^ I know, but Scotland is not on th World Grand Prix route, so if they have a Brave reference, maybe it will be in England.
I wasn’t talking specifically about castles. For what we know, maybe castles doesn’t even feature heavily on Brave.
^ agree, England sounds more reliable
PS: love your Totem
On a somewhat related note, I’ve been to London, and there’s a castle right in the middle of the city. It’s the Tower of London. 
Come to think of it, I’ve been to all the countries in Cars 2. USA (California, Hawaii and Nevada), England (London), France (Paris), Italy (Milan), and Japan (Tokyo and Hokkaido). I count myself lucky to be a man of the world (and to have a family that takes an interest in saving up to travel).
What a lucky duck! I’ve only been to USA (duh) and England. I really want to go to France out of all the locations, because I want to visit my ancestral country.
My memories of Paris was fleeting- we only spent a day there, we took pictures in front of the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower but didn’t have enough time to enter them (we were on a group tour, so we must stick to the ridiculously rigid itinerary). But if you’re wondering, yes, the streets look narrow and cobbled like in Ratatouille. Yes, French people are snooty (I tried speaking to the waiters in French, but got blank stares 
). Yes, the River Seine is magnificent. Yes, the Eiffel Tower lights up at night and it looks magical-beautiful.
We even got to visit the Versailles Palace and drink overpriced freshly-squeezed orange juice in the gardens. Ahh… j’aime Paris. <3
We also went to Cannes in Nice on the same trip, but it was winter, so there was hardly any one at the beach. I took a picture with Gerard Depardieu’s star on their version of the ‘Walk of Fame’!
I really can’t wait to see how they portray Paris in Cars 2 and whether it’s any different from Ratatouille or if they ‘recycle’ the scenery assets.
^ Well, there will be a lot of new landmarks, like the Arc de Triomphe.
And the other locations we already saw in Ratatouille, like the Eiffel and Notre Dame, were updated with a “car architecture”.
Hi, guys! I’m new here! 
My name’s James, but you can call me whatever!
Anywho, Cars is my favourite Pixar movie, and one of my all-time favourite animated movies, and I am so excited about the prospects of a sequel. So far, everything looks like it is all shaping up really well! At first I was a little nervous about the whole spy-parody theme, but I’m sure Pixar will make a fantastic movie, which will be on par or even superior to the original - come on, if anyone can do it, Pixar can! 
I’m so excited to see my favourite characters travel the globe too! I’m looking forward to seeing London the most, followed by France. And, yeah, I agree guys, I’m sure we’ll see more of Paris and will be shown a completely different type of city - one filled with talking cars!
Overall, the movie is looking good. All the Cars haters, need to slow down and enjoy the original for what it is; a beautiful tale, which obviously means so much to John and other memebers of the Pixar crew.
That’s my two cents! 
Check out these production images of Cars 2.
They are artworks of some famous buildings that will be in the movie for the World Grand Prix race.
The Eiffel Tower, the new house of parliament in london and the European Riviera in Italy! All buildings have been carified! hah
Looks so cool!
accesspixar.blogspot.com/2011/03 … works.html
^ Wow. Those pieces of artwork are impressive. I love the attention to detail. I can’t wait to see the finished locations in the real movie!
Oh, thank you so much for this artwork! This movie will be visually impressive, that for sure.
I love the New concept art, cool stuff
Effluviem, welcome to this amazing forum
let me tell you that John Lasseter (Cars 2 Director) said that Cars 2 is not a spy-parody film, it is a spy film, a great spy film,
looking forward to it, and so glad you love Cars as much as I do,
'Sup James! 
If you couldn’t already tell, Cars is my all time favorite Pixar movie as well! Nice to see another fan and welcome to the forums. 
Sorry for being so ignorant to all of this movie terminology but what’s a recycled scene? 
thedriveintheatre: Sounds like you had a great time! I like what you said about the French being snooty. It’s one of those stereotypes that are based on truth. Like when I went to Ireland I put the Irish drunk sterotype in the back of my mind. But when I went to Ireland, literally every block had a pub, it was hilarious.
Welcome James!
Stereotypes are certain truths taken to extremes and placed as a generalisation on a group of people. This is not to say that everyone conforms to stereotypes, but there’s a great tendency to. But I always treat each person as an individual (like you do) and if they happen to conform to a stereotype, I’ll find it just as hilarious as you do.
Usually when I watch movies, I appreciate characters who break stereotypes (so a fat person who can dance, for example, or a Chinese detective who doesn’t know kung-fu, etc.), and I try to write such non-conformist characters into my (as yet) unpublished fanfictions.
Welcome James, you can make your intro in the Introductions thread under the Members Inc. sub-section. 
…
Anyway, to tie this in to the main discussion, I’m still really cheesed off with Professor Z’s design. If you look at Pete Docter’s villains as an example, there’s no way to ‘tell’ they’re a villain. But here, it is so stereotypical, it is almost laughable. Monocled-sneaky-eyes? Check. Unattractive and distinctly ‘lemon’ car model? Check. Short, small, and has a Napoleon-complex (well, maybe, for the last part, have to see more clips)? Check.
A smarter way the Pixarians could’ve done it was make him an attractive or at least a nondescript car. Perhaps a Ford Pinto, which looks passable but was notoriously explosive, or an Edsel, which was a great-looking piece except for the naughty-looking front grille. By making him a Zündapp Janus (Now you guys know his first name… ), and giving him a buck-toothed ‘nerd’ appearance, you’re not so much scared by him as more of amused by his ugly mug.
Does this look like a bad guy you can take seriously as opposed to this, this, or this?
I’m not saying they should make him a Ferrari or a Lamborghini or something, cos’ that would be too conflicting a message to the audience (though it would make a stronger ‘twist’ when you realise he’s really a bad guy). But they could’ve been more subtle and nuanced in his appearance.
^ Can’t agree with the Professor Z part.
It’s funny that you mention the Bond villains, cause quite a lot of them were unattractive and had some kind of deformity/disability.
Remember that this guy is being voiced Thomas Kretschmann, so I don’t think we need him to look imposing to be taken seriously. That if he’s supposed to be taken seriously.
NEWS about The Soundtrack
[size=200]-[/size] Cars 2 will feature Two Original Songs
[size=200]-[/size] CD release planned
Full Story:
pixarblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/e … ature.html
Yes, I read that yesterday and I’m not very happy about it.
Two songs? And that just in the “original” department. How many pop songs will be there in total?
This can potentially get too close to the original Cars, with all those songs over the score. I was hoping Giacchino’s choice would mean less songs.
when I first saw Cars I was a little annoyed for have listened to many songs during the film, but after several millions of rewatches, I love them all, specially Real Gone & Sh-Boom,
now, dunno how the reactions will be, but I hope that most of the songs be in the final credits, (I doubt)
what I really wish to see is an original catchy song in the opening (when McQueen and Mater appear) showing what happened in Radiator Springs the last 4 years
How do we know 4 years have passed since the last movie? Sure, they have in the production timeline, but that doesn’t have to translate into the Cars universe, does it?
P.S - I adore your signature!
^ Cause McQueen has won four consecutive Piston Cups since.
So I think they translated 4 real life years into 4 years within the franchise timeline.