Armand Baltazar, Digital, 2009.
Lighting Study, Sharon Calahan, Digital paint over set render, 2010.
A twenty-four-hour endurance race through Paris was one of two racing sequences (along with a rally race in Germany’s Black Forest) that were conceived, designed, and later jettisoned over the course of the story development process. But unlike Germany, which would ultimately not appear in the final version, the City of Light found its way back into the film. Rather than being used as glittery, gorgeous, travelogue-style scenery, the city would serve instead as the backdrop for one of the darkest, grittiest scenes in the film.
A tense, French Connection–inspired chase, followed by the questioning of a black-market parts dealer, was written and boarded. For the setting—a covered bazaar populated by a number of auto-parts vendors—Lasseter suggested that Jessup take a look at old photographs of Paris’s Les Halles marketplace. Jessup wouldn’t have to look very far to find them. He had already researched the famous central market—which was demolished in 1971—while working on a scene for another Pixar movie, Ratatouille. Ironically, the scene, in which Remy the rat shops for food in a Les Halles–inspired market, was, like Cars 2’s Paris racing sequence, also discarded.
“This is how things work sometimes at Pixar,” says Nate Stanton. “Things fall away. But the really good ideas will stick around forever. Some ideas that drop out in the beginning can come back, full circle, and sprout in a different way.” (Toy Story 3’s Lots-o-Huggin’ Bear—a character originally discussed as a possibility for the first film—is Pixar’s most memorable recent example.)
Says Nat McLaughlin about the look of the resulting scene, “It’s moody and decrepit, and you’ve got these slatted windows with old yellowed panes of glass in them that you can shoot filtered light through. There are lots and lots of vendors selling stuff like car parts that are reminiscent of sides of beef. It’s disturbing. And cool.”
“Visiting Paris for the first time, what struck me was how beautiful and well preserved the city was. Nearly everything from the landscaping to the signage seemed to be carefully designed to support this classical beauty, and I knew that achieving this look would be crucial for the film. We took a whirlwind motorcycle tour through the city, stopping for a few minutes at each point of interest to walk around and take photos. It was a great way to get a feel for the city and the uniquely preserved classical architecture that we would later ‘car-ify’ with various automotive motifs.”
—NAT McLAUGHLIN, environments art director
Jay Shuster, Digital, 2009.
Dan Holland, Marker/Digital, 2009.
Jay Shuster, Digital, 2009.
Josh Cooley, Ink, 2010.
Tim Evatt, Pencil/Digital, 2010.
Model Packet, Kristian Norelius, Pencil/Digital, 2010.
Armand Baltazar, Digital, 2009.
Lighting Study, Sharon Calahan, Digital paint over render, 2010.
“In each country, as we designed the background cars, Harley [Jessup] definitely encouraged us to skew things more vintage, to feature classic cars from each country. So in Paris you’ll see the time-honored Citroen DS, the 2CV, and the old Renaults mixed with modern French designs.”
—JAY SHUSTER
SACRE COEUR
Model Packet, Armand Baltazar, Digital, 2009.
LOUVRE
Model Packet, John Nevarez, Digital, 2009.
Color Palette for French Background Cars, Bert Berry, Digital, 2010.
Model Packet, Armand Baltazar, Digital, 2009.
LOUVRE DETAIL
Model Packet, John Nevarez, Digital, 2009.
Storyboards, Erik Benson, Josh Cooley, Digital, 2010.
Model Packet, Armand Baltazar, Pencil/Digital, 2009.
