Cars

Cars is another guaranteed hit from John Lasseter and the Pixar Animation Studio. This time around Pixar hits another staple of childhood play. First there were toys, then there were bugs, then there were monsters, now there are cars. Let the marketing tie-ins begin. Whether or not the film is any good seems somewhat irrelevant but as with the other Pixar films the story is well planned, the characters are well written, well drawn, and well voiced, and there is even something of a morality tale to the story to make everyone feel like something was gained from the film going experience. Overall Cars is exactly what an animated feature should be: well-intended, amusing, sugar-coated, and predictable.

Cars tells the story of Lightning McQueen (yes as in Steve McQueen) a fast and self-centered rookie sensation on the racing circuit who has more speed and cockiness than he has heart and friends. Owen Wilson voices McQueen and gives him the brash talkative characterization that Wilson has become known for; annoying, overly clever, and yet engaging. After a surprising three way tie McQueen and his two main rivals, The King, the storied old-hand of racing, and Chick Hicks the villainous winner-take-all runner-up, must travel to California for one final race to determine the season winner. Along the way McQueen leaves the interstate and gets stuck in the little Route 66 town of Radiator Springs where he meets a cadre of colorful characters who put him in touch with his sense of nobility and of what is important in life.

Though not my favorite Pixar film Cars certainly has a wide range and it succeeds both in entertaining and adding that bit of a lesson that keeps a cartoon feeling like an educational tool instead of two hours of mind candy. No Hollywood studio has consistently delivered high quality highly profitable entertainment as Pixar. No wonder Disney sold itself to hold onto such a valuable property. That said the bar has been raised for each film and at last reality may have brought the unbridled growth projections to a screeching halt. Cars would not only have to be a huge success, it would have to be the hit of the summer to make more than the last Pixar outing. This year the summer is full of big impact films and audiences have shown an increasing disinclination to part with their $10 to see the latest film which means that there is less money to go around. It seems unlikely that even Pixar can survive these unrealistic expectations though it has no real bearing on how good to movie is or whether it is successful.

There were a number of interesting choices made her in defining the world of cars. First of which is that there are no people. Unlike Toy Story the cars are not the subject or playthings of people. Cars are their own people, they do not live in a hidden world separate from people, people simply don’t exist. This gives the cars the freedom to live their lives with their own expressiveness without the interference of human drivers and mechanics. I liked this choice as it greatly simplifies the characters and keeps things from getting excessively complex. It also allows the cars to be active rather than passive entities which is important since in the world as we know it cars big moments are when people are in them directing their action. It is a bit harder for cars to have their own secret world than it is for small plastic toys to have a separate existence.

The other obvious choice from the Pixar art department was in designing the cars for expressiveness. The animators created a world of cars that all look unique and expressive by making the windows the eyes, even including an Asian anime type car with overlarge eyes. By making the windows eyes it gives the rest of the hood for expressions that would not be available if the headlights were eyes. The headlights are almost an afterthought then as the grills and bumpers combine to make interesting mouths and even facial hair. The hippie VW Bus Fillmore, voiced by George Carlin, even has a goatee made from his front license plate. These are the kinds of creative decisions that Pixar excels at showing that animating a film and creating a marketing blitzkrieg are not enough to ensure the success of a film. It needs to be well thought out and the universe needs to have substance and a style of its own to capture and hold audiences. It is a nod to Disney that seeing their own deficit in this department they worked hard to strengthen their relationship with Pixar who has remained focused and produced a series of memorable and successful films following a formula of significant planning and attention to the details of story and substance.

The real breakout of the film is Mater, the rusted out tow truck voice by Larry The Cable Guy. Mater is a loveable dolt whose devotion to the selfish Lightning McQueen gets McQueen headed on the right track. Mater excels in such idiotic activities as tractor tipping, the Cars equivalent of cow tipping, and dreams of flying in a helicopter. He becomes McQueen’s first friend and his moral compass. The other coup of the voice casting is of course Paul Newman as the retired racer Doc Hudson who sees in McQueen all of the heartlessness that he left behind in the world of racing. Newman has of course had a storied history himself both in film and behind the wheel as a long time aficionado of racing. Having him as Doc Hudson seems perfect on so many levels and his voice has aged so well as to impart stylishness, age, and wisdom to the classic car.

Though perhaps not the mega-hit that some predictors were expecting Cars is another beautifully crafted animation hit from the filmmakers at Pixar. Cars features a memorable cast of characters and voices in a little story about the differences not only between the big city and the small town, but in those who care about others and those who pursue superficial dreams. That is a lot for a little film about automobiles but Cars treads the careful path between preaching and entertaining with sure footing and provides an engaging film for all ages.