In a star-studded presentation on Wednesday, Disney Animation head John Lasseter announced that the sequel to his 2006 Pixar film Cars will come out in the summer of 2011. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the flick, so far titled Cars 2, was originally slated for a summer of 2012 release when it was announced back in April, but has since been shifted up one year.
Veteran Pixar producer Brad Lewis (Ratatouille) will replace Lasseter in the director's chair. There's little known about the movie at present, but Lasseter claimed it was inspired by seeing exotic cars around the world while doing publicity for the original Cars.
To keep interest in the movie going, Pixar will also release a series of animated shorts that it has dubbed Cars Toons. The first short in the series will focus on Mater, the rusty tow truck voiced by Larry the Cable Guy.
What is looking increasingly likely, however, is that Paul Newman won't be reprising his role as Doc Hudson. The 83-year-old actor announced his retirement in 2007, and his publicist has neither confirmed nor denied that Newman was battling lung cancer. Of course George Carlin won't be returning as the Volkswagen bus Fillmore either, due to the fact that he's dead.
Two or Three Pixar Films in 2011?
There are still some unanswered questions pertaining to this announcement. Pixar was planning on upgrading their film schedule in 2011, putting out 2 CGI animated movies instead of one. Newt, directed by Garry Rydstrom ("Lifted") was going to come out in the summer, and The Bear and the Bow, directed by Brenda Chapman (head of story on The Lion King), was intended for the winter of that same year.
Will Cars 2 replace one of those movies, or will Pixar release 3 animated films in one year? There's not enough information to say, but it seems likely that Cars 2 will bounce Newt out of the summer of 2011 slot. Lasseter may have decided to give Rydstrom, who only has one animated short to his credit, more time to develop his feature length debut.
Chapman, on the other hand, is more experienced at animated film making. In addition to heading the story team on Disney's The Lion King, she assisted on Beauty and the Beast, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Chicken Run. She was also one of three directors on DreamWorks Animation's The Prince of Egypt, making her the 3rd woman in history to direct an animated feature film.
Pixar's next animated feature film, Up, makes its debut on May 29, 2009.
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