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Disney’s “Planes: Fire and Rescue” Teaser Trailer Released

I had no idea just how out of the loop I was until I saw that this trailer was released a month ago.  Then again, I also missed the DVD/Blu-Ray release of the original this week, but only by a couple of days.

It does seem kind of strange to me that the sequel to Planes is following so closely on the tail of the original, but I guess that is just the way things are moving.

Either way, I am incredibly excited about this movie, just like I was for the first one.  Planes: Fire and Rescue is the continued story of Dusty Crophopper, once again voiced by Dane Cook.  Upon learning he can never race again due to a bad engine, he shifts his efforts to aerial firefighting, and some real heroes.

It remains to be seen what path the story will actually follow, but based on the original, and the teaser trailer above, I have high hopes that this movie will also be a beautiful mixture of aircraft sights and sounds.

There is much criticism out there of Disney’s lack of creativity that I just don’t understand.  People didn’t complain when they made 10 princess movies in a row that all follow essentially the same storyline, so why all the heartache that they are making movies about cars and planes?  Pretty much every kid’s movie has a similar story, but I guess most of those people forget that these movies are geared towards children and not adults.

That being said, I know a lot of adults that will be there when this movie opens.  If there is any doubt of that, consider the 15,000 that showed up for the premier of the original at EAA Airventure this last summer.

That is one of the awesome things about aviation; it truly bridges all age, race, and gender gaps.  No one cares who you are or where you come from as long as you love planes.  In fact, we find it more exciting to hear about those unusual planes, pilots, and circumstances that inevitably pop up in aviation.

I really hope that these movies continue to spark a love of aviation in children that will inspire them to chase their dreams and pursue careers in aviation.  Aircraft will never go away, but if we don’t do our best to foster a true passion for aviation, the wonder of it may start to wane.

 

November 23, 2013 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Disney’s Planes Movie is an Hour and a Half of Pure Animated Aviation Awesomeness

To give you some indication of how great this movie is, within the first ten seconds of the movie my son excitedly screamed, “AIRPLANES!”  Now at only two years old he is somewhat easily impressed, but his smile was satisfaction enough for me.

The opening scene awakened everything I have loved about planes since I was a very little boy.  From there on in it just kept getting better and better.  I found the animation to be exceptionally clear and clean.  The scenery was beautiful and the planes were stunning, but he part that really struck me was the sound.

Clearly there is nothing quite the same as seeing and hearing the real planes in person, but about halfway through the movie when Skipper the Corsair fired up his engine it gave me the chills.  I found myself ignoring the dialogue at times in the movie just listening to the sounds.

Along with all of the beautiful sounds of engines, it was also fun to hear some of the different voices of the characters.  Most notably to me were the voices of Iceman (Val Kilmer) and Goose (Anthony Edwards) from Top Gun.  That was the movie that really sparked my love of aviation so it was fun to me to hear their voices again.

Obviously the story is not realistic as there is no possible way that a crop duster could keep up with any actual racing aircraft, but that is what animated movies should be about.  Kids should be encouraged to shoot for the impossible.  We should all long to have lofty dreams that takes our utmost to accomplish.

How many movies these days truly inspire kids to shoot for the stars anymore?  Most shows these days are trying to turn kids into teenagers before they even start school.  Instead this movie is just a simple story about a simple character that has a huge dream that he makes a reality.

What could be better in a story for children than that?

Admittedly, I am a huge avgeek, and that likely plays into how much I love this movie, but I honestly feel like it could have a huge impact on the future of aviation.  Kids need something more to be passionate about than stupid pop stars.

It was awesome to hear a group of kids with their parents outside the theater saying, “That was an awesome movie.  We need to buy it on DVD,” and their parents immediately responding, “Definitely.”  This is the kind of start that we need in general aviation.

There is so much more I would love to say about this movie, but I honestly could not say it better than Dan Pimentel, of the Airplanista Aviation Blog, did in his review of the movie after seeing it last week at EAA Airventure in OshKosh Wisconsin.

If you need just a little glimpse at the beauty of this film just take a look at the trailer.  Then hurry out to the theater and enjoy an hour and a half of pure animated aviation awesomeness.

August 9, 2013 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Red Tails: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen

Aviation is one of those rare topics that has almost universal interest.  There is just something about the wonder of flight that intrigues just about everyone.  This may have been even more the case back in the World War II era when flying was a luxury for the rich, and a relative infant in the military.

Such was the case of the Tuskegee Airmen who had a passion for flying and an unflinching desire to serve their country in a time of war.  Much has been written and produced concerning these heroic men so I will leave the specifics of their actions to those who have undoubtedly done a better job than I ever could.

With the upcoming release of Red Tails, which details their story (trailer can be found below), I thought it would be appropriate to bring some attention to the previously released The Tuskegee Airmen (trailer also can be found below).  It was a great film done by HBO which also told this story.

The original film was a great historical representation of what these men went through as well as a small sampling of their heroic actions. It gives a nice perspective of who these men were and what they accomplished.

Going through a formal flying training program, as I currently am, is hard enough.  I cannot begin to imagine how much more difficult it would have been to also have to battle racial barriers that paid no attention to your abilities but simply the color of your skin.

Red Tails appears to be a little more “Hollywood”, CGI, and pyrotechnics than the original, but I sincerely hope that it will be a movie worthy of the men that it is based on.  I did find it to be a nice touch that Cuba Gooding Jr.  was cast into the current movie as he was in the original.

The official website for the movie provides a lot of great information about the movie that got me even more excited about its upcoming release.  The movie will be in theaters Jan. 20.

Red Tails Trailer

 

 

The Tuskegee Airmen Trailer

January 17, 2012 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.