Friday, July 31, 2009

Disney G-Force Experience revolving logo...

G-Force was the first live-action Disney movie to be filmed in 3D and the family comedy follows the exploits of a special FBI team of trained secret agent animals, primarily guinea pigs.
For a limited time if you saw the movie at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, you could go across the road afterwards and continue your adventures with the G-Force Experience in the Hollywood and Highland Center.
Revolving G-Force logo in The Kodak Theatre foyer
G-Force Experience display Hollywood and HighlandG-Force Experience revolving movie logo
This revolving G-Force symbol was part of the promotional display for the Disney movie.
G-Force movie billboard
Disney G-Force movie billboard

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Hollywood movie vehicles on display at The Petersen Automotive Museum...

The Pertersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles has a fantastic array of vintage cars, motorcycles and also famous vehicles featured in Hollywood movies. 
Hollywood Star Cars at The Petersen Automotive Museum
It also has exhibits featuring cars owned by Hollywood stars, take for example this 1956 Jaguar formerly owned by Steve McQueen.
Disney Herbie movie VW Beetles
I visited the museum on July 28, 2009 and photographed some of the marvelous autos on display including the Volkswagen Beetles featured in Disney's Herbie films.
Hollywood Star Cars
I was also able to capture images of vehicles from the latest blockbusters like the Can-Am Spyder Roadster from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and classics like Raul Julia's Ferrari from The Gumball Rally, Jack Lemmon's Professor Fate Hannibal 8 car from The Great Race, Steve McQueen's Winton Flyer from The Reivers and even comic geniuses Laurel and Hardy's Ford Model T Touring car from Hog Wild.
Speed Racer Mach 5 and Batmobile movie cars
More contemporary cars on show included the Batmobile from Tim Burton's 1989 Batman and 1992 Batman Returns, the Mach 5 based on the animated 1967 cartoon Speed Racer and even the VW Transporter from the quirky comedy Little Miss Sunshine.
Petersen Automotive Museum Hollywood star cars
There are even cars like the 'Black Beauty' from TV series like The Green Hornet to discover.

Be sure to check them all out and also other vintage cars from America's history.

If you like these movie vehicles you may also like the racing cars from the Fast & Furious films.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Transformers 2 NEST Can-Am Spyder Roadster...

In addition to the fantastic transforming Autobots and Decepticons in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, there are also some amazing looking vehicles used by the special NEST military taskforce.
2008 BRP Can-Am Spyder Roadster
Can-Am Spyder Roadster from Transformers 2
Transformers 2 NEST Spyder Roadster
With its unique three-wheel arrangement, referred to as the 'Y-Factor', the Cam-Am Spyder can be described as part motorcycle and part convertible sports car.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen film poster
Transformers 2 film poster
Built by Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), the Can-Am Spyder is the company's first 'on-road' vehicle. The roadster features anti-lock brakes, traction control and stability control systems and is powered by a Rotax 998cc, V-twin engine.
Can-Am Spyder featured in Transformers 2
Transformers 2 Spyder Roadster
Transformers 2 Can-Am Spyder Roadster
Its sleek design and technologically advanced systems made it a perfect fit to be used by the NEST military taskforce in the sci-fi based movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Transformers 2 Can-Am Spyder Roadster used by NEST military taskforce
Transformers 2 Spyder Roadster movie vehicle
This Spyder Roadster was photographed at The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles on July 28, 2009.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie poster
Transformers Revenge of the Fallen movie poster
Don't forget to check out original movie costumes from Transformers 2 (including NEST taskforce uniforms) and actual Optimus Prime and the Autobot vehicles on display.

Speed Racer's Mach 5 car...

The Mach 5 is one of the most famous race cars in the world because of the continuing popularity of the 1967 Speed Racer animated series.
Speed Racer's iconic Mach 5
Actual Speed Racer Mach 5 prototype car
Speed Racer 1999 Mach 5 replica
In 2000, this hand-built, mid-engine interpretation of the cartoon Mach 5 completed a nationwide automotive safety tour in America sponsored by the Child Safety Network.
Mach 5 car inspired by the 1960's Speed Racer cartoon series
Speed Racer's Mach 5 car Petersen Automotive MuseumSpeed Racer 1999 Mach 5 prototype car
1999 Speed Racer Mach 5 prototype car
2008 Speed Racer movie poster
Speed Racer film poster
The Speed Racer Motors organization then announced plans to build a series of 100 road-ready replicas based on front-engine Corvette platforms, but few were produced.
Mach 5 car from Speed Racer
1999 Speed Racer Mach 5 prototype car
Speed Racer Mach 5 prototype car
Speed Racer Mach 5
This super-cool car is on display at The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles and was photographed on July 28, 2009.
The Mach 5 recently appeared in the 2008 live-action movie version of Speed Racer, for which no running vehicles (only prototypes) were made because all the action was digitally created.
Speed Racer movie wall mural on Melrose Avenue in L.A.
Speed Racer movie wall mural
Speed Racer was played by Emile Hirsch, but sadly no matter how cool the car looks the film by the Wachowski Bros., the creators of The Matrix Trilogy, was a big box-office flop.
Speed Racer film poster
Speed Racer movie poster

The Batmobile from Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns movies...

Almost twenty feet in length, the Batmobile was driven by Michael Keaton in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman and the 1992 movie Batman Returns
With his dark reinvention of 'Batman' Tim Burton really did kick-start the boom in big-budget Hollywood comic book movies.  
Tim Burton's Batmobile
Tim Burton's 1989 Batmobile movie car
Batman and Batman Returns Batmobile
Batman 1989 Batmobile movie car
The Batmobile featured in the movies were based upon a 1967 Chevy Impala found at a London junkyard. It was powered by a 327-cubic inch V-8 Chevrolet engine mounted low in the frame in order to drop the hood line and enhance the sleek profile of the car. 
1989 Batman movie poster
Tim Burton's Batman movie poster
The Batmobile from Batman and Batman Returns
Batman and Batman Returns Batmobile film car
Designer Anton Furst took the iconic Batmobile design and reinterpreted it into a powerful and menacing crime-fighting machine which fit into Tim Burton's Art-Deco inspired Gotham City.
Michael Keaton as 'Batmanwith the Batmobile
Michael Keaton's Batman with the Batmobile
Rolls-Royce jet engine components were used to form the hood-mounted intake and turbine blades in the nose piece were scavenged from a British Harrier fighter jet.
The Batmobile as featured in Tim Burton's 
1989 Batman and 1992 Batman Returns
Batman 1989 Batmobile movie carBatman's1989 Batmobile movie car
Two Batmobiles, the featured car and a stand-in, appeared in Batman and Batman Returns. Three additional studio-authorized Batmobiles, of which this car is one, were constructed for publicity and promotional purposes after the film's release.
The impressive Batmobile was photographed on July 28, 2009 in the 'Hollywood Star Cars' exhibit at The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
The Batmobile on display at 
The Petersen Automotive Museum in L.A.
1989 Batman Batmobile promo movie car
1992 Batman Returns movie poster
Batman Returns Movie poster

Disney's Herbie Volkswagen Beetles on display...

Herbie, the lovable Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own, is the star of several Disney movies, starting with the 1969 film The Love Bug.
Herbie Volkswagen Beetle movie cars on display
Herbie movie VW Beetles
The little white rally car capable of driving itself (amongst other things) has distinguishing red, white and blue racing stripes from front to back bumper and a number '53' on the front hood and doors.
The star of six movies, you can see two Herbie VW Beetles on display at The Petersen Automotive Museum in L.A.
1963 Volkswagen Beetle used in the
1997 made-for TV movie The Love Bug
1963 VW Beetle Herbie Love Bug movie car
Herbie Love Bug TV movie VW Beetle
This 1963 Volkswagen Beetle starred as Herbie in the 1997 made-for-TV Disney movie, The Love Bug. The movie starred Bruce Campbell and Alexandra Wentworth, with cameos by Dean Jones (star of the original 1969 movie) and Mickey Dolenz of the 1960's pop group, The Monkees.
Herbie Love Bug Volkswagen Beetle TV movie car
In 2005, the endearing Herbie returned to the big screen and starred in the Walt Disney Pictures' Herbie: Fully Loaded alongside Lindsay Lohan as Maggie Peyton.
2005 Herbie: Fully Loaded film poster
Herbie Fully Loaded movie poster
Transformed into a NASCAR contender in this updated film, Herbie is equipped with a 200 horsepower engine that can propel him at a remarkable 138 miles per hour.
Actual 1963 VW Beetle from the 2005 movie Herbie: Fully Loaded
Original Herbie Fully Loaded VW Beetle movie carActual Herbie Fully Loaded VW Beetle movie car
This Volkswagen Beetle was driven by Lohan in the racing sequences in the movie.
Linsay Lohan's Herbie Fully Loaded VW Beetle
These pictures were taken on July 28, 2009.
Herbie VW Beetles at The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles
Herbie Volkswagen movie Beetles
Herbie: Fully Loaded movie poster
Herbie Fully Loaded film poster

Little Miss Sunshine's VW Transporter bus...

This brightly painted van is one of five identical 1979 Volkswagen Transporter vans used during the filming of the 2006 movie Little Miss Sunshine.
1979 VW Transporter used in Little Miss Sunshine 
Little Miss Sunshine movie 1979 VW Transporter
The fantastically quirky comedy followed the adventures of the dysfunctional Hoover family on a cross country drive from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Redondo Beach, California for the finals of a beauty pageant.
Little Miss Sunshine's Volkswagen Transporter bus
The film stars Greg Kinnear (who drives the VW van in the movie), Toni Colette, Alan Arkin and Steve Carell, but it's maybe best known for launching the career of child-star Abigail Breslin, who stars as pageant contestant 'Olive Hoover'.
Little Miss Sunshine movie poster
Little Miss Sunshine movie poster
During the eventful three-day journey, the family has to overcome emotional and mechanical problems in order to reach their destination on time.
1979 VW Transporter
After filming was complete, the distinctive yellow VW T2 bus was used for promotional purposes before being donated by Big Beach Films to The Petersen Automotive Museum in L.A. These photographs were taken on July 28, 2009.