Planes: Fire & Rescue

Planes: Fire & Rescue (originally titled Planes 2: Fire and Rescue^[1]) is a 2014 theatrical sequel to the 2013 animated film Planes, a spin-off of Pixar's Cars franchise. Directed by Bobs Gannaway, produced by DisneyToon Studios and Ferrell Barron,^[2] and executive produced by John Lasseter,^[3] it will be released in theaters on July 18, 2014 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.^[4]^[5]

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. Together, the fearless team battles a massive wildfire, and Dusty learns what it takes to become a true hero."^[6]^[7]

Voice Cast

Dane Cook as Dusty Crophopper^[6]
Julie Bowen as Lil' Dipper^[6]
Curtis Armstrong as Maru^[8]^[7]
Ed Harris as Blade Ranger^[7]
Wes Studi as Windlifter^[7]
Dale Dye as Cabbie^[7]
Regina King as Dynamite^[7]
Corri English as Pinecone^[7]
Bryan Callen as Avalanche^[7]
Danny Pardo as Blackout^[7]
Matt Jones as Drip^[7]
Fred Willard as Secretary of the Interior^[7]
Jerry Stiller as Harvey^[7]
Anne Meara as Winnie^[7]
Erik Estrada as Nick "Loop'n" Lopez^[7]
John Michael Higgins as Cad Spinner^[7]
Barry Corbin as Ol' Jammer^[7]
Hal Holbrook as Mayday^[7]
Kevin Michael Richardson as Ryker^[7]
Patrick Warburton as Pulaski^[7]

According to an interview with Bobs Gannaway and Ferrell Barron, the characters Chug, Dottie and Skipper Riley are scheduled to return in the sequel,^[9] though it is unknown if Brad Garrett, Teri Hatcher and Stacy Keach will reprise their roles. Leadbottom and Sparky also appear with speaking roles, but it is currently unknown if Cedric the Entertainer and Danny Mann reprise their roles.

Characters

Dusty Crophopper

Dusty Crophopper is a crop duster, and a famous air racing champion from Propwash Junction, Minnesota.

When world-famous air racer Dusty Crophopper returns to hometown Propwash Junction after another victorious racing season, the former crop duster revels in his new career success until a fateful training run changes his course with a career-ending injury. Forced to shift gears, Dusty decides to train with the Aerial Fire Fighters at Piston Peak Air Attack Base as a Single Engine Air Tanker (SEAT). The heroic, often life-threatening efforts involved are admirable—but seemingly impossible to master—particularly if you’re a crop duster-turned-racer with an injury that can’t be ignored.^[7]

In Planes: Fire & Rescue, when Dusty gets news of the possibility of never being able to race again due to engine damage, he ends up finding himself joining a crew of aircraft vehicles that work to protect Piston Peak from wildfires.

Dusty's racing number is #7, which some say is a lucky number.
Dusty's wingspan is 23 feet (7 meters).
Dusty is inspired by the Air Tractor AT-502, Cessna and the PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader.^[10] He has a horsepower of 680 1/2.
His flying style is keeping it nice and low, but keeping his speed up.

Lil' Dipper

Lil' Dipper is the deuteragonist in Planes: Fire & Rescue.

Outgoing and spirited super scooper Dipper is skilled at skimming lakes, scooping up more than 1600 gallons of water and dousing angry fires. A former cargo hauler from Alaska, Dipper is an avid air racing fan with a major crush on headline racer Dusty, so she’s head-over-wheels with excitement when the new SEAT shows up at Piston Peak.^[7]

Lil' Dipper is a member of The Smokejumpers, an organization working to fight wildfires. She is also Dusty's biggest fan.

She is modeled after a Super Scooper.

Blade Ranger

Blade Ranger is a helicopter set to appear in Planes: Fire & Rescue.

Blade Ranger, a veteran fire-and-rescue helicopter, heads up the Piston Peak Air Attack team. Haunted by a storied past, he’s a tough and demanding air boss with a wry sense of humor, and he’s not exactly enthusiastic about his new trainee Dusty. But Blade is a pro and does everything he can to bring the new SEAT up to speed.^[7]

Blade is a member of The Smokejumpers, an organization working to fight wildfires.

Windlifter

Windlifter is a heavy-lift helicopter.

Windlifter is a heavy-lift helicopter who can hoist dozens of trees or a huge tank of fire retardant. The American Indian’s wisdom is vast—he’s chock full of fire folklore, and his connection to nature allows him to sense fires before they’re even spotted. The former lumberjack became a firefighter to help others, and no mission is too big for Windlifter.^[7]

Windlifter is a member of The Smokejumpers, an organization working to fight against wildfires.

He appears to be modeled after a Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane.

Cabbie

Cabbie is an ex-military transport.

A jolly old ex-military transport plane, Cabbie used to drop airborne utility vehicles behind enemy lines in Korea. Now he drops smokejumpers at Piston Peak—it’s a lot like combat, but nobody’s shootin’ at him. With a payload of 10,000 pounds and a maximum takeoff weight of 74,000 pounds—Cabbie can carry the smokejumpers up to 2,000 miles away.^[7]

Cabbie is a member of The Smokejumpers, an organization working to fight against wildfires.

Dynamite

Dynamite is the leader of The Smokejumpers.

The Smokejumpers are a fearless team of grounded firefighters, led by the strong and sassy Dynamite—so named because you don’t wanna set her off.^[7]

Pinecone

Pinecone is a member of the Smokejumpers.

Pinecone, equipped with a rake tool to clear brush and debris, is an easygoing southern soul.^[7]

Avalanche

Avalanche is a Smokejumpers member.

Avalanche earned his name after triggering a massive slide, but the bulldozer—who coincidently lacks an “inside voice”—claims he was nowhere near that snow bank.^[7]

Blackout

Blackout is a Smokejumpers member.

Tough and over-eager Blackout once accidentally sawed down an electrical line, cutting power to the lodge for weeks and sending shockwaves through his short-term memory—at least he thinks so.^[7]

Drip

Drip is a skidsteer.

Drip, an outgoing dude who’s always leaking oil, uses a skid-steer claw to clear fallen trees and brush.^[7]

Secretary of the Interior

Secretary of the Interior is an outsdoorman.

Secretary of the Interior has many responsibilities, but none is more important than overseeing the National Parks. This rugged outdoorsman loves being in nature; he spends most of his time away from his office in Washington, visiting the National Forests and Parks and helping to spread his message of conservation.^[7]

Harvey and Winnie

Harvey and Winnie are two RVs.

Harvey & Winnie met many moons ago when Harvey was the manager of an RV tire store and Winnie was his showroom model. The loving couple travel to Piston Peak Park, where they celebrated their honeymoon 50 years ago.^[7]

Nick "Loop'n" Lopez

Nick "Loop'n" Lopez is a helicopter cop.

By 1978, Nick “Loop’n” Lopez was America’s favorite helicopter cop, featured on TV’s CHoPs, a show about two California Helicopter Patrol choppers. Nick, the troublemaking macho young officer, got the nickname “Loop’n” from his signature inside loop, which no other helicopter could perform.^[7]

"CHoPs" is a parody of CHiPs, a real TV show that Nick's actor Erik Estrada starred in.

Mayday

Mayday is the fire truck in Propwash Junction.

Feisty old Mayday has been Propwash Junction’s fire and rescue truck for … ever. He’s always rarin’ to go, but he’s lost a little speed over the years. Plus, his hoses are leaky and he can’t see much without his glasses. Propwash Junction is growing fast thanks to resident-turn-big-time-racer Dusty, so Mayday might be in over his headlights.^[7]

Mayday is scheduled to appear in Planes: Fire & Rescue.

Cad Spinner

Cad Spinner is the superintendent of Piston Peak National Park.

Park superintendent Cad Spinner is a luxury Sport Utility Vehicle who’s better suited for a country club than the country. Self-centered and passionate about profits, Cad diverts a big chunk of the firefighters’ budget to his lodge restoration project. Though completely turned off by dirt, Cad’s not opposed to playing dirty to get his way.^[7]

According to Windlifter, he waxes himself daily.

His design is a combination of a 2002-2006 Cadillac Escalade's body, a 2007-2014 Escalade's greenhouse design, and a Pontiac's front grille design.

Maru

Maru is a mechanic tug.

Maru is the mechanic tug at the Piston Peak Air Attack base. Friendly with a sarcastic sense of humor, he’s been around a long time and has the cluttered hangar to prove it. With no budget for new parts, Maru’s many shelves of old parts and machinery come in quite handy. The repurposing pro’s motto? “It’s better than new!”^[7]

Ol' Jammer

Ol' Jammer is a tour bus.

A loyal and trustworthy tour bus at Piston Peak for 72 years, Ol’ Jammer knows every trail, stream, rock and tree. This strong and seasoned bus with a gentle soul is eager to share his vast knowledge of the park’s history with the multitude of admiring daily visitors.^[7]

Pulaski

Pulaski is a fire truck.

Pulaski is Piston Peak’s structural engine, responsible for protecting the buildings and bridges in the park. With a 2000-gallon tank, he can pump water at 1000 gallons per minute, but protecting the renovated Grand Fusel Lodge—considered the largest log structure in the world—may prove impossible, even for Pulaski.^[7]

Ryker

Ryker is an airport crash tender.

Ryker, a 17-year veteran of the Transportation Management Safety Team (TMST), not only lives by the book when it comes to airport accident investigations, he wrote the book. Nothing slips by this air safety investigator, so don’t even try.^[7]

Skipper Riley

Skipper Riley is an old plane that runs Skipper's Flight School.

According to an interview with Bobs Gannaway and Ferrell Barron on Planes: Fire & Rescue,^[9] Skipper is scheduled to appear, although it is unknown if Stacy Keach will return.

Skipper's make (F4U Corsair) and Skull and Crossed Wrenches insignia on his engine cowling are clearly based upon the World War II US Navy Figher Squadron VF-17 ("The Jolly Rogers"). Skipper even has "VF-17" stenciled on his rear fuselage.

For more information on the character, see here.

Dottie

Dottie is Dusty Crophopper's personal pitty and the co-owner of Chug and Dottie's Fill n' Fly.

According to an interview with Bobs Gannaway and Ferrell Barron on Planes: Fire & Rescue,^[9] Dottie is scheduled to appear, although it is unknown if Teri Hatcher will return.

Chug

Chug is a fuel truck who co-owns Chug and Dottie's Fill n' Fly.

His fuel tank and nozzle are used to refill planes and, on one occasion, Mayday the fire truck. He is good friends with Dottie and Sparky. He is also a friend and fan of Dusty Crophopper.

According to an interview with Bobs Gannaway and Ferrell Barron on Planes: Fire & Rescue,^[9] Chug is scheduled to appear, although it is unknown if Brad Garrett will return.

He is inspired by Bob Leaders' disused fuel truck that was found in a grove of evergreen trees when the filmmakers traveled to Leaders Clear Lake Airport in Minnesota while touring regional airports in the Midwest for inspiration for their Propwash Junction setting.^[10]^[11]

Music

Mark Mancina, who composed the music for the first film, will return for the sequel.^[12]

Potential Sequel

It has been confirmed by Carlos Alazraqui that the Planes series will be a trilogy.^[13]^[14] A Disney staff member also stated that Planes 3 is in story development.^[15] 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.^[16]

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.^[17]^[18] 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."^[19]

International Release Dates

Argentina - July 17, 2014
Portugal - July 17, 2014
Serbia - July 17, 2014
United States - July 18, 2014
Japan - July 19, 2014
Belgium - July 23, 2014
France - July 23, 2014
Cambodia - July 24, 2014
Netherlands - July 24, 2014
United Kingdom - August 8, 2014
Ireland - August 8, 2014
Germany - August 14, 2014
Hong Kong SAR - August 14, 2014
Italy - August 20, 2014
Russia - August 21, 2014
Denmark - August 28, 2014
Sweden - August 29, 2014
Vietnam - August 29, 2014
Singapore - September 4, 2014
Brazil - September 12, 2014
Australia - September 18, 2014
New Zealand - September 18, 2014
Indonesia - September 20, 2014

Trivia

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^[13]^[14] and Cars 3.^[20]
In addition to car-ification and plane-ification, some aspects of Piston Peak National Park appear to be train-ified.