The world of "Cars" created by Pixar continues to roll as Disney’s "Planes: Fire & Rescue" landed on store shelves earlier this month.
I had the opportunity to review the Blu-ray earlier this week.
In the summer, the second film starring comic Dane Cook as Dusty Crophopper, was the top animated film at the box office. Dusty, known as a world-famous racer, has to find a new career and a new beginning when it is revealed that his broken gear box can’t be replaced.
To keep his home airport open, Dusty volunteers to get certified in fire and rescue operations. While meeting the vehicles tasked with fighting forest fires, Dusty finds what it takes to be a hero. Rated PG because of fire and story suspense of characters in peril, this film may be a little too intense for the smallest of fans. However, the older ones in the household will love the high-flying adventure and parents will find a few laughs as well.
As someone who has had the opportunity to see the classic lodges of our nation’s national parks, it was fun having those old structures of timber and rock find a special home in this animated picture. I could visualize all of the older cars that traversed highways taking families to the parks in the past.
What makes the home entertainment version worth-while is the number of extras hidden inside the bonus features. My favorite was a commercial where Blade Ranger, voiced by Ed Harris, was part of a buddy-cop TV show called "CHoPs." Just like its "CHiPs" counterpart, Erik Estrada plays the buddy.
The Blu-ray and DVD versions feature an animated short where everything can go wrong with these characters at an "Air Spectacular," and a mock-u-mentary of Piston Peak shares the landscape and firefighting team that provides the backbone of this story. Singer Spencer Lee lends his song "Still I Fly" to the film as well, with his music video in the extras.
The film features many familiar voices, including Cedric the Entertainer, Teri Hatcher, Stacy Keach and Brad Garrett from the first "Planes" film. "Modern Family" star Julie Bowen, John Michael Higgins from the movie "Pitch Perfect," and character actor Hal Holbrook round out the cast with real-life couple Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller playing a truck and RV on their 50th anniversary. Earlier this year, Meara and Stiller celebrated their 60th anniversary.
Media is bombarding us everywhere.
Instead of sheltering his brain from the onslaught, Steve embraces the news stories, entertainment, billboards, blogs, talk shows and everything in between.
The former writer, editor and producer in TV, radio, Web and newspapers, will be talking about what media does in our community and how it shapes who we are and what we do.