The New Official Cars 2 Website

The official Cars 2 website has been updated and is now looking better than ever! It now features cool downloads, info on the Cars movies and Cars Toons, fun games, and of course, profiles on all the characters, including all the new faces joining the familiar vehicles. Around the website, you can also catch a glimpse of the stunning sets which we will see in the movie. Expect to see more and more new characters appear both on the official website and here on Pixar Corner.

Cars 2 Character Profiles: Carla Veloso

Lightning McQueen is joined at the World Grand Prix by many different cars from all over the world. Meet Carla Veloso, a Brazilian racecar who will be competing against Lightning and many other cars in the test to see who is the world's fastest racecar.

Read this official description:

Carla Veloso
World Grand Prix contender Carla Veloso hails from Rio de Janiero, Brazil. The sweet but powerful Latin diva can dance the night away at “Car-nival,” but spends most of her time on the racetrack. After setting a new track record at the local Interlagos circuit, she was drafted to join the 24-hour endurance racing team in Europe, where she posted a consistent series of podium finishes. In the World Grand Prix, the proud Brazilian Le Motor Prototype racer is the only female in the field, and Carla is ready to prove to the world that #8 is there to win for her home country.

Fun Fact: Carla's turntable video (seen below) was animated by Pixar's Chris Chua.

Also, check out her turntable video:

Oscar Nominations!!!

Yesterday, nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards were finally announced! Of course, Pixar's masterpiece from 2010, Toy Story 3, recieved several nominations! Five of them actually. I am super excited to see TS3 recieve so many nominations, and I am sure it will win at least one.

Toy Story 3 was nominated for the following:

- Best Picture (Darla K Anderson)
- Best Animated Feature (Lee Unkrich)
- Best Adapted Screenplay (Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich)
- Best Sound Editing (Tom Myers and Michael Silvers)
- Best Original Song ("We Belong Together" by Randy Newman)

Also, Pixar recieved a nomination for their spectacular short, Day & Night, directed by Teddy Newton.

Conratulations to everyone at Pixar for getting nominated for several Academy Awards for yet another year! Good luck to Lee Unkrich, Darla Anderson, Teddy Newton, Randy Newman, Michael Arndt, Tom Myers, Michael Silvers, and everyone else at Pixar when February 27 comes! Let's hope TS3 becomes the first animated film in history to ever win the Almighty Oscar.

Cars 2 Character Profiles: Holley Shiftwell

Every great sequel has a whole bunch of fun new characters, and Cars 2 has several, including Holley Shiftwell. Holley is pretty smart, pretty purple, and I guess some cars consider her to be pretty.

Read this official description:

Holley Shiftwell
Holley Shiftwell is a beautiful young British desk agent, turned spy-in-training who’s stationed in Tokyo. Well-educated and sharp, she knows every trick in the book—or rather, she relies on every trick in the spy manual. She’s armed with the latest state-of-the-art spy equipment imaginable, from hidden cameras and concealed weapons to a telescoping utility arm and a holographic pop-up display. Holley is a highly motivated agent, but is fresh out of the academy, so her experience is based on lessons learned in school rather than real-life situations. When seasoned international spy Finn McMissile requires Holley’s technical expertise for his latest top-secret field operation, she finds herself pursuing a rendezvous with the most unlikely candidate—Mater, an innocent caught up in the intrigue, who is mesmerized by the beauty of his newest friend.

Fun Fact: The British Holley Shiftwell is voiced by the British actress, Emily Mortimer.

Also, watch her turntable video:

Cars 2 Character Profiles: Finn McMissile

Introducing...Finn McMissile: British intelligence. Finn is a sleek, super cool car, and a master at international espionage. He is loaded with a bunch of cool weapons including missiles, hence the name Finn McMissile.

Read this official description:

Finn McMissile
Finn McMissile is a master British spy. Though charming and eloquent, it’s his stealth maneuvering, intelligence and years in the field that enable him to thwart unexpected attacks from bad guys, making quick daredevil escapes.. Finn’s design is sleek and timeless, but he’s also prepared for any tricky situation with an arsenal of ultra-cool gadgets and weaponry, including front and rear grappling hooks, a missile launcher, deployable magnetic explosives and a holographic disguise emitter. As a seasoned professional in the game of international espionage, Finn believes there is a conspiracy brewing during the World Grand Prix. His clandestine work surrounding the global exhibition race puts him on a collision course with Mater, whom he mistakes for an undercover American agent with a genius disguise.

Fun Fact: In Toy Story 3, Finn McMissile can be spotted in Andy's bedroom! Didn't see him? Look again, he's on one of the posters on the wall!

Also, check out his turntable video:

New Cars 2 Stills!

Two brand new Cars 2 stills were released this week, and I must say, they are extremely cool! They give us a nice look at what we can expect to see when this action packed sequel to Cars!

The first one features our stars, Mater, Lightning, and Finn McMissile, marvelling at their surroundings as they go for a stroll in what appears to be Tokyo, Japan!

This next one, as you can see, features new characters Holley Shiftwell and Finn McMissile, along with Mater, in what seems to be some sort of aircraft...designed for cars!



So what do you think? This film, as all Pixar films, sure looks like is going to be another family favorite! I just can't wait until June 24!

Toy Story 3 Wins Golden Globe!

Last night, the Golden Globes were held, and of course, Toy Story 3 and the geniuses at Pixar behind making all that movie magic were honored with the Best Animated Feature Film award! Pixar's 11th went up against:

-Despicable Me

-How To Train Your Dragon

-The Illusionist

-Tangled

But in the end, of course, TS3 went on to win. Congrats to Lee Unkrich (director), Darla Anderson (producer), John Lasseter (executive producer), and everyone else who helped bring this masterpiece to the big screen!

Photo credit: MSN

Cars 2 Character Profiles: Mater

And now, the second installment of my Cars 2 Character Profiles series! This post is all about the rusty but trusty tow truck we all know as Mater! Mater is Lightning's best friend, the heart and soul of Radiator Springs, and now...an international spy?

Read this official description:

Mater
In the now popular tourist destination of Radiator Springs, the rusty old tow truck Mater has a number of roles, including proprietor of Tow Mater Towing and Salvage, grand storyteller and the heart and soul of the town. But Mater’s favorite title is best friend to Lightning McQueen. Mater values each and every dent he’s earned on his escapades with Lightning over the years, and anxiously awaits further fun with his friend when Lightning returns with his latest Piston Cup.

Cheerful, honest and loyal to a fault, Mater rushes to his best friend’s defense, which ultimately lands the off-duty Lightning in an international racing exhibition: the World Grand Prix. When Lightning invites Mater to come along as a member of his pit crew, Mater leaves Carburetor County for the first time ever.

Not long after their arrival in Tokyo, Mater learns that the world outside of Radiator Springs is decidedly different and its newfangled ways may take some getting used to. But when he’s mistaken for an American secret agent, he falls into an intriguing adventure of his own. Caught between supporting his best friend on a globe-trotting racing competition and his new role in international espionage, Mater ends up in an explosive chase through the streets of Tokyo and Europe alongside a team of British spies and international bad guys.

Fun Fact: Before being given the name Mater, this tow truck went by the name of Zeb.

Also, check out his turntable video:

Cars 2 Character Profiles: Lightning McQueen

The first installment of my Cars 2 Character Profiles is on none other than Lightning McQueen!! We all know him as the red rookie hotshot racecar from Cars, but his life has changed a little since the first film.

Read this official description:

Lightning McQueen
Number 95 Lightning McQueen is still a hotshot racecar, but his rookie days are past him. Now a permanent resident of Radiator Springs, Lightning has become a bona fide worldwide celebrity as winner of four Piston Cups.

After his latest win, Lightning returns home to enjoy life in the slow lane for a while with sweetheart Sally, best friend Mater and the rest of his Radiator Springs family. His off-season is unexpectedly cut short when Mater inadvertently prompts Lightning to enter the World Grand Prix, a high profile, three-part exhibition race that will take him around the globe.

With a fresh custom paint job and real, working headlights, Lightning sets off to Japan, Italy and England with Mater in tow for the adventure of a lifetime. But competing against the fastest cars in the world tests more than his racing skills when Lightning realizes his wide-eyed best friend may not be the pit chief nor ambassador he needs to navigate the unfamiliar international terrain.

Fun Fact: Lightning McQueen was named after Canadian Pixarian, Glenn McQueen.

Also, check out his turntable video:

Cars 2 Character Profiles!

Cars 2 is already 5 months away, and that time goes by really fast. I remember last year counting down to Toy Story 3, and the next thing I know, I'm sitting in a movie theater watching it on June 18! Since it's only a few months until Pixar's 12th film comes out, lately, they have been releasing a whole bunch of new images, character descriptions, and turntable videos for some of the characters! I was going to put all of this into one post, but then I realized that there are more and more of these pics, bios, and videos coming out each day, so instead of just one post, I'm going to make it into a whole series of posts, called Cars 2 Character Profiles! These may go on all the way until the release of Cars 2 itself. Who knows? But while they last, I sure hope you enjoy them!

Pixar News Bundle!

Since I have been very busy lately, unfortunately I have not been able to update my blog. In the past week, there has been some cool news popping up, so this post is just catching up with all the news I missed.

First up, details and a cover image (seen below) for the Blu-ray release of The Incredibles have been released! Pixar's hit from 2004 will make its way onto high-definition Blu-ray on April 12 this year, and some of the new bonus features included will be:
-The Incredibles Revisited (Filmmakers Roundtable)
-Paths to Pixar: Story Artists
-Studio Stories: Gary’s Birthday
-Ending With A Bang: Making The End Credits
-Interactive “New Nomanison Island” Top Secret Redevelopment Plan
This Blu-ray will include an admission to Cars 2, which hits theaters two months later. Also, The Incredibles Blu-ray is now available for pre-order on Amazon.

Also on April 12, a new edition of Cars will be released on Blu-ray. It is likely to also include new bonus material, and will also come with an admission to Cars 2.

Two awesome new 'For Your Consideration' posters for TS3's campaign were revealed at Awards Daily. Looks like they're also going for the Best Director Award. In my opinion, Lee Unkrich does deserve that award, for all the effort he put into directing the third installment of the Toy Story films. Also, I absolutely love the poster with Woody and Buzz shaking hands, it has been my favorite one out of all the posters that have been released.

Everyone knows Rotten Tomatoes, the site that has all the information you need on actors, critics, and of course, movies. Each year, Rotten Tomatoes gives an award called the Golden Tomato to the best film of that year, in their opinion. This year, the winner for that award is none other than Pixar's latest hit, Toy Story 3!! Congratulations to everyone at Pixar for winning the award for the 4th year in a row!

That's pretty much all the excitement that's happened in the last week, but also, a few new Cars 2 things came out, but to me, this was so exciting, that it deserved its own post, so that will be the next post you see here on Pixar Corner!

Monsters, Inc. 2: Sequel or Prequel?

According to the Dutch blog Animatie, Pixar's upcoming Monsters, Inc. 2 is set to be a prequel, not a sequel as most had been expecting. The film is said to take place when Mike and Sulley attended university, or more precisely, Monstropolis' University of Fear, and instead of being best friends, they were rivals. This idea sounds interesting, and I'm sure it would turn out great, but I was really hoping for an actual sequel to the original film. I wanted to see Sulley and Mike enter the human world and getting lost in there or something like that, but a prequel is a great idea as well. However, none of this has been confirmed by Pixar itself, so for the time being, these are just rumors and could have nothing to do with what is actually going to happen. Monsters, Inc. 2 (prequel or not) hits theaters on November 2, 2012 (exactly 11 years after the original film made its debut in cinemas).

So what do you prefer? Sequel or prequel?

The Beauty of Pixar

Check out this 7 minute video created by Leonardo Copperfield, called The Beauty of Pixar. This is really cool stuff.



(Via Upcoming Pixar)

Toy Story 'Hawaii' Short Plot Revealed!

Recently, we heard that a new Toy Story short with a Hawaii theme was coming soon, and this short was assumed to be the first of the Toy Story Toons, and the short attatched to Cars 2. There is a book on Amazon entitled Play-Cation, with a publisher description reading:

Bonnie is off to Hawaii, and Barbie and Ken are excited to go along on their first tropical vacation! But when they're accidentally left behind, it's up to Buzz, Woody, and the rest of the toys to create a Hawaiian paradise right in Bonnie's room.

The description also says that the children's book is based on the lastest short featuring the famous toy gang. Heaven knows why Ken and Barbie are in Bonnie's room...maybe they snuck into Bonnie's backpack at Sunnyside and came to her house to visit their friends Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the rest of the gang...or maybe Bonnie brought them home with her one day. Find out hopefully on June 24, 2011, because this cool new short is most likely to be attatched to Cars 2 in theaters this summer.

(Via The Pixar Blog)

Are you excited to watch this new short featuring the beloved toys from the Toy Story universe?

Happy New Year!!

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year, and I hope you continue visiting my blog throughout 2011. This year is going to be filled with many great things, including the release of Cars 2 on June 24! So many great wishes, and I wish you the best for 2011!