“Disney’s Planes” is a new 3-D animated feature from Disneytoon Studios set in the same world as Pixar’s “Cars.”

Early in the film, Dusty the cropduster wistfully exclaims that he wants to prove that he “can do more than what he was built for.” His journey towards that goal, more than his race around the world, makes up the heart of this latest Disney feature.

In this third of the in-production (rumored) Planes Trilogy, our protagonist Dusty yearns to leave his cropdusting life behind for the glamorous, fast-paced life of a racing plane. Despite warnings from his personal mechanic Dottie that he is simply not built for that kind of metal fatigue, he manages to scrape his way into the prestigious “Wings Around the Globe” race. As it progresses, Dusty is faced with danger, romance, betrayal, and heartache, and is forced to prove his mettle in more ways than he could ever have dreamt.

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Going into this film, you might expect it to have a lot in common with its Cars progenitors, and you’d be right. There’s the small town/old crusty coach with a secret/dim-witted truck BFF/cute car pittys from Cars 1, and the international race/serious car deaths from Cars 2. What you might not expect is the wild tonal shifts the picture makes as it swings from gentle Pixar-ish character-based humor, to Dreamworks-ish topical/sometimes-crass humor, to realistic shots of Dusty taking on damage, to a oddly long and violent “Saving Private Ryan”-ish segment in a military flashback.

The main quibble I have with the picture is its main character, Dusty. He starts off the movie as a nice, determined, wisecracking dude, and ends it pretty much the same. There’s no character arc, because there aren’t any really distinguishing features about him–he helps others with their problems and works hard at racing, but doesn’t really have any personal issues beyond his fear of heights to overcome. The acrophobia seems a little tacked on as well, and when he surmounts it, there doesn’t seem to be any particular reason for why he does, except that…he does. This featurelessness more than anything else brands this as more of a children’s movie for me, as often children’s protagonists seem deliberately uncomplicated so that a kid can identify/replace himself with them. Then again, I thought the same thing about Harry Potter, and he proved pretty popular regardless.

It is probably not overstating matters to say that many people enjoyed Cars 1 and 2. It is probably also not overstating matters to say that many people had difficulties with the logistics of their world, as it was presented. Where were the people? How do the cars exist as completely independent entities? Cars have a Pope? I think it’s a safe bet to say that if you couldn’t get over cars not having opposable thumbs in those movies, Planes is not for you. On the other hand, if you enjoyed the Cars franchise before, but were maybe put off by the complicated plotting of Cars 2, you will likely enjoy Planes. If it occasionally shows its direct-to-video roots, it’s still a pretty film to look at, with a lot of arresting action thrown in and an inspiring message of overcoming your physical limitations…which ends up working out better for Dusty than Mike Wazowski.

Subsequent to the media screening, AllEars was able to attend the Red Carpet opening of Disney’s Planes’ World Premiere, at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Attending were the majority of the film’s voice talent, along with Director Klay Hall, Producer Traci Balthazor-Flynn, p.g.a, Executive Producer John Lasseter, and a slew of other cinema notables.

Screenwriter Jeffrey M. Howard was kind enough to talk to us for a minute about working in the universe of Cars, and plans for the future movies.

Disney’s Planes will open August 9, 2013. Director: Klay Hall; Voice of Dusty: Dane Cook. This is the first picture of the Cars franchise to get a PG rating.

AllEars was invited to the preview showing of Planes and the Red Carpet event.