While Pixar has been lauded for their originality in the past, the studio is about to embark on a multi-year barrage of sequels. One of those is next year's Cars 3, and while the previous sequel didn't turn as many heads as the original, there's hope that the next installment could rev up the fans once again. Apparently it's going to be a lot more like the original Cars than it is Cars 2.
Beginning with next weekend's Finding Dory, Pixar will be focusing on sequels to their original content with new chapters in both the Toy Story and Incredibles franchises. But before they release either of those sequels, we'll get a third installment of Cars. With plans to release Cars 3 almost exactly one year after Finding Dory, we don't know much about what's planned for the film. Entertainment Weekly asked Pixar head honcho John Lasseter about it, and his response has us much more interested in Cars 3 than we were yesterday.
Lightning McQueen, he's awesome. We've got some great new characters, some great racing in it. It's a very emotional story. It's a little bit more akin to Cars 1, where you get into a deep emotion with him. It's really a special story. It's very emotional and his relationship with Doc Hudson, and his memory of Doc Hudson.
Doc Hudson was the town judge of Radiator Springs in the original Cars and was memorably voiced by the great Paul Newman, in his final film performance before he passed away in 2008. Doc's voice was not recast in Cars 2 because Pixar isn't insane and they know that recasting Paul fucking Newman is something you just don't do. At the beginning of _Cars 2 _we learn that Doc had also passed away, and from there the film moved on to be a secret agent story. Apparently, in Cars 3 we'll be taking a step back to the start.
Whether you find the Pixar formula to be something special or something annoying, the company is certainly capable of creating stories with heart. The fact that they were able to make a story about anthropomorphic automobiles emotional may have been one of their greatest achievements. While Cars 2 wasn't without its charm, it was without much of that heart. The film was financially successful, and Lightning McQueen may be Pixar's single biggest merchandising powerhouse, but critics didn't care for the sequel as much as the original. Pixar appears to be taking this in, as they'll be going back to the more successful formula in part three.
Are you looking forward to seeing Cars 3? Does this news change your interest level in any way? Pixar's next feature, Finding Dory, will be hitting screens June 17 and Cars 3 is scheduled for a June 16, 2017 release.
