For a children's film about anthropomorphic airplanes, Pixar's 'Planes' sure has courted a lot of controversy from film fans. A spin-off of the widely derided but highly successful 'Cars' films, it was set to be Pixar's first direct-to-DVD movie and to many fans of the animation studio, it looked like a huge stumbling block for a company that has always valued artistry over crass moneymaking. Well, now it looks like we'll be able to judge the film in a venue with a larger screen than our television: 'Planes' is getting a theatrical release.

'Planes' will now arrive in theaters on August 9, 2013, where it will compete against 'Elysium' and 'We're the Millers.' Here's the official plot synopsis:

"Planes follows Dusty, a small town dreamer who longs to enter the most epic around-the-world air race... despite his fear of heights. With the help and support of a fleet of new and hilarious characters, Dusty wings his way into the biggest challenge of his life."

There are two ways to read this situation. There's the optimistic outlook, where Disney and Pixar saw how 'Planes' was coming together and realized that it was good enough to deserve a theatrical release (which was exactly what happened with 'Toy Story 2' over a decade ago). The cynical outlook is everyone involved realizing that they can make a few pretty pennies by putting in the film in theaters prior to the home release.

What do you think? Are you interested in 'Planes' in the slightest?

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