I think Cars 3 must have been as much fun behind the scenes, as from our theater seats. Brian Fee, Cars 3 Director, and Kevin Reher, Cars 3 Producer, put so much thought and effort into making this movie special, and talking with them makes this so very apparent. They finished, or punctuated each other’s thoughts, and were genuinely so very pumped to talk about the cars characters. Pixar movies really do find a uniquely entertaining way to reach viewers with real substance.
I loved how Cars 3 has female characters that were leading characters, and even grew stronger as the story unfolded. Everyone agreed it was incredibly awesome for this to happen in such a male-dominated film series about a male-dominated sport. Fee said he wanted something for his two daughters. “For them to identify with because, I would see them afraid to do something. If they thought they were gonna be bad at it, they just wouldn’t even try it. It’s human nature, but it still breaks your heart as a parent. Everyone’s bad at everything at first.” How very true! I want my kids to reach for their dreams, and build resilency too. Maybe hearing it and then seeing it with Cars 3 will help deliver this message!
The main Cars 3 character, Cruz Ramirez, is made an outsider on purpose. Brian and Kevin admit that they designed her outsider status to help everybody identify with her. Whether its through gender, race, or a million other reason – everyone watching has at some point in their lives felt like an outsider. It’s universal. The character was voiced by young, Latina actress Cristela Alonzo. You will be rooting for Cruz throughout the film!
And having Kerry Washington, Olivia Pope from Scandal, voice the character Natalie Certain, just hit the ball out of the park, admit Brian and Kevin.
In an animated film, Director needs to be a bit creative and trusting of his actors to bring the story to life. Brian admits he has had to stand incredibly, uncomfortably close to an actor in the recording studio as a way of breaking him out of a rut, and making him deliver the lines in a personal, conversational way versus talking into the mic. He says he has his own ideas on how he would like the actors to do their lines, but then prefers how professional actors show him how it can be done even better than what was in his head.
PIck up a copy of the new digitally in HD and 4K Ultra HD on October 24 or the Blu-ray 4K Ultra HD & Blu-Ray on November 7.
Photos courtesy of Becky Dixel.
