One of the biggest (and, some would say, cruelest) ironies in the esteemed career of Pixar involves the continued, phenomenal success of Cars. For a company built on a foundation of technical innovation and rich storytelling, the fact that one of the company’s weaker, more kid-friendly products has proved to be their most commercially viable is an expected, though still somewhat tragic notion.
A decent film that raked in a good chunk at the box office and billions more in merchandising, Cars resulted in not only the worst entry in Pixar’s filmography (Cars 2) but also a subsequent mini-media empire onto itself, with toys, TV shorts and video games to boot.
Planes stands as a continuation of the Cars brand. This time around, however, the film was made under the auspices of the DisneyToon Studios rather than Pixar. The result is a technically proficient but ultimately soulless exercise in corporate marketing disguised as an inspirational animated sports movie.
As with the first two Cars films, Planes is set in a world populated exclusively by anthropomorphic transportation vehicles. The story centers on a crop-duster plane named—what else—Dusty Crophopper (voiced by Dane Cook) who dreams of escaping his monotonous lifestyle and becoming a professional racer. Though dissuaded by his friends and colleagues, Dusty decides to try out for the annual Wings Around the World race and, surprisingly, makes the cut. After receiving some intense training by grizzled former navy warplane named Skipper Riley (voiced by Stacy Keach), Dusty sets off on a race that will take him around the world. Ridiculed by his fellow racers and nursing a paralyzing fear of heights, Dusty nevertheless powers through, determined to prove his worth.
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