Planes: Fire & Rescue

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Template:Infobox FilmPlanes: Fire & Rescue (originally titled Planes 2: Fire and Rescue) is the second film in the Planes trilogy, and the fourth film overall. It will have a 3D theatrical release on July 18, 2014.

Plot

"Planes: Fire & Rescue features a quirky crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting historic Piston Peak National Park from a raging wildfire. When world famous air racer Dusty (voice of Dane Cook) learns that his engine is damaged and he may never race again, he must shift gears and is launched into the world of wildfire air attack. Dusty joins forces with veteran fire and rescue helicopter Blade Ranger (voice of Ed Harris) and his courageous air attack team, including spirited super scooper Lil' Dipper (voice of Julie Bowen), heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter (voice of Wes Studi), ex-military transport Cabbie (voice of Dale Dye) and a lively bunch of brave all-terrain vehicles known as The Smokejumpers (voices of Regina King, Corri English, Bryan Callen, Danny Pardo and Matt Jones). Together, the fearless team battles a massive wildfire, and Dusty learns what it takes to become a true hero."

Voice Cast

Dane Cook as Dusty Crophopper
Stacy Keach as Skipper Riley
Danny Mann as Sparky
Julie Bowen as Lil' Dipper
Brad Garrett as Chug
Teri Hatcher as Dottie
Curtis Armstrong as Maru
Ed Harris as Blade Ranger
Wes Studi as Windlifter
Dale Dye as Cabbie
Regina King as Dynamite
Corri English as Pinecone
Bryan Callen as Avalanche
Danny Pardo as Blackout
Matt Jones as Drip
Fred Willard as Secretary of the Interior
Jerry Stiller as Harvey
Cedric the Entertainer as Leadbottom
Anne Meara as Winnie
Erik Estrada as Nick "Loop'n" Lopez
John Michael Higgins as Cad Spinner
Barry Corbin as Ol' Jammer
Hal Holbrook as Mayday
Kevin Michael Richardson as Ryker
Patrick Warburton as Pulaski
Brad Paisley as Bubba

Production

According to director Roberts "Bobs" Gannaway, "The first film [directed by Klay Hall] was a race film. I wanted to look at a different genre, in this case, an action-disaster film." Production on Fire & Rescue began six months after the start of the first film. "We’ve been working on this film for nearly four years." The filmmakers 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. Gannaway explained "We actually hooked cameras onto their helmets and had them drop out of the airplane so we could catch it on film." Nearly a year of research was done before the filmmakers started work on the story. The idea of Dusty becoming a fire and rescue plane was based on reality. Gannaway stated that during their research, they discovered that in 1955, crop dusters were among the first planes to be used in aerial fire-fighting, "There was a group of cropdusters who reworked their planes so they could drop water."

Release

The movie is set to release in theaters July 18, 2014. No release date for the DVD has been confirmed.

Soundtrack

Mark Mancina, who composed the music for the first film, returned for the sequel. In addition, Brad Paisley wrote and performed a song for the film titled "All In". Paisley also performed a song titled "Runaway Romance", co-written by Bobs Gannaway and Danny Jacob. Spencer Lee performed an original song titled "Still I Fly". The soundtrack album will be released on July 15, 2014.

Video Game

At E3 2014, it was announced that a video game for the film will be released for the Wii, Wii U, Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS on November 4, 2014.

Potential Sequel

It has been confirmed by Carlos Alazraqui that the Planes series will be a trilogy. A Disney staff member also stated that Planes 3 is in story development. Instead of publishing an Art of book for the first film, Chronicle Books will publish The Art of Planes 1 & 2 to coincide with the release of Planes: Fire & Rescue.

Besides the Planes series, DisneyToon is considering to make more spin-offs that would feature other vehicles like boats and trains, and which may go into production if Planes is well received. John Lasseter said: "I kept thinking about—I’m a big train fanatic. I love trains. And I started thinking about trains, and boats and airplanes. And I kept wanting to have more and more of those type of characters. [...] It’s one of the ideas, that there will be an ongoing series. It almost starts getting into this thing where we fall in love with these plane characters, we want to see more and more stories with them. And then you start doing other vehicles and stuff like that. Yeah. So it kind of is a bigger idea that can keep expanding."

Trivia

Two Dinoco cans seen in the film

Dinoco cans are seen in a bar where Dusty is in.
Aside from the new title, the Planes logo appears to have a few small changes. For example:
- The silver metal has been changed to bronze.
- The small star below the title "Planes" has been changed to a sort of firehouse symbol.
Planes: Fire & Rescue is the fourth entry in the Cars franchise. More Cars films are planned for the future, such as Planes 3 and Cars 3.
In addition to car-ification and plane-ification, some aspects of Piston Peak National Park appear to be train-ified.
Known as a SEAT (Single Engine Air Tanker), crop dusters were among the first wildfire air attack aircraft. The first operational air tanker was a repurposed crop duster, which made the first air drop on the Mendocino National Forest in 1955.
Blade Ranger and Windlifter are both helicopters, so filmmakers turned to world-renowned aerobatic helicopter pilot Chuck Aaron to ensure they captured the helicopter flight authentically. Blade Ranger pulls some tricky maneuvers in the film that were reviewed and validated by Aaron.
The film’s setting is inspired by elements from a host of national parks, including Yosemite and Yellowstone.
- National Parks Director Jonathan Jarvis was invited to DisneyToon Studios to view the film. He was thrilled with the attention to detail like the inclusion of rocking chairs in front of the fireplace.
- Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Inn served as inspiration for the film’s Grand Fusel Lodge.
- The railway station attached to the Grand Fusel Lodge was inspired by an actual station that once existed near Yellowstone’s north entrance and was designed by Robert Reamer, the architect of the Old Faithful Inn.
Playing upon the theme of second chances and based on filmmakers’ real-life observations during research trips to aerial firefighting stations, much of the Piston Peak Air Attack Base set is made up of repurposed structures. Filmmakers learned that budgets are traditionally stretched by reusing items, so they incorporated the practice in Planes: Fire & Rescue. Maru is the ringleader when it comes to repurposing, repeating the mantra, ‘It’s better than new.’