FX Team of “PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE” Fuel's Hottest Animated Film Ever

From the beginning, Disneytoon's “Planes: Fire & Rescue” was destined to break new ground. “Not only is it the biggest visual effects movie we’ve ever done here at Disneytoon Studios,” says producer Ferrell Barron, “nobody had ever really attempted to do an animated movie featuring fire of this magnitude before—the size, scope, scale and frequency of smoke and fire in this is really extraordinary. So the first thing we had to do is dig into the effects side of the film, because it was so important that we get fire right. It had to be real.”

John Patton was tapped as the effects animation lead for the film. “Out of 1224 total shots in the film, more than half feature some kind of effect: fire, smoke, water. And ‘fire’ is in the title of the film—it’s a key element in the story—we had to make sure we nailed it.”

So the team studied the science of fire through online research, books and talking to a host of firefighters. Says Patton, “We referenced a lot of live-action fire footage to understand how it looks from different distances and with varying intensity. A lot of variables—the fuel source, weather, size—affect how a fire looks.”

Filmmakers decided to build a library of smoke and fire, creating more than 80 effects with more than 800 frames each that could be selected by effects artists and adjusted to fit the needs of the scene. They were able to select and dial up or down accompanying smoke, too. “The idea was to create and shoot fire from various distances with differing details,” says Patton. “Each one can be very time-consuming, so rather than reinvent the wheel every time, we created a library of options that could be used to populate a scene with a number of unique fire effects.”

Real-Life Steers High-Action Story of “PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE”

John Lasseter, executive producer of Disneytoon Studios' “Planes: Fire & Rescue,” is a spirited advocate of extensive research—not only to ensure authenticity to the story, but also to help drive it. And he’s instilled that belief in every Disneytoo filmmaker, including “Planes: Fire & Rescue” director Bobs Gannaway.

In the film, when world-famous air racer Dusty Crophopper learns that his engine is damaged and he may never race again, he must shift gears and is launched into the world of aerial firefighting.

“We took a closer look at Dusty and the background of crop dusters,” says Gannaway. “We discovered that crop dusting planes like Dusty are also used for wildfire air attack. Known as a SEAT—a Single Engine Air Tanker—it’s the smallest plane in the wildfire air attack fleet. In addition, the first operational air tanker was a repurposed crop duster, which made the first air drop on the Mendocino National Forest in 1955. Fighting fires is in Dusty’s heritage.”

High-Flying Heroes Save the Day in “PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE”

Disneytoon Studios' “Planes: Fire & Rescue” is a new adventure-comedy about a dynamic crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting America's historic Piston Peak National Park from raging wildfire.

When world-famous air racer Dusty Crophopper learns that his engine is damaged and he may never race again, he must shift gears and is launched into the world of aerial firefighting. “It’s a movie about second chances,” says director Bobs Gannaway (“Secret of the Wings”). “Each character was something else before finding their current roles, and Dusty is a crop duster-turned-racer who can’t race any more. When we learned that historically, the very first air attack teams were crop dusters, it was clear that the plane was telling us where the story was going.”

Dusty joins forces with veteran fire-and-rescue helicopter Blade Ranger and his courageous team, including spirited air tanker Dipper, heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter, ex-military transport Cabbie 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.

“It’s a classic injured-athlete story,” says producer Ferrell Barron (“Piglet’s Big Movie,” “The Fox and the Hound 2”). “I think we’ve all experienced some kind of loss at some point in our lives—an end of an era, a lost love, a failed career. We’ve all had to recalibrate. Dusty can’t go back to being a crop duster, he left that behind. He has to move forward.”

“Planes: Fire & Rescue” features the voices of Dane Cook (“Disney’s Planes,” “Louie,” “Dan in Real Life”) as Dusty, Ed Harris (“Apollo 13”) as Blade Ranger, Julie Bowen (“Modern Family,” “Horrible Bosses”) as Dipper, Curtis Armstrong (“Supernatural”) as Maru, John Michael Higgins (“Pitch Perfect”) as Cad Spinner, Hal Holbrook (“Lincoln”) as Mayday, Wes Studi (“Avatar”) as Windlifter, Brad Garrett (“Disney’s Planes”) as Chug, Teri Hatcher (“Desperate Housewives”) as Dottie, Stacy Keach (“Nebraska”) as Skipper, Cedric the Entertainer (“Barbershop”) as Leadbottom and Danny Mann (“Up”) returns as Sparky.

The voice talent also includes Barry Corbin (“Northern Exposure”) as ‘Ol Jammer, Regina King as Dynamite, Anne Meara as Winnie, Jerry Stiller as Harvey, Fred Willard as Secretary of the Interior, Captain Dale Dye as Cabbie, Kevin Michael Richardson as Ryker, and Patrick Warburton (“The Emperor’s New Groove”) as Pulaski.

The score is by Mark Mancina (“Disney’s Planes,” “Training Day”), with songs by country star Brad Paisley and newcomer Spencer Lee, and additional acoustic piano by Bruce Hornsby.

Opening across the Philippines on August 20 in 3D and 2D cinemas, “Planes: Fire & Rescue” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

Disney's “PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE” New Posters

The teaser posters for Disney's 3D animated comedy-adventure “Planes: Fires & Rescue” have just been launched online. Both one-sheets carry the tagline, “When Others Fly Out, Heroes Fly In.”

The sequel to last year's box-office hit “Planes” (grossing more than $200 million worldwide), “Planes: Fire & Rescue” is a new comedy-adventure about second chances, featuring a dynamic crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting historic Piston Peak National Park from 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 aerial firefighting. Dusty joins forces with veteran fire and rescue helicopter Blade Ranger and his courageous team, including spirited super scooper Dipper (voice of Julie Bowen), heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter, ex-military transport Cabbie 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.

Opening across the Philippines on August 20, 2014, “Planes: Fire & Rescue” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

Teaser Trailer of "Planes: Fire & Rescue" Takes Off

The teaser trailer of Disney's 3D animated comedy-adventure “Planes: Fires & Rescue” has just took off and may now be seen here.



The sequel to last year's box-office hit “Planes” (grossing more than $200 million worldwide, with some global markets still to open), “Planes: Fire & Rescue” is a new comedy-adventure about second chances, featuring a dynamic crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting historic Piston Peak National Park from 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 aerial firefighting. Dusty joins forces with veteran fire and rescue helicopter Blade Ranger and his courageous team, including spirited super scooper Dipper (voice of Julie Bowen), heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter, ex-military transport Cabbie 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.

Opening across the Philippines on August 13, 2014, “Planes: Fire & Rescue” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

Meet Team Dusty of PLANES

Walt Disney Studios has just announced the voice cast comprising Team Dusty, the hero group in “Planes,” an action-packed 3D animated comedy adventure that's hitting Philippine theaters this August.

The cast is led by Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, Cedric The Entertainer, Teri Hatcher and Brad Garrett. Below are the first-look images of the characters, with corresponding descriptions.

Dusty (voice of Dane Cook) is a plane with high hopes—literally. Crop duster by trade, this single-prop plane sees himself soaring alongside his high-flying heroes in an international race. The fact that he’s not really built for competitive racing doesn’t deter him from pursuing his dream—but his fear of heights just might. With a little help from his friends—and a WWII vet with wisdom to spare—Dusty takes off on an adventure of a lifetime, going prop-to-prop with champions while daring to reach heights he never imagined possible.

Disney's PLANES Trailer

From above the world of “Cars” comes Disney’s “Planes,” an action-packed 3D animated comedy adventure opening in cinemas this coming August.

Catch the film's first trailer here.



Directed by Klay Hall, “Planes” features Dusty, a small-town plane with dreams of competing as a high-flying air racer.

But Dusty’s not exactly built for racing—and he happens to be afraid of heights. So he turns to naval aviator Skipper, who helps Dusty qualify to take on Ripslinger, the defending champ of the race circuit. Dusty’s courage is put to the ultimate test as he aims to reach heights he never dreamed possible, giving a spellbound world the inspiration to soar.

Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International, “Planes” takes off in Philippine theaters in 3D on Aug. 21, 2013, and will be presented in Disney Digital 3D™ in select cinemas.