Cars

There are some children who love Cars so much they would sit down and watch it every day. I am not one of those children. Cars was not initially one of my favorites, but it gradually grew on me. Pixar’s Cars is more than just a silly animated feature about talking automobiles. It’s a movie that thoroughly understands how cars are made and how they operate. It’s a story about professional racing sports competitions, on and off the track. It’s a story about car culture, and the cross-country roads that cars drive on, and the communities on those roads. It’s a story about the uniquely American heartland and the people who live there and make it what it is, and it doesn’t hatefully mock it, scoff at it or apologize for any of it; Lightning’s cracks about rusty cars and being trapped in “hillbilly hell” notwithstanding. It’s high-octane racing is fast and exciting; its cruises through the desert countryside are slow, warm and leisurely. It is infused with so much attention to deal that one thing is for certain; the people who made it really love cars and they love America, and Cars is filled with that love.

Lightning McQueen is a rookie racer who is so focused on speed, winning and being the champion that nothing will get in the way of his ambitions. He’ll do anything to be the best, and he has the skills, but being young and inexperienced he’s a little arrogant. He’s so focused on himself that he doesn’t consider the needs or guidance of others, especially his support crew, his fellow veteran racers and his sponsors, and he has plenty of fans but no real friends by his side. When Lightning’s selfish arrogance leads to a careless decision that lands him stranded in the small town of Radiator Springs and in a heap of trouble, he not only is sentenced to rebuild the town’s main road that he accidentally wrecked; he learns important lessons in humility, community, and being a better racer and an all-around better person. Lightning learns that crossing the finish line first may prove he’s the fastest, but winning isn’t so sweet when there’s no one to share his victory with. And when Lightning repaves the main road in Radiator Springs, it restores a sense of pride and purpose in a community long abandoned and left to rust by inspiring all the locals to refurbish their own businesses and start living life more fully again.

Pixar once again does something it does really well; worldbuilding. Beginning with the premise that the world is populated entirely by living vehicles, Pixar rolls with that idea and creates a functioning world that looks remarkably similar to our own but completely restructured around that theme. The natural land formations in the world of Cars are shaped to look like car parts. The insects are Volkswagen beetles and the cows are tractors and combine harvesters. The movie is loaded with plenty of gags either about cars or showing vehicles doing the car equivalent of human behavior in a clever and humorous way. At the end of the movie, Pixar makes fun of itself by showcasing a drive-in theater playing three of Pixar’s classics reimagined with the main characters as cars while John Ratzenberger remarks how John Ratzenberger played multiple characters across the films.

Parental Guidance:

Lightning has stickers in place of headlights, saying he doesn’t need them because the track is always lit. The comedian responds “So’s my brother, but he still needs headlights!”

There are several car-themed scatological humor gags about Rust-eze bumper ointment, how in the winter salt and grime can rust your bolts and freeze your [nuts], the line for the round cars [women’s] restroom is longer than the square cars [men’s] restroom, “nighttime backfire suppressant”, “adult drip pans”, Mac the truck asking if he “forgot to wipe my mudflaps”, Mater giggling at Flo saying she sells “lots of gas”, bumper stickers with slogans like “You tailgate, I backfire”, the tractors pass exhaust loudly after being tipped, and Lightning gets a view of the town sheriff’s undercarriage when he bursts in on Doc Hudson’s clinic.

Mater says “Oh, Lord!” and “Dad-gum!”. Mac also says “Thank the manufacturer, you’re alive!”

Lightning McQueen tells Mater that the Hudson Hornet won three championship Piston Cups. Mater responds in shock, “He did what in his cup?” But as Hudson assures McQueen, his cups are empty.