Cars 2 Artwork Revealed

Posted by Richard Robello on January 27, 2010

Above is the first image from Cars 2: The Race of Champions which shows Lightning McQueen racing an unknown F1 car with Tokyo’s Mt. Fuji in the background. Set for release on June 24th, 2011 Cars 2 is being directed by Ratatouille producer Brad Lewis in his Pixar-directing debut.

The story follows Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson), his pit team and new pit boss, Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), around the world for the “Race of Champions,” which takes place in five different countries and crosses several race disciplines from rally car to F1; hopefully no drifting. The first race is pictured in the above digital artwork which is a race starting at Mount Fuji and ending in downtown Tokyo. Other races include the “Porto Corsa” in Italy, which is based partly on the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, a German race through the Black Forest and a 24-hour race around Paris; I guess Paris is more recognizable than Le Mans, I just hope they don’t stray too far from that authenticity that made the original Cars so great. The final climatic race is in London, approaching Buckingham Palace which is guarded by Land Rovers whom are harassed by Mater as he snaps his “towtruck-abroad” pictures documenting their travels (in Germany he wears “Materhosen” while at Oktoberfest; hopefully there won’t be any drinking and driving lol).

John Lasseter announced that a large sub-plot of the movie will revolve around Mater; a “Hitchcockian” case of mistaken identity when he saves the life of a British secret agent named Finn McMissilein that develops into a huge spy thriller. Of course no one believes him, as he is has been known to embellish reality. Reports say McMissilein is to be an Aston Martin; hmmmm….Aston Martin, British spy, sounds a little James Bondish and with Sean Connery’s return to film being a voice over in the upcoming ANIMATION film Sir Billi our fingers are crossed for what is obviously the only appropriate voice for such a character with a Scottish sounding name!

SOURCE: PixarPlanet