USA Today has a sneak peek of Cars 3 and introduces new characters. Cruz Ramirez is a young Hispanic female race car who instructs Lightning McQueen in the increasingly high-tech world of racing.
“Cruz Ramirez is trying to figure out how this old dog can learn some new tricks,” Cars 3 director Brian Fee told the paper.
“Think of where he’d be in his career now in real time,” says Fee. “(McQueen) is not an old man, but he’s one of the older cars on the circuit with new rookies coming in. People start to wonder and ask when he might retire.”
These questions grow louder after a being beat by another new character, Jackson Storm.
“Jackson Storm is the face of these rookies who have come onto the scene,” says Fee. “And McQueen is in a position where his entire racing generation is being pushed out. But it’s too early to be shown the door right now.”
Cars 3 is already in production with animation underway. That being said, Pixar is not ready to announce the voice cast behind Ramirez and Storm. However, they did confirm the return of some friends such as tow-truck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), girlfriend Sally Carrera (Bonnie Hunt) and auto-body shop owner Ramone (Cheech Marin).