Disney Reveal of Cars 2 at Toy Fair

While this will be an informational post it is also a post where I get to tell you a little bit about my experience at a great event during Toy Fair.  From the moment you walked into the venue you could tell that this was a Disney event.  Everything there made you feel like you were entering a ride at Disney world.  Cast members were dressed as pit-crew workers and the decor took you into the world of Cars 2.  The main event included interviews with two of the movie’s new stars; Emily Mortimer who plays Holley Shiftwell, a British spy-in-training and possible love interest for Mater, as well as Michael Caine, who plays her mentor, Agent Finn McMissile.  Caine, who can more typically be seen in R rated movies has recently made the jump into voicing animated G movies so his grandchildren would be able to watch some of his work.  Mortimer, was thrilled that for once she did not have to worry about having to go through hair and make-up for the film and really enjoyed having the opportunity to act in a very large way as one would doing theater versus the smaller more subtle type of acting typically done in film.  We were also given some insight as to how the Cars 2 storyline came about via a special videotaped greeting from Director John Lasseter.  “The idea for Cars 2 began when I was traveling around the world doing publicity for Cars.  I found myself looking out at these amazing cities and imagining ‘what would Mater do?’  I couldn’t help but laugh thinking about Mater lost in the maze of Tokyo streets, driving on the wrong side of the toad in England, or navigating the gigantic roundabouts in Paris” Lasseter said.  Before the interview portion of the day was over Caine and Mortimer were each presented with a toy of their movie character.  Caine received a RC vehicle of Finn McMissile put out by Spinmaster which included real shooting missiles.  Mortimer received a replica of Holley Shiftwell made out of Legos. 

For the second part of the event, we were ushered into another room where we were able to see and play with several of the new toys to be released throughout the coming year.  Some will be available beginning in May/June, just before the movie is released while otheres are set to hit stores in the fall just in time for Holiday shopping.  Because my boys are big video game fans, my first stop was to check out C.H.R.O.M.E.  this racing game will be available for Wii, Xbox 360, and Nintendo DS.  Different locations from the movie are seen throughout the different tracks and arenas used for racing, battling, and spy missions.  In the boardgames category Hasbro will be introducing a Cars Monopoly game.  The play will be different from the classic game as it features a round board, where you send a car racing around the track instead of rolling die, it has also simplified the rules so it will be easier for younger children to play.  Fisher Price and Lego have also made their lines more accessible to a younger audience.  Fisher Price will be adding Cars 2 Shake ‘n Go and GeoTrax lines; Lego will not only have some great playsets such as Cars 2 Spy Jet Escape for the 6+ crowd, but will also introduce a Duplo line featuring the characters from the Cars franchise.  Another notable toy is the new wooden collection of Cars from Toys “R” Us.  What a great new use for those of us that have all the wooden train sets that have been cast away as the kids age up from trains to the Disney movies!

You can check out my sometimes fuzzy and blurry but exciting pictures below.