Disney’s Planes: Funny and Insightful Interview with Gabriel Iglesias & Carlos Alazraqui

Disney’s Planes may come straight from the same Cars franchise factory, rivets and all. But it sports a much-needed innovation. This time, the addition of central characters that are Latino or voiced by Latino actors updates the formula in a manner not always seen in contemporary animated films.

Sure, the narrative does mirror the Cars 2 story of a worldwide race as experienced through the eyes of an innocent (a crop duster name Dusty, played by comedian Dane Cook) destined to be a champion. What Disney does right, however, is have the dynamic presence of two California natives: stand-up superstar Gabriel Iglesias in the dual racer role of Zed and Ned, with Carlos Alazraqui filling the screen as the unforgettable El Chupacabra. Unlike the offensively simplistic Chicano stereotypes embodied in Dreamworks’ Turbo earlier this summer, the Latino factor in Planes is a palatable fit thanks to the actors’ enthusiasm and natural warmth.

After his breakout role in Magic Mike last year and several popular Comedy Central specials, the 37 year-old Iglesias has reached his broadest audience yet after tirelessly working the stand-up circuit. Consider this the Era of Fluffy. (“Bing it, Google it,” he’ll say.) Yet, it is Alazraqui, the quick-witted man of many voices, all of which fight for attention in a given conversation, who nearly flies away with the movie. As the flamboyant El Chupacabra, Alazraqui channels his inner telenovela star to deliver one jamon-flavored performance you won’t quite forget in a good way.

(In an interesting twist, Iglesias admitted he lost out to Alazraqui on playing El Chupacabra due to honoring his commitments on the road. The filmmakers were keen to keep him on board, setting up as Zed and Ned, which weren’t specifically created for a Latino voice. Lesson learned by Iglesias, don’t miss a table read.)

Paired together to promote Planes at a recent press event in Santa Monica, Iglesias and Alazraqui were quite aware of the care needed to represent the ethnicity of certain roles on screen. While the characters are supporting players, they are not in service to the ensemble; something both actors admitted was a selling point to them.

Here’s more with Iglesias and Alazraqui as they discuss taking comic flight with Planes and other destinations.

Gabriel, how was it that you actually missed out on the role of El Chupacabra?

GABRIEL IGLESIAS: I did have a chance to play El Chu. I was originally the first person cast for that, but I didn’t make the table read. I was on the road. As a comic, when I go on the road, I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I do very well. If you’re doing a film, a lot of times you come in at scale. Your agent and your manager pull you aside and they go, “You’re going to read for this part, this is what you stand to make.” You go take three days to do what you’re going to make in three weeks. So at the time, I thought, “Okay. It’s a table read.” They didn’t say, “Oh, this is the final. It’s a table read!” You don’t take it seriously. You’re not thinking about the potential down the line as to what it could lead to. You’re just looking at that moment and that’s a problem I’ve had over the years. It was the same situation on Happy Feet. I could go to El Paso, Texas for the weekend or stick around, make $900 scale with the potential for the back end. It was really a no brainer at the time, but then you see what happens. You’re like, “I’m an idiot!” But, at the time, you’re like, “Look, that’s a car!”

CARLOS ALAZRAQUI: I kind of had the same apprehension because I was at the first table read. Later, I went to the hospital because my daughter was being born. I couldn’t make the second table read and I thought the same thing. I did really well on the first table read, but that doesn’t guarantee anything. But it was worth it because my daughter was being born. Not for money on the road. Something pure. [LAUGHS]

GABRIEL IGLESIAS: And to Carlos’ credit, I thought he did an amazing job, much better job than I would’ve done with the character. I’ll give credit where credit is due.

Is it hard to not feel just a little jealousy, Gabriel?

GABRIEL IGLESIAS: I felt terrible that I didn’t make the read originally, but when they called me up and said, “We still have these characters. We want to see if you’re interested,” I was like, “ Oh, yeah, I’m there!” I was all over it, so I was super excited that I was given a second opportunity to be a part of the film.

Both of you have extensive backgrounds in comedy and improvisation. Do films like Planes offer much opportunity to break free of the script?

GABRIEL IGLESIAS: I had a small window because I had to match my voice to the movement of the plane’s mouth. You got to be finished with your lines, but I was able to add either little noises or something like an extra laugh or maybe a funny word or two. All the scenes for my characters were already done and they had a stock voice in there. I just had to go in and basically dub over that, but they gave me a little window.

CARLOS ALAZRAQUI: I had a little bit more freedom. I did not have to ADR like (co-star) Dane (Cook) or Gabriel did, but I would add things. If I went too over the top or too broad, (director) Klay (Hall) would bring me back in and dial me back in. But, I had more freedom to add words here and change a few things, but not whole lines.

Thanks to Planes and Turbo this summer, we have two major animated releases have leading Latino characters. Is this a trend you hope will continue?

CARLOS ALAZRAQUI: Gabriel’s presence on the road? I got to be a part of his show in Arizona. He’s like huge. Hour long lines at least after the show to meet Gabriel and his show is so successful, he’s an indication of how popular a Latin comedian can be with general audiences. It’s wonderful that Disney has embraced using Latino talent, actually having a Latino character be a positive character like El Chu. He’s a total samurai. He has respect for everybody and so I think they’re addressed that there’s this whole huge audience.

GABRIEL IGLESIAS: He’s not El Chupacabra the maintenance plane. You know what I mean? [Mimics stereotypical Latino accent) “I here to fix the oil spills, señor.” He’s in a really high position in the film.

CARLOS ALAZRAQUI: We’re comics, we want everybody to like us. El Chu is like that. He’s like, “I want people to like me.” When I meet another comic on the road, we’re like “Hey bud! How’s it going?” It’s not like, “Yeah, I’m a better comic than you.”

GABRIEL IGLESIAS: El Chu has straight up respect for Dusty right away. But that’s what I like about El Chu. He’s very noble. He’s a samurai. He’s like, “You’re a flyer, and I’m a flyer. You’re not smaller than me.” He just respects Dusty’s heart and he doesn’t make fun of him like Ripslinger (played by Roger Craig Smith) and everybody else does. He helps him out and Dusty helps El Chu. I think that’s a really cool role model.

CARLOS ALAZRAQUI: You have Gabriel Iglesias, who’s Mexican American, who’s reading two White characters. You have me, from Buenos Aires, being able to be a Mexican character. What’s great about the job is that we do dialects. I’ve played people from Scotland, from Australia. That’s what’s great about being a voice actor. We can be anybody.

GABRIEL IGLESIAS: Yeah, because you can’t see us.

Still, within the Latino community, there is an element of sensitivity when it comes to actors voicing certain dialects. What do you say to the people who complain?

CARLOS ALAZRAQUI: There are different dialects in Mexico. In Mexico City, as you get to the most proper form, it’s probably closer to the Castilian Spanish without the diphthong. It’s the same in Argentina. I’m not doing that because it would not make sense. What I tried to do was bring regality to El Chu’s “Espanish,” to make him very telenovela. Everything is very properly pronounced. But that was the challenge. Art Hernandez did the scratch track. He’s an artist from Puebla, Mexico, so I would definitely take direction from him. Art would come in and we’d have other people come in making sure that we matched the idiom from Mexico. We wouldn’t use certain words from Spain or Colombia or Peru or Argentina. They were from Mexico.

Now Gabriel, I think we need you to elaborate on the current state of “Fluffy,” which has blown up even more this year.

GABRIEL IGLESIAS: It’s a brand, yeah. I embraced it years ago. I said “Fluffy” on stage one night and at the end of the night nobody remembered Gabriel Iglesias, they remembered “Fluffy.” I would get mad and I’m like, “No! That’s not me. I have a real name.” Eventually I just embraced as opposed to pushing it away, so much so that now if you Google “Fluffy,” I’m the first thing that pops up. Bing it, Google it. I’m Fluffy Inc. Fluffyshop.com. I have my own online store, clothing line, Fluffy production company, I mean, you name it.

Perhaps it’s time for Fluffy the cartoon character?

GABRIEL IGLESIAS: That’s in the works, too. There are actual clips online. If you punch in “Hey! It’s Fluffy,” you can see teasers for it. I’m milking that all the way!

CARLOS ALAZRAQUI: Hopefully he doesn’t miss the table read for that. [LAUGHS]

“From above the world of “Cars” comes “Disney’s Planes,” an action-packed 3D animated comedy adventure featuring Dusty (voice of Dane Cook), a plane with dreams of competing as a high-flying air racer. But Dusty’s not exactly built for racing and he happens to be afraid of heights. So he turns to a seasoned naval aviator who helps Dusty qualify to take on the defending champ of the race circuit. Dusty’s courage is put to the ultimate test as he aims to reach heights he never dreamed possible, giving a spellbound world the inspiration to soar.”

Disney’s Planes lands in theaters on Aug. 9, 2013.