Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

Cars 2

2/14/11 - Walt Disney unveiled that two of the new characters in Cars 2 are voiced by John Turturro and Eddie Izzard, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Director and Pixar/Disney creative chief John Lasseter said Turturro was the studio's immediate pick as voice actor for this new character and predicted audiences would love the character for his race car looks - a red, white and green Formula 1 car - and flamboyance.  Meanwhile, the British comedian voiced Miles Axlerod, a former oil baron who sold off his fortune, converted himself into an electric vehicle and dedicated himself to finding the renewable, clean-burning energy source of the future.

7/29/09 – SCI FI Wire reported that with the recent passing of Paul Newman, the proposed Cars 2 faces a tough choice.  Newman provided the voice of Doc Hudson, the patriarch of all the cars in Radiator Springs. John Lasseter is faced with the dilemma of repurposing earlier recordings of Newman to keep him in the sequel or just letting him go out of respect.  "We haven't really addressed it yet," Lasseter said. "We're still working on that."  Cars centers on hotshot racer Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson), who has detoured to the small town of Radiator Springs. He learns to take his time instead of racing to the finish line. For Cars 2, the whole Radiator Springs gang will hit the open road.  Cars 2 is scheduled for 2011.

9/25/08 - The daylong presentation at the Kodak Theatre, home of the Oscars, delivered repeated surprises as actors emerged onstage to tout animated 3-D movies, live-action thrillers and comedies--with animal co-stars ranging from guinea pigs and chihuahuas to humpback whales, the Associated Press reported.  Pixar and Disney animation studios' chief creative officer, John Lasseter, also broke the news that Cars 2, the sequel to the blockbuster he directed for Pixar Animation Studios, would be released in the summer of 2011, a year earlier than once planned.

AlienAlmanac.com  -  Living Among You Since 2004