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Kim Hollis: Planes, a spinoff from the Cars movies without the Pixar name, earned $22.2 million this weekend. What are your thoughts on this new release and its performance so far?

Jason Barney: I have been a little put off by the reaction to the arrival of Planes. When Disney produces something like The Lone Ranger, it is almost like everyone celebrates and says “I told you so”. People are glad that they spent a lot of coin, got burned, and they have this attitude that Disney deserved it. That’s fine. Now, when they produce something like Planes, a film which is, god forbid, going to make them money, Disney still gets slapped around in the press.

It is a smart move by Disney and they deserve credit for putting this out there and seeing it do well in a crowded animated market. Despicable Me is still doing well, Turbo is out there, The Smurfs 2 was just released last week, and Planes is going to make money.

Felix Quinonez: I'm pretty indifferent to this release. I didn't even like Cars, didn't see Cars 2 and have no interest in seeing this. But I am also a bit surprised by the negativity surrounding it. Yes, it's a cash grab but that's absolutely nothing new in the end its a business and Disney is in it to make money. And Planes will make them money. Let's face it all studios need to worry about the bottom line and if a movie doesn't look interesting, I just won't watch it.

Bruce Hall: It was easy to snicker at The Lone Ranger because absolutely everyone - including Disney - could see what a disaster it was going to be before it was even finished. It was a terrible movie, and a cynical act of hubris that deserved every ounce of the failure it earned. The fact that America saw it coming and ran the other way actually restored some of my my faith in humanity.

But I see Planes differently. If there was an instant backlash against this movie I'd wager it was simply because almost everyone who saw Cars 2 is still pissed off about it, especially if they had to sit through it with a theater full of bored, angry kids. So it's natural to think that the only thing more stupid than a movie about anthropomorphic cars would be a movie about anthropomorphic planes.

However, Planes cost a brisk (if you're Disney) $50 million to make, and was produced by Disney's direct-to-video unit. It won't be a hit, but there's virtually no way it isn't going to be hugely profitable, and it wasn't supposed to be anything special anyway. And I'm saying this without even knowing whether it's actually any good or not. I wouldn't go so far as to call Planes a stroke of genius, but even with the family film space a little crowded at the moment there's still room to squeeze another few bucks out of parents looking for ways to entertain bored kids in the last weeks before school starts again.

Although I should point out that MY kids were aware of Planes, but instead elected to see Despicable Me 2 this weekend - and do you know why? Because they hated Cars 2, and even they could tell Planes was a spinoff. So congratulations to Disney on the success of Planes, but I don't pity them the backlash they're getting. The fact that my kids are smart enough to still be butthurt about Cars 2 actually restores the REST of my faith in humanity.

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