PLANES 3D – Review

Animated movies from Disney have, for the majority of time, been created as a partnership between them and Pixar Animation Studios, however Disney have now changed their strategy. From Disneytoon Studios and Walt Disney Pictures comes the feature film spin-off of ‘Cars‘ and first of the planned trilogy, ‘Planes‘.
 

‘Planes‘ is a story about an old cropduster plane called Dusty, voiced by Dane Cook, who intends in showing people that he is capable of more than he was built for and pursues his dream of becoming a racer. After being ridiculed by some of his closest friends including forklift/Mechanic Dottie (Terri Hatcher), his fuel truck friend Chug (Brad Garrett),encourages him to go for it, which he does. He begins by taking up training by an ex-fighter plane, Skipper (Stacy Keach) to get his performance in top form, which leads to him participating in a race to try to qualify into the main event. Unfortunately, Dusty finished sixth meaning that he didn’t qualify for the main race, the ridicule is then repeated until Dusty receives a delivery, which tells him that the previous fifth place contender has been disqualified for using illegal fuel additives to boost his performance. This results in Dusty being back in the game. In the main event, Dusty overcomes hurdles including false friends and deceit, physical abuse/bullying from other contenders and disappointment towards someone he thought of as an inspiration.

It is incredibly fascinating how when watching a CGI animation film, you get so attached to the characters and forget that in real life, these are actually inanimate objects. This great relationship you feel towards the characters really helps to feel the emotion of the characters throughout the story and was also accomplished extremely well previously, with ‘Cars‘.

Not only are the audience intrigued by the characters because they are so human-like and even include planes of other ethnicites, Indian and Mexican for example, but the way that they include real-life products in the movie enforces this feeling even more. For example, in the film the younger planes/cars use iPads, however they are known as Skypads and instead of Youtube, they use Flewtube, which is a reflection of society in real life.
 

‘Planes‘ is a great movie for children and there are many different lessons that Disney try to put across:

• If you get knocked down, it’s not the end of the world, get back up and try again;
• You can’t trust everyone at face value;
• If you are willing to help others, they may later return the favour when you are in need;
• People may not believe in you, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t capable of doing it.

Disney has also included an Easter Egg that many may already know about in the form of John Ratzenburger. He’s been a character in every Disney movie although you may not realise it. Can you tell who he is in ‘Planes‘?
 

‘Planes‘ is out in cinemas around the country now.