Showing no signs of slowing down, the Pixar is gearing up for the third installment of the Cars franchise. In this first look at the concept art for the sequel, animators decided it was the perfect time to introduce a new character to get fans back on track as they await the new movie. Cruz Ramirez, a female hispanic racer is seen pulling ahead of beloved champ, Lightning McQueen. Cars 3 director Brian Fee says "Cruz Ramirez is trying to figure out how this old dog an learn some new tricks" during her time around the Piston Cup racer.
With this movie's storyline playing out in realtime, Lightning McQueen is not a rookie anymore. The red race car will have 11 years under his belt (Cars 2006) when the new movie debuts June 16, 2017.
Deriving from an interview with USAToday.com, Fee also implies many of the up-and-coming racers are pushing McQueen out of his top spot. That's where Ramirez comes in, she helps keep him young has he takes all of these younger opponents head on.
Fee also verbally introduced another character: Jackson Storm. “Jackson Storm is the face of these rookies who have come onto the scene,” says Fee. “And McQueen is in a position where his entire racing generation is being pushed out. But it’s too early to be shown the door right now.” With two new characters set to debut, the team assures us that old favorites will also be featured: Mater, Sally ad Ramon to name just a few. There is still a lot of work to be done as the move is just over a year away. There are still some storyline holes, but production crews are well underway as they have already began the animation process. The cars will be testing their tread as they go through a series of different terrains and courses throughout America. Much like the characters in this franchise, production crews also have the pedal to the floor, zooming through the fast lane-- this will be the shortest span in between Pixar sequels for any of the franchises. Cars debuted in 2006, Cars 2 raced into theaters in 2011 and Cars 3 will make a pit stop at local cinemas in 2017; just 5 years between the first two movies and 11 years between the first and third. To put it in perspective, Toy Story had 15 years between the first and third installments, while Finding Nemo waited 13 years before bringing the crew back for Finding Dory which hits theaters this month.
Picture Courtesy: Noah Klocek (Pixar)