Cars 2


Cars 2 is a 2011 American animated spy action film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to Cars and the second film in the Cars franchise. The film was directed by John Lasseter, and written by Ben Queen, Lasseter, Brad Lewis, and Dan Fogelman. Larry the Cable Guy, Owen Wilson, Tony Shalhoub, Guido Quaroni, Bonnie Hunt, and John Ratzenberger reprise their roles from the first film, with Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, John Turturro and Eddie Izzard joining the voice cast. In the film, Mater unintentionally gets caught up in a risky espionage mission that threatens both his and Lightning McQueen's lives during the World Grand Prix, an international racing event showcasing a new alternative fuel called Allinol.
A sequel to Cars was first announced in April 2008 with a tentative summer 2012 release date, which was later moved up to the summer of 2011. Lasseter was confirmed to be returning as director, while Lewis was designated as co-director in June 2010. The film's story was conceived by Lasseter while he was traveling around the world promoting the first film. Michael Giacchino composed the film's score, with artists such as Weezer, Robbie Williams, Brad Paisley and Bénabar contributing tracks for the film. This was the final Pixar film animated using its old software system, Marionette, before being officially replaced with Presto in 2012. With an estimated budget of $200 million, Cars 2 is one of the most expensive films ever made.
Cars 2 premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on June 18, 2011, and was released in the United States on June 24, in Disney Digital 3D and IMAX 3D as well as traditional two-dimensional and IMAX formats. Despite mixed reviews from critics, Cars 2 was a box office success, grossing over $559 million worldwide, becoming the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2011 and the highest-grossing film of the Cars trilogy. The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 69th Golden Globe Awards, but lost to The Adventures of Tintin. A sequel, Cars 3, was released on June 16, 2017.

Plot

British spy Finn McMissile infiltrates an oil rig in the Pacific Ocean owned by criminal lemon cars to rescue fellow spy Leland Turbo. He witnesses the lemons, seemingly led by German weapons designer Professor Zündapp, loading an electromagnetic pulse emitter disguised as a TV camera onto a shipping crate. After discovering Turbo's death at the hands of the lemons, Finn is exposed and he escapes by faking his death.
After winning his fourth Piston Cup honoring the late Doc Hudson, Lightning McQueen returns to Radiator Springs to spend the off-season with his friends. Italian formula race car Francesco Bernoulli challenges Lightning to participate in the World Grand Prix, an international three-race event created by former oil tycoon Sir Miles Axlerod, who intends to promote his new environmentally friendly fuel, Allinol. Lightning and his best friend Mater, along with Luigi, Guido, Fillmore, and Sarge, depart for Tokyo, where the first race takes place.
At a World Grand Prix promotional event, Mater makes a scene after eating wasabi he mistakes for ice cream and seemingly leaking oil on stage, embarrassing Lightning. While cleaning up, Mater interrupts a fight between American spy Rod "Torque" Redline, who is tasked with delivering intel to Finn, and lemons Grem and Acer. Redline plants a device on Mater, causing Finn and his associate Holley Shiftwell to believe Mater is their contact. Meanwhile, Redline is captured and killed by Zündapp, who reveals that Allinol ignites when hit with an EMP. He informs his superior, an unknown mastermind, that Redline passed on his information. Holley recruits Mater to stop Zündapp's plot, believing him to be an undercover agent.
During the race, three racers are ignited by the camera. Lightning places second in the race due to miscommunication with Mater, who was evading Zündapp's henchmen with Holley's instructions. Lightning confronts him at the pits, snapping at him and declaring he doesn't want his help. A guilt-ridden Mater prepares to return to Radiator Springs, but is taken by Finn, and they escape from the lemons in his jet, Siddeley. After traveling to Paris to gather intel from Finn's old friend Tomber, they head to Porto Corsa, Italy, where the second race takes place. Mater infiltrates the lemons' meeting as the camera ignites more racers, causing a multi-car pile-up, while Lightning wins. Due to controversy over Allinol's safety, Axlerod lifts its requirement for use in the final race in London. When Lightning decides to continue using it as Fillmore and Sarge say it is safe to use, the lemons plan to kill him during the race. This spooks Mater into blowing his cover, causing him, Finn, and Holley to be captured and tied up inside Big Bentley, where he admits to them that he is not the spy they think he is.
As the race starts, Lightning takes the lead before passing Big Bentley, but the camera inexplicably does not ignite him. The lemons tell Mater that they planted a time bomb in Lightning's pits as a backup plan, spurring him to escape. Finn and Holley escape but realize that the lemons fitted the bomb on Mater's air filter instead. As Mater is informed of this, he flees down the track and Lightning pursues him to apologize for his outburst, while Finn apprehends Zündapp. The other lemons arrive and outnumber Finn, Holley, Mater, and Lightning, but they are rescued by the other Radiator Springs residents and Sarge's colleagues in the British Army. Mater and Lightning go to Buckingham Palace, where Mater exposes Axlerod as the mastermind, proven when he is forced to disable the bomb. It is revealed that the World Grand Prix was Axlerod's cover-up to turn the world against alternative fuels and profit from his ownership of the world's untouched oil reserves. Axlerod and the lemons are arrested, Mater receives an honorary knighthood from the Queen, and he and Lightning reconcile.
Back in Radiator Springs Mater tells everyone about his experience. When Lightning asks why the camera didn't work on him and why Fillmore and Sarge said the fuel was safe, they reveal that they swapped the Allinol with Filmore's biofuel prior to the London race, explaining the camera's ineffectiveness on Lightning. The "Radiator Springs Grand Prix" is held, featuring the World Grand Prix contenders. Finn and Holley invite Mater to go on another mission, but he declines. While his weapons are confiscated, Mater keeps the rockets and speeds off with Lightning, as Siddeley flies into the distance.

Voice cast

Three voice actors of the first Cars film had died since its release, leading to changes to their characters' roles in Cars 2. Joe Ranft, who voiced Red, died in an automobile accident in 2005, and therefore Red has no vocal role in Cars 2. George Carlin, who voiced Fillmore, died of heart failure in June 2008, so Fillmore was voiced by Lloyd Sherr. Paul Newman, who voiced Doc Hudson, died of cancer in September 2008. After Newman's death, Lasseter said they would "see how the story goes with Doc Hudson." Doc was eventually dropped, and was implied to have canonically died a few years before the events of Cars 2.
In international versions of the film, the character Jeff Gorvette is replaced with race car drivers known in their specific countries for his dialogue scenes: Mark Winterbottom as Frosty in the Australian release, Fernando Alonso in the Spanish release, Vitaly Petrov in the Russian release, Jan Nilsson as Flash in the Swedish release, Memo Rojas in the Latin American release, and Sebastian Vettel as Sebastian Schnell in the German release. Gorvette still appears as a competitor for most of the film. In Brazil, Gorvette is replaced by Carla Veloso in his dialogue scenes ; Carla is voiced by Brazilian singer Claudia Leitte. Sportspeople still appear, with Lewis Hamilton voicing Formula One champion Emerson Fittipaldi, while Brent Mustangburger and David Hobbscap are voiced by sports announcers and Luciano do Valle.