Pixar to Make ‘Cars’ Direct-to-Video Spin-Off ‘Planes’?

It’s kind of universally accepted that John Lasseter’s 2006 feature “Cars,” while certainly a gorgeous-looking Pixar movie, was far from the studio’s best. Still, it sold a shitload of toys and pajamas and other assorted bric-a-brac, so much so that Disney and Pixar are hard at work on a sequel, out next summer. The fact that we have an undoubtedly by-the-numbers sequel to an original that was pretty flavorless following up the adventurous “Ratatouille,” “WALL-E,” “Up,” and “Toy Story 3,” is pretty disappointing.

But wait! There’s more! According to a Movieline exclusive, there’s a spin-off in the works, too, the imaginatively titled “Planes.” So it’ll be like “Cars,” but in the sky.

The article speculates that this project will be a direct-to-video spin-off, which seems kind of odd considering Lasseter’s staunch opposition to these cheapie sequels (let’s not forget “Toy Story 2” was originally envisioned by Michael Eisner as a direct-to-video event). But then again there is the recently opened Pixar Canada campus, which is supposed to specialize in stuff like this.

We’re certainly not jazzed about “Cars” and its multitude of spin-offs, but if the box office rewards these films reap means that the studio can get away with producing more oddball projects in the future, then we’re all for it. They can sell all the “Cars” toothpaste imaginable if it means another “Incredibles” movie in the not-too-distant future.