Planes

Story:

Planes is a 2013 American animated sports comedy film produced by Disneytoon Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed and co-written by Klay Hall and produced by Traci Balthazor-Flynn, it is a spin-off of Pixar’s Cars franchise. Despite not being produced by Pixar, the film was co-written and executive produced by Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios’ then-chief creative officer John Lasseter, who directed the first two Cars films, while the remaining writers of the film included Jeffrey M. Howard. The film stars the voices of Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, Priyanka Chopra in her Hollywood debut, Brad Garrett, Teri Hatcher, Danny Mann, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Roger Craig Smith, John Cleese, Carlos Alazraqui, Sinbad, Val Kilmer, and Anthony Edwards. In the film, Dusty Crophopper (Cook), a crop duster plane in the town of Propwash Junction, wants to complete Wings Around the Globe with racing planes, especially Ripslinger (Smith), despite his fear of heights, with the help of naval aviator Skipper Riley (Keach), who trains him.

PLOT

Dusty Crophopper, a young crop duster plane, works at a cornfield in Propwash Junction, Minnesota, and practices aerobatic maneuvers in his spare time, who dreams of becoming a racer, but are scorned by his boss, Leadbottom, and his forklift/mechanic friend, Dottie. However, he is supported by his fuel truck friend, Chug. Dusty and Chug train for qualifiers for the upcoming Wings Around the Globe Rally. On the night before the qualifiers, Dusty asks an elderly navy war plane named Skipper Riley to teach him how to fly well, but Skipper declines. The next day, Dusty only barely qualifies on a legal technicality, as another plane was using an illegal fuel intake.

Skipper decides to mentor Dusty, and discovers Dusty has a fear of heights. With training complete, Dusty travels to New York City for the race. There, he befriends a Mexican racer named El Chupacabra, who falls in love with a French-Canadian racer named Rochelle but consistently fails to woo her. Three-time defending champion Ripslinger dismisses Dusty. Dusty falls in love with an Indian plane named Ishani, who becomes supportive of him. During the first leg of the race from New York to Iceland, Dusty’s refusal to fly high causes him to finish in last place.

During the second leg of the race to Germany, Dusty shows good sportsmanship by saving another racer, Bulldog, from crashing, winning Bulldog’s respect but finishing last again. After the third leg of the race to Agra in India, Ishani invites Dusty to fly around the Taj Mahal and advises him to fly low through the Himalayas by following some railroad tracks. After flying through a tunnel (and narrowly missing a train), Dusty is in first place at Upper Mustang in Nepal, but he is upset to discover that Ishani set him up in exchange for a new propeller from Ripslinger’s team, and he shuns her.

The fifth leg is over the Hump (the mountains between northeast India and south China) to Shanghai, where Dusty gets into first place again. He manages to help El Chupacabra win over Rochelle with a romantic song. In the sixth leg of the race across the Pacific, Ripslinger, refusing to lose to a crop duster, has his sidekicks Ned and Zed clip off Dusty’s navigation antenna. Lost and low on fuel, Dusty comes across the USS Dwight D. Flysenhower, which allows him to land and refuel. On the carrier, Dusty discovers that contrary to Skipper’s own descriptions, he only flew one mission during war. Before he can obtain answers, a thunderstorm strikes, and he is forced to depart by the carrier crew. However, he ends up crashing into the Pacific Ocean and is severely damaged.

Dusty is salvaged and transported to Mexico where his concerned friends are also present. Skipper confesses his entire squadron perished when he was coaxed to lead an attack by one of his fighters on a recon mission. He never flew again after the navy salvaged him. Dusty considers dropping out of the race but is encouraged to continue by many of his fellow competitors, who donate parts to repair the damage he sustained. Ishani also gives Dusty her new propeller, reconciling their friendship.

Racing back to New York, Ripslinger plots to finish off Dusty again but is thwarted by Skipper, who regains his courage to fly. Dusty conquers his acrophobia when he rides a jetstream. Nearing the finish line, Ripslinger slows for the cameras, which allows Dusty to pass him and win, and Ripslinger crashes into portable toilets. Dusty is congratulated by his friends, and Skipper thanks him for giving him the confidence to fly again. Skipper rejoins the navy, flying one last time with Dusty.