Lightning McQueen and Mr. Incredible are headed back to the big screen.
It was announced at this week’s annual meeting of The Walt Disney Company shareholders and D23 Members that Pixar Animation Studios is developing a third installment in the Cars franchise in addition to a sequel to Brad Bird’s The Incredibles.
The original Cars was released in 2006 while the sequel, Cars 2, was released in 2011. Disneytoon Studios released a spinoff – Planes – last year. This summer, Planes: Fire & Rescue hits the big screen.
Cars 3 will be developed …

Start your engines and celebrate Father’s Day at the third annual Car Masters Weekend at Downtown Disney West Side.
The classic car show with a modern twist features all things Cars including a meet and greet with characters from Disney/Pixar’s Cars and Cars 2. Automotive designer Chip Foose and Cars filmmaker Jay Ward are scheduled to host celebrity chats on the Car Masters Stage during the weekend. Foose contributed to the design of Ramone in Cars and will also be available for autographs.
On Sunday, June 16, car enthusiasts from the Muscle …

Walt Disney World has released details about the upcoming Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, which will debut with new topiaries and other attractions based on Phineas and Ferb, Monsters University, Cars 2, Oz: The Great and Powerful and more.
The festival will also add special food kiosks in World Showcase while The Village People have been added to their Flower Power concert series for the first time in the festival’s 20 year history.
At the front gate, the topiary will have a cook-out theme featuring Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and a …

Disney Consumer Products have awarded Catapult Action-Biased Marketing with their 2011 Disney Food, Health and Beauty Award. The award was given to Catapult in recognition of their shopper marketing programs for two of their clients – The Kellogg Company and Perdue. The marketing company won in two categories, which included Best Retail Program (Kellogg) and Licensee of the Year (Perdue.)
Said President of Catapult Peter Cloutier:
We are honored to be celebrating this Disney winner, which is the highest achievement that any marketing agency can win with this world-class media …

Sources have announced that the 66th Edinburgh Film Festival will be the proud host of the European premiere of Disney-Pixar’s Brave. The film will close the festival on June 30.
The festival, which has a long-standing relationship with Disney and Pixar, has screened several high-profile titles in the past but missed out on Cars 2 last year, which led to a disastrous showing. With Brave now in the roster, however – and the official opening date for the film set to August 13 in the U.K. – the film festival is …

Disney/Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter will be getting his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The director of Toy Story and Cars will be honored during a special ceremony in front of the El Capitan Theatre November 1 at 11:30 a.m., where he will receive his star and become star number 2,453 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Currently, Lasseter is overseeing the creation of Cars Land, an addition to Disney’s California Adventure theme park set to debut next summer. He also directed this year’s Cars 2.
Bonnie Hunt, …

When the newest Disney/Pixar film Cars 2 made its debut in theaters over the summer, its critical reception wasn’t quite what Pixar Animation Studios was used to. Having consistently produced critically acclaimed films since the debut of Toy Story in 1995, Cars 2 was the first film that did not receive an overwhelmingly positive reception, having earned only a 38% rating on rottentomatoes.com. In an article recently published by the New York Times, chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios John Lasseter has now opened up about …

Yesterday, Disney announced their latest venture, Disney AppMATes Mobile Application Toys. These new toys are the first of their kind to allow kids to turn the Apple iPad into a virtual play mat. Developed between Disney Consumer Products and Disney Mobile, the new toy line features miniature Cars 2 vehicles with built in sensors that are immediately recognized by an app without any cables or hookups required. Simply download the free Cars 2 Appmates app from the iTunes store, place your Appmates character on the iPad screen and play.
Sunny Lauridsen, …

Fans of Cars 2 will want to take note:  the DVD/Blu Ray combo package will go on sale the first day of November.
In addition to the film, customers will enjoy a previously unmentioned short, starring everyone’s favorite tow truck, Mater.  From the clip released by Entertainment Tonight, it appears that Air Mater will feature, well, a flying tow truck.  Also included on the disc will be behind-the-scenes footage of Cars Land, currently under construction at Disney California Adventure Park.
If you are interested in reserving your copy today, you can pre-order …

The lawsuit against Disney Pixar regarding Cars that we previously told you about has been dismissed by U.S. District Court judge in California.
Jake Mandeville-Anthony, a British screenwriter, had filed the lawsuit last spring, alleging that Pixar had infringed on his copyright by stealing the idea for the Cars franchise from him.  In the lawsuit, Mandeville-Anthony stated that he sent copies of his work, created twenty years ago, to Disney, and he met with a Lucasfilm executive who would later become a manager with Pixar. 
However, after reviewing the case’s facts, Judge …