When it comes to the world of Pixar, the Cars franchise is a fascinating beast. Derided by critics (maybe a touch too harshly with the first go-around), the adventures of Lightning McQueen, Mater and a likely horrified offscreen optometrist are like catnip to kids. And probably Larry the Cable Guy’s accountant. So what can we expect from the third (PLANES WAS A SPINOFF, BRO!) Cars movie? Something with a bit more emotional heft to it, it seems.
John Lasseter, Pixar‘s chief creative officer, shared with Entertainment Weekly a chunklet of what’s in the works for Cars 3. From his vantage point, the animated feature will be closer to the first film than the second.
“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,” Lasseter said Wednesday. “It’s really a special story. It’s very emotional and his relationship with Doc Hudson, and his memory of Doc Hudson.”
The character of Doc Hudson was voiced by film legend Paul Newman in the first film. Even if you despise the franchise, there’s a good chance that could pack an emotional wallop.
A bit of detail has already trickled out about the new characters in the next film. Director Brian Fee told USA Today that we’ll be seeing, “a young Hispanic female race car” in the next movie. “Cruz Ramirez is trying to figure out how this old dog can learn some new tricks,” offered Fee on this upcoming model.
Cars 3 is scheduled to make its way into theaters on June 16, 2017.
(via Entertainment Weekly & /Film)
