When Disney first announced that there was going to be a spin-off to everyone’s least favorite Pixar franchise (“Cars”), the news wasn’t particularly exciting, or surprising, for that matter. The “Cars” franchise rakes in billions of dollars in merchandise sales, so we could be getting “Cars”-related movies for the rest of our lifetime. Well, a new theatrical trailer for the spin-off “Planes” has arrived online, leaving you to decide for yourself whether or not it’ll be worth seeing with your kids this summer.
“Planes” is actually being produced by DisneyToon Studios, not Pixar, with the only carry-over being John Lasseter who joined the animated film as a producer. “Planes” follows Dusty Crophopper, a crop duster with a big heart who dreams of competing as a high-flying air racer. Only problem? Dusty’s afraid of heights and was not built for racing. Dusty, of course, will reach previously unforeseen heights and will be an inspiration to us all. In other news, while Jon Cryer originally had the lead voice role in the developing stages, he’s now been replaced by….Dane Cook. Um, ok…
Who knows, maybe “Planes” will wind up being much better than expected. The fact that it was originally supposed to be a direct-to-DVD release, though, doesn’t lend much hope. Maybe its quality exceeded what the studio had set out to do. Nevertheless, we can already see the endless amount of aviator-related puns that critics will come up with when this comes out. “Planes” will touchdown in a theater near you on August 9th. Check out the trailer below.