- “It was just a routine day on the set and Nick, he was doing his trademark loop for a stunt scene, but there was this free crosswind. Blade was the first one on the scene but... he didn't know what to do. His best friend was gone and Blade thought his life was over too, but he didn't give up. He got trained, got certified, and came here. Blade, he used to pretend to save lives. Now, he saves them for real.”
- ―Maru explaining Blade's past to Dusty on how he became a firefighter
Blade Ranger is the deuteragonist of the 2014 Disneytoon Studios animated feature film Planes: Fire & Rescue.
Background[]
He worked as an actor for the TV show, CHoPs along his best friend Nick Loopin' Lopez, in an episode they arrested a thug called Chuck Shocks, later he rescued two cars called Peggy and Pinta, their chief congratulated him and Nick for rescuing them.
Later, when the studio started CHoPs' last episode, his friend Nick passed away in a crosswind accident. After that, Blade became the leader of the Piston Peak Air Attack team and saved lives in reality.
Official Description[]
- Blade Ranger, a veteran fire-and-rescue helicopter, heads up the Piston Peak Air Attack team. Haunted by a storied past, he's a tough and demanding air boss with a wry sense of humor, and he's not exactly enthusiastic about his new trainee Dusty. But Blade is a pro and does everything he can to bring the new SEAT up to speed.[1]
Physical appearance[]
Blade is inspired by several helicopters, including the AgustaWestland AW109, AW139[2] and Bell 429 GlobalRanger.[3] He is mainly red, with icy blue eyes, and white on the bottom half of his bodywork, as well as white stripes on his sides and tail fin. The top front of his fuselage is painted black, and he has a couple of black stripes on his bodywork. Along the thin white stripes is the inscription of Piston Peak, while on the black stripes near his roof is the inscription "N626BG". Between his red and white paints is the tail number 301, which is a reference to Hemet-Ryan's helicopter.[4]
In his former career as a TV star in CHoPs, he had white paint in place of his red paint in the middle of his fuselage as well as the black paint on his roof, while the fuselage's top was colored dark blue along with the bottom part excepting his front. His tail number was excluded, and the "Helicopter Patrol" inscription was where the "Piston Peak" inscription would be. He also had the California Helicopter Patrol logo on his sides and wore a gold and blue helmet that is similar to the helmets worn by the main characters of CHiPs.
Appearances[]
Planes: Fire & Rescue[]
Blade works as the leader of the Piston Peak Air Attack team, aiming to fight fires. He comes across a wildfire that was caused by an unattended campfire, working to drop retardant to put the fire out. Windlifter and Lil' Dipper arrive to drop their own retardant onto different parts of the fire, while the Smokejumpers jump out of Cabbie and dig a fire line. During the work, Blade spots a deer who struggles to get out of the fire and uses his hoist to carry it to safety. Afterward, he gets interrupted by Dusty Crophopper flying past and informs him to get out of the airspace. After the fire had been put out, Blade and the rest of the firefighters return to their base, as Maru cleans the retardant off Dusty after he accidentally flew through it. Blade is not pleased to meet Dusty, even when hearing that he is a trainee that was radioed by his old friend Mayday from Propwash Junction.
Blade training Dusty.
Dipper tells Blade that Dusty is a famous racer who raced around the world, to which he asks Dusty if the whole world was on fire, only for Dusty to say, "No". Hearing Dusty decline, Blade orders Maru to rip off Dusty's landing gear and put on a pair of pontoons. Following this, Blade starts to train Dusty. Firstly, he teaches about flying low, using Augerin Canyon as an obstacle course. Dusty's aim is put fly underneath the bridge at the end and pick up water by going up Whitewall Falls. However, Blade notices Dusty slowing down before arriving at the bridge, to which he informs that he would need to go at max speed to avoid being pulled down by the water. Dusty makes an excuse about the bridge being too close to the falls, but Blade tells him not to make excuses. Next, Blade teaches about collecting water from the park's lake, only to see Dusty almost crash into a tree. He then informs later about the different things that can be caused by fire, along with that all aircraft will need to be on the ground before nightfall. Blade then judges Dusty putting out fires on some oil barrels, stating that he is doing it at the wrong time and height. Finally, he again has Dusty trying to pick up water from the waterfall, telling him not to pull power, but Dusty still does as he goes at max speed, which causes Blade to get angered and tell Dusty that he will not be certified as a firefighter if he does not complete the task.
Blade being shown as a former TV star in CHoPs.
Blade soon gets into an argument with the Piston Peak superintendent Cad Spinner about packing too much campers into the park, especially the Grand Fusel Lodge, following Cad's arrival at the firefighters' base to inform Blade that one of his staff, being Dusty, accidentally soaking a few campers with fire retardant. Cad later leaves and insults Blade by calling him "Blazin' Blade", saying that he is less famous than Dusty, to which Blade scoffs, showing that he can care less by this insult. Blade is later seen watching from a hill that night, after Dusty and the other firefighters secretly watch an episode of the TV show CHoPs, which Dusty is confused about how come Blade is working as a firefighter if he used to be a television star. The team give their answer to Dusty's question, saying that it is classified, and they are not asking for the reason since it's Blade's business.
The next day, the team gets alerted by Patch, who tells them that several spot fires have been set by a thunderstorm. At first, Blade would not let Dusty help the team to put the fires out, but eventually (yet reluctantly) agrees when Dipper and Windlifter explains that every plane they have will be needed. When the Smokejumpers get trapped by the fire, Blade orders Dipper to drop some retardant in their spot, but Dusty already comes into the scene and puts the fire out. Although the fires have finally been put out, Blade scolds Dusty for breaking formation in a crowded airspace and that he could have been spread over the woods instead of retardant. Before he leaves, he tells Dusty not to plan his certification party yet. Dusty is disappointed by this, but Dipper tries to cheer him up by saying that it is only Blade's way of saying that he did great work.
Blade and Dusty fighting a big wildfire.
The next morning, Patch informs the team that there are two wildfires, which had been caused when some VIPs flying to Cad's lodge went too low over the burnt area and blew embers about. Blade leads the team to the scene, splitting himself and Dusty from Windlifter and Dipper to take on different parts of the fires. To make matters worse, Blade notices that one of them is heading toward the lodge, and radios Maru to contact Cad that the tourists will need to evacuate. However, Cad would not obey the request, wanting to show his lodge to the tourists. With only one other decision, Blade tells Dusty to split load so that they make a secondary line, but is frustrated when seeing Dusty releasing all of his retardant. Dusty decides to reload from the lake, but Blade rejects the decision and orders him to return to the base, as the crosswinds are too strong. However, Dusty does not listen to Blade's order, trying to do what he was trained for, but gets swept through the rapids.
Blade angry with Dusty for not redlining before coming to a waterfall.
Blade attempts to get Dusty out, but on his second attempt, his hoist gets caught on a log. Struggling to pull it off, Blade tells Dusty to start his engine and go to max torque so that he can take off before coming to a waterfall. Dusty does so, but as he goes to max speed when being ordered to, he still slows down, and falls toward the ground. Before he can crash, Blade grabs Dusty with his hoist, before Dusty lands on the ground unharmed. Before Blade can get an answer from Dusty about why he did not redline, he sees the fire closing in on them, and guides Dusty to an abandoned mine. Dusty refuses to go in, and decides to find his own way out of the fire, saying that he did not want to push his engine while in the rapids. Hearing him mention this, Blade gets angry and tells Dusty that he does not have what it takes because he doesn't follow orders. Losing his temper, Dusty decides to give up on becoming a firefighter. Blade angrily suggests to him to return to racing, which pushes Dusty too far where he finally confesses that his gearbox is busted, and that's why he kept pulling power and that he is never going to race again. Quietly understanding this, Blade encourages Dusty to not give up or he won't save lives in the future. Making his decision, Dusty goes into the mine with Blade, who tries to shield him from the fire's heat. After the fire passes, the two aircraft come out of the mine, beginning to take off. However, with damage from the fire, Blade crashes onto the ground, and Dusty radios Patch to get Windlifter to lift Blade back to the base.
Noticing he is badly damaged, Maru gets to work on fixing Blade, eventually finishing that night, and leaves him in his hangar to rest for a while, with Windlifter put in charge. Later that night, Maru explains to Dusty the reason why Blade switched to being a firefighter: His partner and best friend, Nick Loopin' Lopez from CHoPs was killed during a stunt gone wrong scene that was interrupted by a sudden crosswind and Blade was the first one on the set, but he didn't know what to do. Feeling ashamed that he wasn't able to save Nick, Blade decided to quit his job of being a TV star, and save lives for real.
Blade joins Dusty and the Air Attack team at Propwash Junction's Corn Festival.
Blade manages to heal just in time to come to the scene of an RV couple, named Harvey and Winnie, trapped on the burning bridge at Whitewall Falls. Using his hoist, he holds them away from the edge of the tilting bridge, while Dusty puts the flames out by going up the falls at max speed and picking up some water. Pleased this time by Dusty, Blade says his CHoPs catchphrase "Good move, partner", only to then see Dusty crash into the forest when his gearbox fails completely. Blade and Windlifter lift him back to the base the next day, where Maru does some work on fixing the damage on Dusty, managing to finish before he wakes up from five days of being unconscious. Dusty is surprised that Maru has also built a new gearbox (something that Dottie couldn't do), and Blade gives him the certification as a firefighter, traveling with the team to Propwash Junction to hear Ryker reopen the town's airport in time for the annual Corn Festival, which Blade and the rest of the team take part in.
Planes: Fire & Rescue: The Video Game[]
Blade is one of the playable characters in the video game based on the film. Throughout the game, there are several missions that need to be collected by Blade. He has the ability to use his hoist, which can be used to pick people up, like rescuing a tourist and taking it back to the base.
Relationships[]
Dusty Crophopper[]
- “Life doesn't always go the way you expect it. But you came here to become a firefighter. If you give up today, think of all the lives you won't save tomorrow.”
- ―Blade encouraging Dusty not to give up after he admits his disability
Blade argues with Dusty for his inability to follow orders.
Blade was not impressed with Dusty at first, but was especially unhappy when Dusty kept pulling back while being trained to climb up the waterfall and pick up water, since Dusty didn't tell him about his damaged gearbox. However, he sarcastically congratulates Dusty for putting out a campfire, saying that he saved the campers from a "nice vacation". While getting ready to fight a couple of spot fires made by a thunderstorm, Blade, at first refused to let Dusty help, because that he was not certified. However, after Dipper and Windlifter pointed out that they would need everyone available, Blade reluctantly agreed to let Dusty help, although he was not pleased with Dusty after the work was done, as he noted out that Dusty broke formation in a crowded airspace.
The next day, Blade took Dusty with him to help fight another wildfire which was heading toward the Grand Fusel Lodge. He gave an order of splitting the load of retardant, but Dusty, too distracted by the news his friends gave him, released all of his retardant, making Blade scowl. He ordered Dusty to head back to the base, but Dusty instead went to the lake to reload, which Blade tried to point out that it was a bad idea due to the strong crosswinds. With Dusty being swept through the rapids, Blade attempted to get him out with his hoist, but it got caught around a fallen tree. Struggling to get it off, Blade ordered Dusty to get to max torque before reaching the waterfall. However, just as he was to get into the red, Dusty slowed down, which Blade was still unaware that it was due to Dusty trying not to cause maximum damage to his gearbox. Just as Dusty was about to hit the ground, Blade grabbed him with his hoist, feeling cross that he did not redline it. Soon, Blade gets into an argument with Dusty for not following orders, and suggested to him to go back to racing, which causes Dusty to lose his temper and finally confess that his gearbox is damaged, which was why he pulled power. Finally realizing why Dusty kept disobeying orders and that he pushed him too hard, Blade quietly understands this and tells him not to give up becoming a firefighter. They both immediately took shelter inside an old mine, just as the fire was closing in. While inside, Blade protected Dusty from the heat of some burning tree trunks, resulting in his paintwork being blistered, and damage to his interior parts.
Soon, he was fixed by Maru, and went to help Dusty rescue Harvey and Winnie from the fire. After the rescue, Blade was amazed by Dusty's work, and finally referred to him by his real name, as he had previously been calling him "Champ". As a result, Blade gave Dusty his certification, now becoming friends with him.
Mayday[]
- “He's air chief of fire and rescue. He's an old friend of mine. He can train and certify you.”
- ―Mayday telling Dusty to talk to Blade about his certification before he leaves
As stated in the quote above, Blade is a good friend to Mayday. Before Dusty arrived, Mayday radioed him about a "S.E.A.T" coming to the airfield, which turned out to be Dusty needing some training in order to become Propwash Junction's second firefighter.
Nick Loopin' Lopez[]
- “Good move, partner.”
- ―Blade feeling impressed by Nick's work
Blade flies with Nick.
Blade took Nick Loopin' Lopez as his best friend when they worked together on the TV show CHoPs. During the show, they worked to arrest a criminal named Chuck Shocks, and rescued Pinta from a structural fire. After doing such a good job, Blade congratulated Nick, telling him, "Good move, partner." However, one day, Nick was killed when a sudden crosswind affected his stunt scene, leaving Blade saddened, because he could not figure out how to save him. He even thought that his life would be over as well, but he made the decision to quit his show and save lives for real.
Cad Spinner[]
Coming soon!
Trivia[]
- Originally, Blade's eyes were going to be brown, but were changed to icy blue by animators when the cast was joined by his actor Ed Harris,[5] although his LEGO Duplo has brown eyes.
- Blade's plan of him and Dusty sheltering in the abandoned mine is a reference to when Ed Pulaski, who the character Pulaski is named after, saved most of his crew during the Great Fire of 1910 by sheltering in an abandoned mine.[3]
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Miscellaneous[]
