Fun Times With The Cast & Filmmakers of Disney Pixar Cars 3! ⋆ Brite and Bubbly

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Vanessa and I had the awesome opportunity to attend the Disney Pixar Cars 3 press junket this past weekend and I can’t tell you how much of a spectacular time it was! The premiere was also taking place that day and it was a sight to see. They had life size versions of the cars Lightening McQueen, Cruz Ramirez, and Jackson Storm on display. During the junket, we got to hang out with these life sized amazing cars, chat with the cast and filmmakers of Cars 3, check out some of the amazing new toys from Cars 3, and we got to finish off the day with an incredible visit to the Disneyland Resort! Talk about having the best day ever!

I mean, how amazing do these cars look!

I wanted to get inside one and drive it home!!! We got to play with some of the toys released for the film and they too are pretty awesome.

I love the Cars 3 Tsum Tsums…

And the Lightening McQueen Sphero is BEYOND incredible! It talks, his eyes blink and he pretty much comes to life right before your eyes when you drive him around via an app on your phone. I have to have one!

After we were done playing with all the toys, we got to chat with the filmmakers Producer Dana Murray and Director Dave Mullins of the Pixar animated short film Lou!

Producer Dana Murray (L) and director Dave Mullins. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Lou is an incredible short film that will play before Cars 3 in theaters. It’s honestly worth seeing Cars 3 just to see this short. In typical fashion for a Pixar short, I shed some tears because I was so touched by the film. It’s a really sweet story about the reason why a toy-stealing bully ruins recess for a playground full of kids and how a magical “Lost and Found” box shows him how to be different.

Producer Dana Murray (L) and director Dave Mullins. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Dana and Dave shared about how their short was difficult to make. Dave had been pitching short ideas for years before finally getting approved to make Lou. They also had the challenge of trying to make the film in the middle of the production for the Pixar feature film The Good Dinosaur. They kept losing animators to the feature film production, so they had to work around those challenges.

Producer Dana Murray (L) and director Dave Mullins present the short film (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

One work around was they used some of the background kids created for the film Inside Out. The took one character and re-purposed him as the main character bully of the short and all the other kids on the playground were also kids taken from Inside Out. They just animated them differently. They didn’t have time to build entirely new characters, so this was a great solution to help get the short film made. I thought that was a brilliant idea and I honestly would have never known they did that just by seeing the film.

Producer Dana Murray (L) and director Dave Mullins (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

I can go on and on about how much I loved the short, but I want to share all the fun things I learned about Cars 3 from the cast and filmmakers of the film.

The Junket was broken up into two panels moderated by Ray Evernham. The first panel consisted of Owen Wilson (voice of “Lightning McQueen”), Armie Hammer (voice of “Jackson Storm”), Cristela Alonzo (voice of “Cruz Ramirez”), Kerry Washington (voice of “Natalie Certain”), CARS 3 Director Brian Fee and CARS 3 Producer Kevin Reher.

Arnie was extremely funny and made a joke about how attractive his car is. He wanted to take his car, which was behind him, home.

Actor Armie Hammer. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

He also shared that as a dad, he was excited to be in a film that sends a strong message to little girls and boys. He loved that it showcases that girls can be anything they want to be.

Actor Cristela Alonzo. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Cristela Alonzo shared that being in the film was a dream come true and that she wanted to send a message back to the kids of her home town, which may be struggling. She wanted them to know that you can achieve your dreams and that she’s a living example of it. She wants underprivileged kids to never give up on their dreams.

Actor Owen Wilson. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Owen Wilson shared that he loved making the Cars movies because it makes him a hero to his kids. He loves being able to share these films with them.

Actor Kerry Washington. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Kerry Washington shared that she got to see the film with her mom and her daughter, so it was really touching for her to see the movie with 3 generations of women her family. She loves the message of the film which shares that girls and boys can win together and be equals!

You could really tell that this cast really loved being a part of this movie and really gets along very well. There was a lot of joking and laughing during the panel.

The Director Brian Fee and Producer Kevin Reher shared that they added four characters to the film that were inspired by real NASCAR legends, Junior Johnson, Louise Smith, Wendell Scott, and Henry “Smokey” Yunick. They also shared that they built eight race tracks for the film: Los Angeles International Speedway, Copper Canyon Speedway (Arizona), Heartland Motor Speedway (Iowa), Motor Speedway of the South, Thunder Hollow Dirt Track, Thomasville Speedway, Georgia Super Speedway, Florida International Super Speedway.

The second half of the panel had once again the CARS 3 Director Brian Fee and Producer Kevin Reher along with my favorite Nathan Fillion (voice of “Sterling”), Lea DeLaria aka Boo from Orange is the New Black (voice of “Miss Fritter”), Isiah Whitlock Jr. (voice of “River Scott”) and Larry the Cable Guy (voice of “Mater”).

Nathan Fillion of course had to kick of his panel by moving his chair to the front of everyone to joke that he’s more important than everyone else. He’s so hilarious!

He did move his chair back and sat with the rest of the cast and filmmakers!

With Nathan, Lea, and Larry the Cable Guy, you know there was a lot of laughing happening during this panel.

Actor Isiah Whitlock Jr. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Isiah Whilock Jr. shared that he loved that the movie payed homage to the racers of the past. He thinks it’s always important to look to the past and learn from those who came before you, much like Lightening does in the film.

Actors Nathan Fillion (L) and Larry the Cable Guy. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Nathan of course joked that his car is so awesome it’s not behind him, because it’s out being driven around.

Actor Nathan Fillion. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

He also shared that it’s so easy to forget that these characters are cars, because you get sucked into the story of the movie. That’s what he feels drives the film.

Actor Lea DeLaria. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Lea shared a fun fact that her high school name is on the bus that she plays and the license plate on her bus is her birthday. She was beyond excited to be in the film, as it was always a dream of hers to be in a Pixar movie!

Actor Larry the Cable Guy. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Larry shared that he’s beyond excited to be in another Cars movie and with out his character there would be no Cars movies. Cars always has to have a little Mater in his opinion. He also tried to get the whole cast and filmmakers into Nascar, since he loves it!

It was so fun to chat with and listen to what the cast and filmmakers had to say about making this film!

It was also a dream come true for me and my wife to meet Nathan Fillion. He’s like a god to us geeks!

It was also a dream come true to meet Lea DeLaria! I’ve been watching her in movies forever like “The First Wives Club” and I love her in Orange Is The New Black!