Some exciting announcements were made during a London-based Disney presentation surrounding the much-anticipated sequel to Pixar's Cars, while folks were also treated to a sneak peek at a sequence from next year's Toy Story 3.
During the London presentation, Pixar's John Lasseter announced that Timothy Dalton will be voicing a character named Mr. Pricklepants in Toy Story 3. Empire tells us the character is "a hedgehog toy with thespian tendencies." Perhaps even more important, though, was the footage previewed – most of which dealt with the toys accidentally being shipped off to a day care center when their owner, Andy, heads off for college. It appears as if the main plot will deal with the toys – lead by Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz (Tim Allen) – trying to find a way to escape the day care center before a bunch of crazy little kids tear them apart piece by piece.
But what about Cars 2? Well, in a separate story on Empire, we're told that the sequel to Cars will feature Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) and his pit boss Mater traveling the globe in a special Race of Champions which takes them to five different countries, including Japan, Germany, Italy, France and London. In the latter city, Mater gets entangled with an Aston Martin that's of course a British secret agent (James Bond, anyone?), and that turns into a whole mistaken identity side story described as "Hitchcockian" (a la North by Northwest). Empire suggests that a former James Bond will most likely voice this new character. Could they convince Sean Connery to come out of retirement?
I wasn't the biggest fan of Cars (in fact I fell asleep while watching it), but as a huge fan of Pixar, I'm certainly willing to give it another shot during round two. What about you? Which one are you looking forward to the most? Cars 2 or Toy Story 3?
