We received our copy of Disney’s Planes about too weeks ago and it’s quickly become a #1 hit at the Swigart household. My family and I loved Cars so when I first heard that they were releasing Planes I was excited to see what the similarities would be. Without giving too much away right now (movie review coming soon!) I will tell you that Planes is a really fun and exciting film especially for those kids or kids at heart that love aviation.
While we were touring the Disney Toon Studios in LA, we got a chance to meet up with the director and producer of Disney’s Planes. It was a really fun experience because we learned a lot about the making of the film, the back story and even some fun facts that you may not have otherwise known. For instance did you know that Planes was originally going to be Trains! I didn’t know that either and it was neat to hear how this movie evolved from one story into another.
The idea of Planes originally came about four and a half years ago when Klay Hall was working just wrapping up another movie with brought Klay onto the Planes Project John Lasseter. At this point John and Klay had become pretty good friends and they were starting to thing “What’s Next”? Both of them had a common passion about all things sort of mechanical. Like trains, planes, cars, and things of that nature So as they were kicking around ideas the thought of a steam engine or a transcontinental railroad story came about. The story wasn’t anywhere from the world of cars. It actually was going to deal with humans and animals and all that kinds of stuff, and the story was going to be a tale or rather story of the railroad.
But one day John Lasseter was flying down in a jet from Pixar to Disney Studios and he had an epiphany on the way own. As he landed he literally called Klay Hall up and said “I know you’re working on the trains thing, and that’s cool and all that, but what do you think about doing one about Planes and making it from the world of Cars”?
Photo Credit: Disney
I think in big animations such as Planes people don’t realize how much time goes into making a film. There were actually about 600 people total who worked on Planes from start to finish and it took four and half years to complete.
Traci mention that: ” There’s a lot of people that probably don’t even get a credit in the film that helped, like the wonderful teams today helping shuffle you guys around the studio. It’s pretty wide”.
Klay and Tracy did a lot of ground-work research for Planes. In fact they not only visited several places in the US but all over the world. Places such as New York City, Germany, Bulgaria, India and they even checked out the Taj Mahal at sunrise and sunset. According to Klay, “John Lasseter’s mantra is it’s boots on the ground to get there and experience the cultures and ethnicities and the colors and the sights and the sounds to hopefully bring that back and pull it into the movie and make it feel that you just didn’t make it up or found it on the internet”.
Photo Credit: Disney
I really enjoyed learning all about Planes and getting an inside look at what it takes to make such a movie. If your wondering if there will be a Planes 2, the answer is yes! It’s in production right now and is expected to be released sometime in 2014. After our interview Klay and Tracy took a group photo with all of us and I love the background for the photo!
Photo Credit: Disney
One of my favorite bonus features on the Planes Blu-ray Combo pack is Klay’s Flight. Klay has two sons who he took on a special ride in a very special aircraft. It is a really touching piece. Below is just a clip from that video.
Disney’s Planes will fly onto Blu-ray and DVD Combo Pack November 19th! Until then you can find out more information on Planes on their Facebook Page.