Another trailer for “Cars 2″ March 9, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Movies, Vehicles.add a comment
Disney today released another trailer for the Pixar animated film, “Cars 2,” which will be in theaters on June 24.
Here’s the film’s synopsis:
Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2” when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. Mater finds himself torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret mission orchestrated by master British super spy Finn McMissile (voice of Michael Caine) and the stunning spy-in-training Holley Shiftwell (voice of Emily Mortimer). Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe , trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world.
The fast-paced fun includes a colorful new all-car cast, complete with menacing villains and international racing competitors. John Lasseter returns to the driver’s seat to direct this follow-up to his 2006 Golden Globe-winning “Cars.” “Cars 2” is co-directed by Brad Lewis, producer of the Oscar-winning film “Ratatouille,” and produced by visual effects industry veteran Denise Ream (associate producer, “Up”; visual effects executive producer, “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith”). The film hits the track on June 24, 2011, and will be presented in Disney Digital 3D and IMAX 3D in select theaters.
And here are more stills from “Cars 2,” released yesterday:
Author Michael Wallis, who portrayed the Sheriff of the Route 66 town of Radiator Springs in the original “Cars” in 2006 and served as the film’s Route 66 consultant, said it’s “almost certain” Radiator Springs and many of the original characters will make an appearance in the sequel. Regardless, “Cars 2″ will spark new interest in the original film and thus more interest in the real Route 66. You can read my interview with Wallis here.
(Video, images and synopsis courtesy of Disney)
The Marx Brothers’ connection to Route 66 March 9, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in History, Movies, People.add a comment
I’ll bet you didn’t know the vaudeville and future movie stars once owned a farm in a location that eventually would be Route 66 in Countryside, Ill.
According to the video description, the Marx Brothers‘ “Chicagoland” farm lay four miles west of Chicago, on the northeast corner of South LaGrange Road and Joliet Road (aka Route 66).
Oklahoma Route 66 bridges will be placed on endangered list March 9, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Preservation.add a comment
Preservation Oklahoma is set to list Route 66 bridges and other of the historic highway’s resources as one of Oklahoma’s Most Endangered Historic Places in 2011, according to a news brief today in the Tulsa Beacon.
Preservation Oklahoma’s list will not be announced until tomorrow. But according to the newspaper, the endangered list will include:
- First Presbyterian Church, Atoka
- Archaeological sites (statewide)
- Midland Valley Office Building, Muskogee
- Historic hospitals/medical complexes (statewide)
- 1600 NW 16th St., Oklahoma City
- Route 66 resources and bridges in particular (statewide)
- Douglass High School (Page Woodson), Oklahoma City
- Quanah Parker Star House, Cache
- Chilocco Indian School, Kay County
- The Tulsa Club, Tulsa
- Hopewell Church, Edmond
- Grain elevators (statewide)
It’s likely the imminent replacement of the westbound 1936 Bird Creek Bridge near Catoosa prompted Preservation Oklahoma to place the remaining historic bridges on the Mother Road on its endangered list.
UPDATE: The Oklahoman’s story about the endangered properties announcement also included saved properties from previous years’ lists, including the Phillips 66 gas station in Chandler and the Gold Dome in Oklahoma City, both on Route 66.
Meramec Caverns barn damaged by storm March 9, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Preservation, Weather.add a comment
A barn near Hamel, Ill., that used its north side as an advertisement for Meramec Caverns in Missouri was severely damaged by a tornado in late February, reported Rich Henry at Henry’s Rabbit Ranch in nearby Staunton, Ill.
Henry wrote on the Route 66 yahoogroup:
It didn’t level it, but took it down considerably. The owners have no interest in doing anything about it. In fact I have always personally felt after the newness of the repainted end with Meramec Cavern advertisement, they could have cared less. If they cared, they would have done things over the years to kept it solid. The west side of it, which was visible from I-55, last few years showed a gaping opening from deterioration.
The barn is at the east-side service road of Interstate 55, north of Hamel. The advertisement probably dates to the 1950s, and the barn almost certainly is older than that.
The advertising side of the barn was repainted in 2001 ago in an early preservation project by John and Lenore Weiss. A set of photos from the restoration project can be seen here.
“Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes” March 8, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Gas stations, Music.1 comment so far
I’ve heard this hit song by George Jones for many years, but never saw the video that accompanied it until today.
I wonder how many gas stations are out there, waiting for others to find their treasures after the interstates left them nearly deserted?
“Old Highway” March 7, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Highways, Music.add a comment
This is a music video posted recently on the Route 66 News Facebook page by the Lori Locke Band:
I like the song and the video. My only reservation is that I’d wished they’d used a different sound with the electric guitar.
You’s left out March 7, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Religion.add a comment
It seems those Thessalonians weren’t too bright:
This is the latest video entry of “Route 66: A Road Trip through the Bible.”
A permanent spot on the pier March 6, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, People.5 comments
Dan Rice, proprietor of the Cali-to-66 souvenir shack that sits on near the end of the Santa Monica Pier, said in an e-mail over the weekend that he would move into a permanent kiosk on the pier this spring.
[...T]he City is giving us our permanent spot to further establish us. They understand that this will help us fend off some of the scavengers and finally have some solid footing with our demographic in a permanent and easily found location. The best part is our location. Literally, when you drive onto the pier and come to the very end of the road …when you can drive absolutely no more…when you have to turn left to pull into the parking area, our shop is right there … at the literal end of the road and the very first shop you’ll see. Route 66. So fitting: the final shop when you can drive no more. And it’s right across from Bubba Gump’s … not exactly a low profile spot for us since Bubba Gump’s is the number one tourist/gift shop in Santa Monica.
Rice’s little stand has existed just three years, but it’s made an impact. For decades, no Santa Monica Pier business had taken advantage of the fact the pier was the traditional western endpoint of Route 66. Rice filled that niche, increased awareness of the Mother Road, and gave the pier a nice boost with the “End of the Trail” sign he spearheaded.
Rice also is planning a book tour for his “End of the Trail” biography. More details of the tour will be forthcoming.
An update on Cars Land March 6, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Movies.3 comments
The Cars Land addition at Disneyland Resort in California will open in about 15 months. It’s based on the fictional Route 66 town of Radiator Springs in the 2006 Disney-Pixar movie “Cars,” and Cars Land no doubt will get a nice bump in interest after “Cars 2″ hits theaters this June.
I found out that YouTube contains several good sneak previews of what Cars Land will look like. First, here’s the artist’s rendering first unveiled in September 2009:
In June, Disney provided an update of what Cars Land would look like. The neon lighting in Radiator Springs looks particularly exciting:
Here’s the actual construction of Cars Land, from October:
And here’s preliminary testing of one of the Cars Land slot cars:
It looks like it’s going to be a wonderful attraction. The key is to get people on the real Route 66 after they experience this make-believe on.
UPDATE: Also found this about the Luigi’s Tires attraction:
A postcard from a bygone agricultural era March 6, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, History, Preservation.1 comment so far
Brian Mackey wrote this exceptional story for the Springfield State Journal-Register about the historic Manske-Niemann Farm, which is south of Litchfield, Ill., just off Route 66.
An excerpt:
Perhaps the most remarkable fact about the Manske-Niemann Farm is that it has been continuously occupied and worked by the same family since Abraham Lincoln was in the White House.
In 1863, a Prussian immigrant named Michael Manske spent $1,615 to purchase a small farm about four miles south of Litchfield.
From humble beginnings, the Manske-Niemann Farm grew to its present 462 acres — by comparison, the Illinois State Fairgrounds occupies 366 acres.
For more than 30 years, the lone resident, caretaker and farmer has been Ophelia Niemann, Manske’s great-great-granddaughter.
At the heart of the farm is a white house that dates to the 1860s. It’s surrounded by a grass-covered road that angles among 21 major buildings, all dating to between 1860 and 1935. There are separate barns for horses and cattle, hog huts and chicken houses, a smokehouse, corn cribs, an innovative granary and more. Between and around the buildings are horse and cattle pastures, a garden, what remains of an orchard, an apiary and a hog lot.
Many of the barns are picture-calendar ready, painted red and highlighted with distinctive vertical slats. Inside, the roughhewn lumber and traditional methods of joinery hearken back to a time when Americans were more intimately connected to the nature of our natural resources.
Ophelia Niemann nearly died in a traffic accident on Route 66, then had to fight to keep the farm 35 years ago when a sister tried to auction off the farm. Ophelia managed to buy all the land, plus much of the equipment. The sister has since died, and Ophelia tends to the day-to-day duties of keeping the farm running. The farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
Landmarks Illinois and other preservationists would like to preserve the farm as a museum once Ophelia dies. But the prospects of that remain uncertain because of the state’s poor financial condition, plus the popularity of museums being on the wane.
Another option is a conservation easement, in which the entire farm’s buildings and land are run by someone else — like Ophelia runs it. But she’s reluctant to go this direction.
Until then, she has no plans to leave. There are always more chores to do.
“I’m happy where I’m at,” Niemann said. “I’ll be here ’til I die. I hope to die here.”
UPDATE: A photoblog by the State Journal-Register contains many more wonderful photographs from the farm.