T

he sequel to Disney'€™s animated cartoon Planes is a feel-good movie that everyone can enjoy, but definitely not for children under 10.

The excellent computer graphic work on the characters and set pieces of Planes: Fire & Rescue will certainly be appealing to kids '€“ the apparent target market.

The work is so good that the perfect rendering of the forest fires that dominated almost the second half of the 83-minute runtime of the movie might actually upset them.

The movie also contained vehicular puns and gags only adults would understand, not to mention a spin-off from a TV series famous in the 1970s although the appearance of the original cast of the TV show in cameo that was much appreciated here.

The movie was superior compared to its predecessor both in plot and technical aspects '€“ we haven'€™t touched the subtext yet.

Screened in 3D since August 13 in Indonesia, the movie is what happens when filmmakers do their homework.

First-time director, straight-to-video producer and movie co-writer Roberts '€œBobs'€ Gannaway said that he found during his research that the single-engine propeller aircraft usually used as crop dusters were among the first to be used in aerial fire-fighting back in the 1950s.

The technical team worked with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as well as the US Forest Service to learn more about aerial fire-fighting and the '€œsmokejumpers'€, the elite firefighters who parachute into the front lines to battle wildfires.

As a result, the audience can appreciate the storyline and feel how intense some scenes are, besides the spectacular aeronautical stunts with AC/DC on the playback.

Fire & Rescue was again brought us to the vehicular universe of race champion Dusty Crophopper (voiced by Dane Cook).

The crop duster plane somehow exhausted its engine and damaged the gearbox. That condition forces him to cut speed, and if his buddies cannot find a replacement, Dusty will never race again.

While dealing with his disappointment, Dusty changes course and moves forward to become the second firefighter to the old fire truck Mayday (Hal Holbrook) at their home airbase, Propwash Junction.

To get a license, Dusty has to go on training with veteran fire and rescue helicopter Blade Ranger (Ed Harris) and his team at Piston Peak National Park.

The lovable new cast of characters includes the all-around mechanic Maru (Curtis Armstrong), the heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter, (Wes Studi) the cheeky super scooper Lil'€™ Dipper (Julie Bowen), flying boxcar Cabbie (Dale Dye) and a group of courageous all-terrain vehicles '€” the Smokejumpers.

At first Dusty hesitates to accelerate full throttle but later decides to take the risk in the vehicles-vs-nature battle when the national park catches fire and threatens vacationers at the newly opened Grand Fusel Lodge (clever, clever).

It was a good decision duo writer Gannaway and Jeffrey M. Howard to drop a tiring race theme after the first few minutes and take a different path than the one taken by previous movies.

Planes was actually a straight-to-DVD spin-off of Cars before Disney decided to screen it on theater.

Other than a subliminal message telling kids to buy more planes and truck toys, Fire & Rescue is meant as an appreciation to firefighters, who risk losing lives while saving strangers.

It also relates to actual issues of dealing with failure and finds a new purpose of life.

Now that Disney has more confidence in its anthropomorphic characters, let'€™s just hope that the train and motorhome RVs that appeared on the sequel will not have their own spin-offs.