Disney “Planes” Blu-ray/DVD Review – Fun Ride, But It Doesn’t Quite Soar

Hi everyone!

Disney Planes is now out on Blu-ray/DVD, and we received a copy to review. Planes is the brainchild of John Lasseter and Klay Hall, originally to be a train themed film. Lucky for Klay Hall, Lasseter decided to change it to Planes – since Klay Hall is a pilot, as was his dad and grandfather, and it lends to the authenticity of the film. The screenplay is by Jeffrey M Howard.

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Planes has a distinct Cars feel to it (and even includes the tractors), but is not a Pixar film – no matter how many similarities there are. It also doesn’t have the big-budget feel of Pixar Cars, but it is an enjoyable film and kids should love it.

Dusty Crophopper (Dane Cook) is a cropduster, but wants to be much more than that – he wants to race. He’s terrified of heights but longs to soar. And with the help of Skipper (Stacy Keach), he realizes his dream of being more than he was built for. There are some lovely sequences in the film, my favorite being when Dusty and Ishani (Priyanka Chopra) fly past the Taj Mahal. In one of the bonus features, Director Klay Hall says that it’s like if they were walking hand-in-hand, as close as they can get to a romantic stroll. And characters? My favorite in Planes is El Chupacabra (Carlos Alazraqui), and there is a charming scene where Dusty helps him romance Rochelle (Julia Louis – Dreyfus). It does seem that for as much as the film is called Planes, there are at least as many cars on screen!

The bonus features are a bit light, but the deleted scenes were fun to watch – Klay Hall and Producer Traci Balthazor introduce the clips, which range from very rough to more animated. The bonus feature I enjoyed most is called “Klay’s Flight Plan” and features Klay with his sons, talking about the creation of Planes. John Lasseter also is shown, discussing how Planes came about. Hall takes a sunset ride with his sons, saying that it’s something he’ll remember for a lifetime. At 15 minutes, it’s a satisfying bonus feature, I wish there were more like this!

In the end, Disney Planes is a fun ride, though it never quite soars (unlike Dusty). But we do recommend it as an enjoyable family film!

We interviewed Stacy Keach about his role as Skipper in Disney Planes, you can read that here.

And here is our red carpet interview at the Disney D23 Expo with Klay Hall and Traci Balthazor!