A week ago, it was revealed that Disney/Pixar was pushing back the release date of the Cars sequel from its original summer 2011 slot to the end of that year. No explanation was given for the move, but things have become clearer in a post over at Blue Sky Disney.

For it seems - and this isn't uncommon with animated films - that Cars 2 is having a few problems. So much so that John Lasseter, who co-directed the first Cars movie, appears to be taking a very hands-on approach in re-tooling the second.

According to Blue Sky Disney, "There have been story problems that have developed late last year and into the new year that needed to be addressed. So as of now, John is riding the film as co-director. Now, will he be listed in the credits as that when the film comes out? Not yet determined if he'll get his name up there with that label. We will see as time starts to move closer to the release date."

Given that there's 18 months left before the film's release, we suspect there's no major cause for alarm here, even if Cars remains our least favourite Pixar movie thus far (although, to be fair, it's still better than a lot of what the competition pump out). We'll keep you posted...

Blue Sky Disney