salvaged and transported to Mexico where his concerned friends are also present. Skipper confesses about the disastrous recon mission which killed the rest of his squadron when he was coaxed to lead an attack by one of the fighters. He never flew again after the navy salvaged him. Dusty considers dropping out of the race but is encouraged to continue by many of his fellow competitors, who donate parts to repair the damage he sustained. Ishani also gives Dusty her new propeller, reconciling their friendship.
Racing back to New York, Ripslinger plots to finish off Dusty again but is thwarted by Skipper, who regains his courage to fly. Dusty conquers his acrophobia when he rides a jetstream. Nearing the finish line, Ripslinger slows for the cameras, which allows Dusty to pass him and win, and Ripslinger crashes into portable toilets. Dusty is congratulated by his friends, and Skipper thanks him for giving him the confidence to fly again. Skipper rejoins the navy, flying one last time with Dusty.
Cast[]
- Dane Cook as Dusty Crophopper, a crop duster plane who hopes to complete Wings Around the Globe. He was inspired by the Air Tractor AT-502, Cessna 188 and the PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader.
- Stacy Keach as Skipper Riley, a Chance Vought F4U Corsair and Dusty's mentor (who appeared in the Cars Toons episode "Air Mater").
- Priyanka Chopra as Ishani, a Pan-Asian champion from India, based on the AeroCad AeroCanard
- Danny Mann as Sparky, a forklift (who appeared in the Cars Toons episode "Air Mater").
- Brad Garrett as Chug, a fuel truck
- Teri Hatcher as Dottie, a forklift
- Cedric the Entertainer as Leadbottom, a biplane inspired by the Boeing-Stearman Model 75 with a partial engine cowl.
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Rochelle, a racing plane inspired by the Bay Super V, a conversion of the V-tail Model 35 Beechcraft Bonanza. Originally from Quebec, her flag and paint job are localized in 11 countries. In Australia and New Zealand, Rochelle is re-contextualized as a former Tasmanian mail delivery plane, and is voiced by Jessica Marais. In Italian, she is Azzurra, an Italian prototype plane voiced by Micaela Ramazzotti.
- Roger Craig Smith as Ripslinger, a custom-built carbon-fiber plane with contra-rotating propellers (most likely inspired by a P-51D Mustang modified for racing) and Dusty's rival.
- Gabriel Iglesias as Ned and Zed, Ripslinger's sidekicks inspired by the Zivko Edge 540 and MX Aircraft MXS.
- John Cleese as Bulldog, a de Havilland DH.88 Comet
- Carlos Alazraqui as El Chupacabra, a Gee Bee Model R
- Val Kilmer as Bravo, a Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet from U.S Navy fighter squadron VFA-103.
- Anthony Edwards as Echo, another Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet from U.S Navy fighter squadron VFA-103.
- Colin Cowherd as Colin Cowling, a blimp. In the UK, the blimp character is named Lofty Crofty and is voiced by Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft.
- Sinbad as Roper, a forklift
- Oliver Kalkofe as Franz aka Von Fliegenhosen, a German Aerocar
- Brent Musburger as Brent Mustangburger, a 1964½ Ford Mustang (who appeared in Cars 2).
- John Ratzenberger as Harland, a jet tug
- Barney Harwood as Sky Cam 1, a red helicopter filming the race over Germany