Taglines: Going where no car has gone before.
Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2” when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage.
Torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret spy mission, Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. Adding to the fast-paced fun is a colorful new all-car cast that includes secret agents, menacing villains and international racing competitors.
About the Production
Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Studios are off to the races in “Cars 2” as star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and his best friend, the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy), jump-start a new adventure to exotic new lands stretching across the globe.
The duo are joined by a hometown pit crew from Radiator Springs when they head overseas to support Lightning as he competes in the first-ever World Grand Prix, a race created to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the finish line is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and bombshells when Mater is mistakenly ensnared in an intriguing escapade of his own: international espionage.
Mater finds himself torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and “towing” the line in a top-secret mission orchestrated by master British spy Finn McMissile (voice of Michael Caine) and the stunning rookie field spy Holley Shiftwell (voice of Emily Mortimer). Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan, Italy, France and England, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. The fast-paced fun includes a colorful new cast of cars, boats, trains and airplanes — complete with menacing villains and international racing competitors.
Emily Mortimer brings charm, cleverness and cachet as Holley Shiftwell, a rookie field spy who knows every trick in the manual. Versatile actor John Turturro gives a free-wheeling performance as Francesco Bernoulli, the world-renowned Italian racing champ who is Lightning’s chief rival. Tony Shalhoub, Guido Quaroni, Paul Dooley, Cheech Marin, John Ratzenberger, Joe Mantegna, Peter Jacobson, Jason Isaacs, Eddie Izzard, Franco Nero and Vanessa Redgrave also lend their vocal talents. Real-life Formula 1 racing champ Lewis Hamilton and NASCAR racer Jeff Gordon add a touch of authenticity with their cameos in the film.
“Cars 2” is presented where available in Disney Digital 3D™ and uses the latest technical advances to maximum advantage in giving audiences a front-row seat (as well as a car’s eye view) for all the racing action, and stunning global settings. Pixar’s phenomenal technical team also takes the medium to exciting new heights, utilizing state-of-the-art tools for modeling, lighting, shading and rendering.
John Lasseter: Back in the Driver’s Seat
Director Can’t Resist the Race or the Spy Chase
After completing “Cars,” John Lasseter knew he wanted to tell another story with these characters that both he and audiences had come to love. And the ideas for “Cars 2” were taking shape long before production on the film began.
“During ‘Cars,’” says Lasseter, “we were developing a sequence in which Lightning McQueen was going to take Sally, the Porsche, on a first date. And it was going to be at a drive-in movie, because that’s very car-oriented. Then we thought, ‘What movie is playing?’ I love spy movies and I thought it would be so much fun to see what a spy movie would be in the car world. We came up with this character named Finn McMissile who was going to be starring in this little movie-within-a-movie.
“I am a huge fan of spy movies,” continues Lasseter. “I grew up on the TV show ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ and my five sons and I love watching the spy movies together. We must have seen the ‘Bourne’ series hundreds of times. And so even though the sequence changed and Lightning and Sally went cruising on their first date instead, I never forgot the idea of Finn McMissile and the spy movie. I thought, ‘There’s a lot of potential there.’”
Then in 2006, while on a global publicity tour promoting the international release of “Cars,” Lasseter knew that these culturally diverse foreign countries would be the perfect setting for the “Cars” characters to become embroiled in a spy story.
“It’s exciting to take Mater around the world and put him in situations that are totally unique to that country,” says Lasseter. “This is where the spark of the second part of the story came from as I was traveling. I had all these characters in my head, and I found myself constantly laughing, imagining what Mater would do in these different situations. How would he handle driving on the wrong side of the road in London? What would it be like to have Mater lost in the maze of streets in Tokyo, with no English street signs? And how would he function in Italy, where the traffic signals are just a mere suggestion of what you might want to do?”
Apart from the chance to take the characters all over the world, and explore the world of international racing and espionage, the thing that appealed most to Lasseter was the heart and humor inherent in the characters and the story.
“The humor in ‘Cars 2’ comes from the personality of the characters,” says the director, “and seeing them in interesting, fish-out-of-water situations. But at its emotional core, the movie is about Lightning McQueen and Mater’s friendship, which gets tested in a very different and interesting way. It’s about how the strength of a friendship can be tested. What may be solid in one place can appear much different in another. Put a friendship to the test under a different set of circumstances and in a different setting — how true and deep is this friendship, really?”
Lasseter is particularly fond of Mater. “Mater is such a special character; he’s honest and completely straightforward and tells it exactly like it is,” says the director. “He’s just fun and lovable. When a character as innocent as that discovers that people are not laughing with him, like he’s always thought his entire life, but laughing at him, it’s absolutely heartbreaking to see him become immediately and more realistically aware and learn the truth about himself — or what he thinks is the truth about himself. It’s very touching, because through his own journey, his friendship with Lightning McQueen is eventually made even stronger. They both realize that, you know what, Mater is who he is, and it’s not Mater who has to change, it’s the world that should change.”
Says co-director Brad Lewis, “Working with John is always inspirational. He’s got such a vivid imagination, and you can just tell there are these huge worlds that live in his brain. In the case of ‘Cars 2,’ the characters are so special to John. We have a great history together and a great friendship. It was a joy and a fantastic learning experience to work side-by-side with him on this film.”
Producer Denise Ream says it was a dream come true to work with Lasseter — and not just for her. “Since John finished directing ‘Cars,’ Pixar has grown significantly, so a lot of artists here hadn’t had the opportunity to work with him in that capacity before. That’s been really wonderful,” says Ream. “It has been a real treat seeing John directing the artists and animators and working with all the different departments. As a director, he is very specific, he knows what he wants. He has passion. It’s fun working with someone that has such passion for the medium. And let’s face it, he’s an amazing storyteller. He had this movie in his mind, and it’s been fun to help bring that vision to the screen. It’s been challenging, but because he’s been fun to work with, it’s just made it enjoyable for everyone.”
On the Road Again
Filmmakers Create Action-Packed Tale of International Espionage
International espionage. Global racing. Friendship. Each theme was to play a role in “Cars 2,” and co-director Brad Lewis, screenwriter Ben Queen and the Pixar story team, led by Nathan Stanton, were charged with finding just the right mix for the story. The film’s screenplay is by Queen, based on a story by Lasseter, Lewis and Dan Fogelman.
“This is not a parody of a spy movie,” says Lasseter. “This is a spy movie, but with cars as characters. It’s a different genre that gives us an opportunity to play with so many gadgets. The little boy in me came out in this movie more than any other movie. Let’s have fun with this world. Let’s have fun with these gadgets.”
Says Queen, “When you see that opening sequence with Finn McMissile, it’s played totally straight and serious, with real jeopardy in the scene. And then the very next scene is in Radiator Springs, and it plays as comedy. What works beautifully is that the juxtaposition of those two things immediately sets up the tone of the movie. It’s a spy thriller, but with emotion and comedic undertones. For the rest of the movie, we thrust you into this mile-a-minute story and genre.”
For Queen, who had coincidentally written and produced a television series for Fox called “Drive” about an illegal cross-country road race with characters that were externalized by their cars, “Cars 2” was his first writing assignment for animation. “The first ‘Cars’ movie solidified the friendship between Mater and Lightning, which was something that audiences really related to,” says Queen. “What we wanted to do was take that out of Radiator Springs and put it into an environment where they were both fish out of water. It’s a real test of the strength of this relationship.”
“We came to the conclusion that their friendship is really the crux of the movie,” says story supervisor Nathan Stanton. “We figured it’s about four or five years after the first movie, so Lightning and Mater’s bond is firmly established. Here you have this very well-known, famous racecar, whose best friend is sheltered and naive to the world outside of his small town. While they’re best friends in the safety net of Radiator Springs, that friendship hasn’t truly been tested yet. We loved the idea of exploring what happens when there’s a fracture of their friendship.”
Lewis recalls, “I think from the very beginning, people were excited about the movie. But they were wondering, ‘Can you really pull all that off? Can you have a large-scale international-spy and conspiracy movie that’s also a racing movie? We bit off a huge story, and the fantastic thing is that everyone at Pixar poured their heart and soul into making it. And I think the result is one of the most beautiful films that’s ever been made.”
Cars 2 Goes Global
The Gang from Radiator Springs Journeys to Japan, Italy, France and the U.K. When “Cars” drove into theaters in 2006, moviegoers fell in love with Radiator Springs — its charm, simplicity and small-town magic that seemed to capture all who encountered it. It is, after all, the cutest little town in Carburetor County. That’s according to the town’s chief tow truck — and Mater knows these kinds of things.
But when it came time to revisit the gang from Radiator Springs, filmmakers wondered how this charismatic bunch would do outside the security of home. But where?
Why, the whole world, of course. “Wherever you can go in our world,” says director John Lasseter, “we can go in the world of ‘Cars.’” And that’s pretty cool, says Lasseter. “If you look at all three ‘Toy Story’ movies, they’re so different in theme from one another, but they all take place in Andy’s room and around that world of the toys. What’s so different about this movie is that the world of ‘Cars 2’ truly is as big as the world we live in.”
Filmmakers were so intrigued by the international racing scene, they decided to introduce their favorite racecar to this new world. “Lightning McQueen is invited to compete in the World Grand Prix to race against the fastest cars in the world in three fantastic locations: Japan, Italy and the U.K. Of course, Mater, who has never left Radiator Springs, is completely out of place in these distinctive cultures, which leads to hilarious comedic moments.”
Hitting the Road
A global adventure like “Cars 2” comes with its share of challenges. According to producer Denise Ream, as a sequel, the film had a bit of a head start, because many of the core characters and the world they live in were established in “Cars.” “Coming into ‘Cars 2,’” says Ream, “it was really helpful knowing that there was an established look for the film. However, we expanded the world to feature all of these international places, so the aesthetics may have been established, but there was an enormous scope added. That’s been the biggest challenge, incorporating all of these dynamic locations — nearly double the number of locations than any other Pixar film has had.”
“You have to reinvent worlds,” adds co-director Brad Lewis. “You have to ‘car-ify’ every background building, prop and character to bring them into the ‘Cars’ world. And it’s all part of an episodic film with comedy and emotion. I remember when we were giving the initial pitches to the team that would be responsible for a lot of the design and scope of the movie. They would get this look on their faces like ‘You have got to be kidding me!’”
“‘Cars 2’ also has more crowd shots, more special effect, more characters,” says Ream. “It’s huge. We were fortunate to have a seasoned production designer in Harley Jessup supervising a very talented art department whose design work on this film exceeded our expectations.”
The artists and storytellers at Pixar were up to the task. The first step was research, and this team is passionate about research — especially when it means traveling to exotic international locales and soaking up as much of the local culture as possible. They explored cities in Europe and Japan to cement plot details and ensure authenticity in the look and feel of the worldwide settings.
London
Several members of the “Cars 2” production team went on a whirlwind tour to Europe in May 2009, visiting as many cities as possible, including a two-day visit to London.
Filmmakers took note of the color palette in each country, says Jessup. “We’re actually using the gray skies and stonework of London as a counterpoint to the brilliant colors of the cars and the red double-decker buses and phone booths. There are a lot of red and blue accents in London.”
The visit included stops at Scotland Yard, the House of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and London Eye, but Jay Shuster, character art director, spent much of his time on street corners. “There was a point at which I was standing on a curbside in London during the morning commute, recording every car that I saw, including trucks and buses — just trying to get the flavor of that environment.” Shuster’s observations allowed the team to populate the global locations with precisely the types of vehicles one would find there.
Artists had fun car-ifying some of the monumental features in each of the cities the film explores. Says Jessup, “We used car models and motifs from the late 1800s and early 1900s and used their features and details to decorate the oldest monuments and icons in each city.” For example, in the London of “Cars 2,” the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral is shaped like a car’s differential gear casing. One of the team’s favorite transformations is Big Ben — aptly called Big Bentley in “Cars 2.” “That’s probably the best example of a monument fitting perfectly into our world,” says Jessup, who was able to take a rare tour of the inside of Big Ben. “Big Bentley plays a pivotal part in the story. In order to make it fit into the ‘Cars’ world, we scaled it up about 250 percent — even the clockworks, which would actually fit in a conference room, were scaled up by at least 50 times their normal size.” The car-ified landmark also sports Bentley grilles and hood ornaments.
According to Lewis, there was another London locale that was on the must-have list. “We knew we were going to feature Buckingham Palace,” says the co-director. “We always thought, that would be a beautiful place to stage a straightaway in the race, and if you could have the race finish near the entrance to Buckingham Palace, it couldn’t get any more majestic than that. John and I found the thought of Mater trying to make the Beefeater guards laugh so funny that we had to do our own version for the film.”
Paris
Lasseter’s imagination long ago placed Mater in Paris. “How would Mater maneuver through the giant roundabouts around the Arc de Triomphe?” he asks. “No signals and no lane lines.”
The film features a montage of Paris that includes a shot of the famous monument, with Mater trying to merge into traffic. As in London, the production team car-ified the Arc de Triomphe by designing the top to be in the shape of an engine block and using headlights in the front features. The montage also includes a kissing car couple on a romantic bridge reminiscent of the Pont des Arts — a location frequented by Lasseter and his wife Nancy whenever they visit the City of Love. Lasseter even ensured that the “girl car” was designed in his wife’s favorite color, lavender.
And, of course, the Pont des Arts in “Cars 2” was car-ified, along with the city’s other iconic monuments — constructed with automobile leaf springs, a type of spring used in car suspensions. The top of the Eiffel Tower in “Cars 2” is in the shape of a 1930s European spark plug, and its base contains the features of a French wire wheel. Paris’ iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in the film is adorned with 24 “car-goyle” statues and flying buttresses in the shape of exhaust pipes.
During production, the “Cars 2” team was also able to explore the car showrooms on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées and visit the Grand Palais Museum and the Louvre. They saw the Bastille Opera and the Musée d’Orsay and were excited to incorporate Les Halles into the film. While the old food market was torn down in the ’70s, it was resurrected for “Cars 2,” transformed into a marketplace of spare auto parts. “It ended up being this really evocative space,” says Jessup, “a vast, cast-iron structure, big enough for the cars to chase through, and there’s this whole gypsy marketplace happening inside that is texturally really remarkable.
“It was really fun for me to get to work in Paris again,” continues Jessup. “We studied it so much for ‘Ratatouille,’ so it was a treat to be back there. Paris is really beautiful.”
Italy
To develop the fictional seaside city of Porto Corsa, Italy, the “Cars 2” production team visited locations on the coast of both Italy and France—taking scenic drives from Portofino, Italy, to Nice, France, and checking out the racing action in Monaco.
“When we decided that we were going to create a fictional Italian town,” says Lewis, “we wanted it to be our love letter to Italian racing. Racing in Italy is such a passion. We wanted to capture the heart and soul of it, from the beautiful coastline to the crazy crown jewel of racing — the Formula 1 race in Monaco — and, of course, Monte Carlo, which has the great casino.”
Portofino provided a lot of inspiration for Porto Corsa. “The Italian Riviera is all terracotta roofs, brightly painted buildings and beautiful cobblestone with Mediterranean vegetation and beautiful turquoise water,” says Jessup. The team sought a very upscale look and feel for their town of Porto Corsa and so incorporated French-Riviera-style architecture into the Portofino-type setting.
Appropriately car-ified with features of classic Italian cars, the Porto Corsa Marina is shaped like an automobile wheel, the casino is built on a rocky outcropping shaped like a 1948 Fiat 500 Topolino, and the craps table in the casino features fuzzy dice — like something one might find dangling from a rearview mirror. “The car-ification of these exotic locales is like a character unto itself,” says Lasseter. “It adds a level of humor and entertainment to the movie that the settings of a Pixar film have never done before.”
Tokyo
The overseas adventure in “Cars 2” kicks off in Japan, and filmmakers were excited to showcase the vibrant color that illuminates Tokyo at night. “The Ginza signs and super-rich colors there were extraordinary,” says Jessup.
Having visited Japan many times, both Lasseter and Lewis were excited about bringing the cars to Tokyo. “[We thought] if the racers went to Tokyo, they would be exposed to a very different culture,” says Lewis. “Lightning McQueen and Mater would be thrown into these great dramatic situations in which Lightning might be comfortable with the lights and the international attention, but it would be brand new to Mater. He might stick out a little.”
Adds Lasseter, “Anybody who’s been to Japan and has walked into a Japanese bathroom knows that the toilets tend to do a lot more than what Americans are used to. We kept thinking, ‘How would Mater react?’ and ‘What would a bathroom be like for a car?’ Let’s just say we had a little fun with that.”
A small production team took a trip to Tokyo in October 2009 that ultimately inspired the setting for one of the early scenes. Among the researchers was Sharon Calahan, director of photography for lighting. “Tokyo had changed a bit since the last time I’d been there,” says Calahan, “but it was really nice to get into some areas of town that I hadn’t seen before — places off the beaten path. It provided an intriguing contrast with the bigger, brasher, bolder neon section. We were able to explore freely to really get inspired. The [World Grand Prix] opening party sequence was set in a museum, and the National Art Center in Tokyo was just below our hotel. We hadn’t planned on using it for inspiration, but we saw it and thought, ‘Wow, look at this beautiful building.’”
“It lent itself to fairly quick car-ification,” says Lewis. “It was beautiful and modern, and it felt like the right place for us to have this kickoff party for the World Grand Prix.”
While in Tokyo, the production team was able to actually follow the film’s street-race course. Inspired by the Formula 1 nighttime race that takes place on the streets of Singapore, Lasseter and Lewis watched race footage for reference. “During the race, you see this brilliant halogen white light throughout the tracks,” says Lewis. “It’s really gorgeous. John and I thought if we could get the Tokyo neon and make it a night race with that brilliant halogen white light, it would be a great kickoff for the movie. It’s such a juxtaposition to Radiator Springs, the ultimate in Americana — to have this high-tech, neon bright-light center is the perfect cultural contrast.”
“This movie is vastly different than ‘Cars’ in nearly every way,” says Lasseter, “yet it’s still a part of the world of ‘Cars.’ That’s what made it so much fun. The settings all around the world, the glitz, the glamour, the cool hipness of the European settings and Japan, the whole spy genre, the form of racing that they do, the type of race cars that are there. Everything about it was cool, and it was so much fun to do.”
Cars 2
Directed by: John Lasseter
Starring: Owen Wilson, John Ratzenberger, Bonnie Hunt, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, Franco Nero, Jenifer Lewis
Screenplay by: John Lasseter
Production Design by: Harley Jessup
Film Editing by: Stephen Schaffer
Art Direction by: Bert Berry, Jay Shuster
Music by: Michael Giacchino
MPAA Rating: G for general audience.
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
Release Date: June 24, 2011
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