It all begins when world-famous air racer Dusty Crophopper (voice of Dane Cook) returns to hometown Propwash Junction after another victorious racing season. The former crop duster revels in his new career success until a fateful training run changes his course with a career-ending injury. The incident sets into motion a series of events that threatens the future of Dusty’s hometown.

Forced to shift gears, he decides to train with the Aerial Fire Fighters at Piston Peak Air Attack Base as a Single Engine Air Tanker (SEAT). The heroic, often life-threatening efforts involved are admirable—but seemingly impossible to master—particularly if you’re a crop duster-turned-racer with an injury that can’t be ignored, in Disneytoon's new aerial adventure “Planes: Fire & Rescue.”

Blade Ranger (voice of Ed Harris), a veteran fire-and-rescue helicopter, heads up the Piston Peak Air Attack team. Haunted by a storied past, he’s a tough and demanding air boss with a wry sense of humor, and he’s not exactly enthusiastic about his new trainee Dusty. But Blade is a pro and does everything he can to bring the new SEAT up to speed.

Outgoing and spirited super scooper Dipper (voice of Julie Bowen) is skilled at skimming lakes, scooping up more than 1600 gallons of water and dousing angry fires. A former cargo hauler from Alaska, Dipper is an avid air racing fan with a major crush on headline racer Dusty, so she’s head-over-wheels with excitement when the new SEAT shows up at Piston Peak.

Windlifter (voice of Wes Studi) is a heavy-lift helicopter who can hoist dozens of trees or a huge tank of fire retardant. The American Indian’s wisdom is vast—he’s chock full of fire folklore, and his connection to nature allows him to sense fires before they’re even spotted. The former lumberjack became a firefighter to help others, and no mission is too big for Windlifter.

A jolly old ex-military transport plane, Cabbie (voice of Dale Dye) used to drop airborne utility vehicles behind enemy lines in Korea. Now he drops smokejumpers at Piston Peak—it’s a lot like combat, but nobody’s shootin’ at him. With a payload of 10,000 pounds and a maximum takeoff weight of 74,000 pounds—Cabbie can carry the smokejumpers up to 2,000 miles away.

The Smokejumpers are a fearless team of grounded firefighters, led by the strong and sassy Dynamite (voice of Regina King)—so named because you don’t wanna set her off. Pinecone (voice of Corri English), equipped with a rake tool to clear brush and debris, is an easygoing southern soul. Avalanche (voice of Bryan Callen) earned his name after triggering a massive slide, but the bulldozer—who coincidently lacks an “inside voice”—claims he was nowhere near that snow bank. Tough and over-eager Blackout (voice of Danny Pardo) once accidentally sawed down an electrical line, cutting power to the lodge for weeks and sending shockwaves through his short-term memory—at least he thinks so. Drip (voice of Matt Jones), an outgoing dude who’s always leaking oil, uses a skid-steer claw to clear fallen trees and brush.

The Secretary of the Interior (voice of Fred Willard) has many responsibilities, but none is more important than overseeing the National Parks. This rugged outdoorsman loves being in nature; he spends most of his time away from his office in Washington, visiting the National Forests and Parks and helping to spread his message of conservation.

Harvey (voice of Jerry Stiller) & Winnie (voice of Anne Meara) met many moons ago when Harvey was the manager of an RV tire store and Winnie was his showroom model. The loving couple travel to Piston Peak Park, where they celebrated their honeymoon 50 years ago.

By 1978, Nick “Loop’n” Lopez (voice of Erik Estrada) was America's favorite helicopter cop, featured on TV’s CHoPs, a show about two California Helicopter Patrol choppers. Nick, the troublemaking macho young officer, got the nickname "Loop’n" from his signature inside loop, which no other helicopter could perform.

Opening across the Philippines on August 20 in 3D and 2D cinemas, “Planes: Fire & Rescue” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

John Lasseter, executive producer of Disneytoon Studios' “Planes: Fire & Rescue,” is a spirited advocate of extensive research—not only to ensure authenticity to the story, but also to help drive it. And he’s instilled that belief in every Disneytoo filmmaker, including “Planes: Fire & Rescue” director Bobs Gannaway.

In the film, when world-famous air racer Dusty Crophopper learns that his engine is damaged and he may never race again, he must shift gears and is launched into the world of aerial firefighting.

“We took a closer look at Dusty and the background of crop dusters,” says Gannaway. “We discovered that crop dusting planes like Dusty are also used for wildfire air attack. Known as a SEAT—a Single Engine Air Tanker—it’s the smallest plane in the wildfire air attack fleet. In addition, the first operational air tanker was a repurposed crop duster, which made the first air drop on the Mendocino National Forest in 1955. Fighting fires is in Dusty’s heritage.”

Gannaway also realized that a crop duster-turned high-speed racer would likely be facing some issues. “Dusty pushed himself really hard to become a racer,” says Gannaway, “which would in real life cause extreme stress on his engine and potentially cause damage.”

The research led filmmakers to Dusty’s second-chance story. And since he’d be joining the ranks of aerial firefighting, filmmakers set out to learn as much as possible about that world from the people who live in it every day. “Bobs and his team came back changed by the people that they met,” says Lasseter. “These firefighters are true heroes.”

“We were just amazed by their devotion,” says Gannaway. “They are courageous, strong, affable people who fight fires every single day—flying planes in almost-combat-like situations, or jumping from planes into tiny targets in the middle of the forest, surrounded by blazing fires. We want them to watch the movie and say, ‘Yeah, they got it right. That’s what it’s like.’ That’s why we ended up devoting the film to the firefighters, because we just fell in love with these guys.”

Adds writer Jeff Howard, “We wanted to pay tribute to the bravery of these people and the fact that they put their lives on the line for people they don’t even know.”

Several members of the production team spent time at the Hemet-Ryan Air Attack Base with CalFire, gathering background for the film’s setting, characters, dialogue and story. “We had a version of the story that we bounced off them,” says Howard. “We’d ask them questions, ‘Does this sound realistic? How would you say this? What would this character do in this situation?’”

According to Howard, filmmakers noticed how relaxed the firefighters were when there wasn’t a fire to fight. “They hang back, play pranks on each other, have cookouts. They’re incredibly easygoing. But when the alarm goes off, they snap into action. They’re all business—professional, serious. That’s something we wanted to portray in the scene when Dusty arrives at Piston Peak Air Attack Base.”

CalFire battalion chief Travis Alexander not only welcomed the team—allowing them to sketch, take pictures and video, and soak up the atmosphere—he ultimately served as inspiration for one of the main characters. “He’s a giant of a man,” says Howard. “He has a dry wit and is a serious, soft-spoken, carries-a-big-stick kind of guy. He’s the one giving commands to the other planes. We put a little bit of his perfectionism into Blade’s personality.”

“Disney reaches a very wide audience and when dealing with real-life emergencies and issues accuracy is critical,” says Alexander. “An animated feature about the seriousness and dangers of wildland fires and those that battle them will influence and impact people of all ages. The level of commitment by everyone at Disney and their mission to get even the smallest details right became very clear to me as a professional firefighter who fights wildland fires from the ground and air. I appreciate the Disney team’s goal to accurately depict the professionalism, challenges and subtleties in our lives on the job.”

Opening across the Philippines on August 20 in 3D and 2D cinemas, “Planes: Fire & Rescue” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

Disneytoon Studios' “Planes: Fire & Rescue” is a new adventure-comedy about a dynamic crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting America's historic Piston Peak National Park from raging wildfire.

When world-famous air racer Dusty Crophopper learns that his engine is damaged and he may never race again, he must shift gears and is launched into the world of aerial firefighting. “It’s a movie about second chances,” says director Bobs Gannaway (“Secret of the Wings”). “Each character was something else before finding their current roles, and Dusty is a crop duster-turned-racer who can’t race any more. When we learned that historically, the very first air attack teams were crop dusters, it was clear that the plane was telling us where the story was going.”

Dusty joins forces with veteran fire-and-rescue helicopter Blade Ranger and his courageous team, including spirited air tanker Dipper, heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter, ex-military transport Cabbie and a lively bunch of brave all-terrain vehicles known as The Smokejumpers. Together, the fearless team battles a massive wildfire and Dusty learns what it takes to become a true hero.

“It’s a classic injured-athlete story,” says producer Ferrell Barron (“Piglet’s Big Movie,” “The Fox and the Hound 2”). “I think we’ve all experienced some kind of loss at some point in our lives—an end of an era, a lost love, a failed career. We’ve all had to recalibrate. Dusty can’t go back to being a crop duster, he left that behind. He has to move forward.”

“Planes: Fire & Rescue” features the voices of Dane Cook (“Disney’s Planes,” “Louie,” “Dan in Real Life”) as Dusty, Ed Harris (“Apollo 13”) as Blade Ranger, Julie Bowen (“Modern Family,” “Horrible Bosses”) as Dipper, Curtis Armstrong (“Supernatural”) as Maru, John Michael Higgins (“Pitch Perfect”) as Cad Spinner, Hal Holbrook (“Lincoln”) as Mayday, Wes Studi (“Avatar”) as Windlifter, Brad Garrett (“Disney’s Planes”) as Chug, Teri Hatcher (“Desperate Housewives”) as Dottie, Stacy Keach (“Nebraska”) as Skipper, Cedric the Entertainer (“Barbershop”) as Leadbottom and Danny Mann (“Up”) returns as Sparky.

The voice talent also includes Barry Corbin (“Northern Exposure”) as ‘Ol Jammer, Regina King as Dynamite, Anne Meara as Winnie, Jerry Stiller as Harvey, Fred Willard as Secretary of the Interior, Captain Dale Dye as Cabbie, Kevin Michael Richardson as Ryker, and Patrick Warburton (“The Emperor’s New Groove”) as Pulaski.

The score is by Mark Mancina (“Disney’s Planes,” “Training Day”), with songs by country star Brad Paisley and newcomer Spencer Lee, and additional acoustic piano by Bruce Hornsby.

Opening across the Philippines on August 20 in 3D and 2D cinemas, “Planes: Fire & Rescue” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through Columbia Pictures.