Pixar Pint #7: Cars
Does nostalgia hold this film up or has time worn it down worse than Radiator Springs?
Welcome back to Pixar Pints, our summer-long journey through all 25 Pixar films in release order.
In an alternate universe, this pint tastes a lot different. The original story, titled The Yellow Car, had nothing to do with NASCAR or even racing at all; it was about an electric car in a world dominated by fossil fuels, having to find its way in a community where no one understood it. It was also originally scheduled to be the third Pixar movie, having started production almost immediately after A Bug’s Life was complete, but Toy Story 2 eventually took precedence, causing the delay of what ended up being seven years, during which the story was heavily modified. In our universe, this film was completed just in time for it to be the last film Pixar produced independently, as Disney purchased the studio a few months before its release.
Let’s get into it.
Cars quick facts
Release date: June 9, 2006 | Director: John Lasseter | Music: Randy Newman
Starring: Owen Wilson (Lightning McQueen), Paul Newman (Doc Hudson), Bonnie Hunt (Sally), Larry the Cable Guy (Mater)
John Ratzenberger as: Mack (and car versions of Hamm, Yeti, and PT Flea in an amazing end credits scene)
Budget: $120 million | Box office: $462 million
Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Animated Feature but lost to Animal Logic’s Happy Feet; nominated for Best Original Song (“Our Town”)
Eli
Aesthetic: 4/10 | The bulk of this movie takes place in Arizona, so you'd think monotony would be the main issue, but I think it's the opposite. They went from making the settings look ultra realistic to making them look super cartoonish. The desert looks oversaturated, none of the lighting is correct, and when Sally's big selling point of Radiator Springs is supposed to be its natural beauty, having everything look like a toy playset doesn't really drive the point home the way the movie wants it to. Pixar has taken two steps back here since Finding Nemo.
Animation: 8/10 | The cars move in pretty neat ways and I think Pixar put effort into making them dynamic and fun. Otherwise, nothing wowed me, but nothing looked bad either.
Story: 10/10 | I'll immediately contradict myself and say that I don't think this holds up as a 10 under intense scrutiny, but the way this is structured gets me every time. Nostalgia's a helluva drug and, having already gone through a ton of chapters in my relatively short life, the prospect of reliving any of them at their best and brightest, even if just for a day, makes me feel things.
Characters: 5/10 | Moooooom, Pixar's making all their ensemble characters insensitive stereotypes again! Lightning is more of an ass in the first half than I remembered; he has a satisfying arc but I'm just left to wonder what his backstory is and how he got such a god complex to begin with. Mater is just Larry the Cable Guy as a car, which isn't for everyone, but I'm a fan. Doc growing along with Lightning is a good arc, too; he's probably my favorite character. The Formula 1-loving Euro cars are really funny in a post-Drive to Survive world but I wish they weren't just played as a joke; there's something to be said about showing the difference between F1 culture and NASCAR culture. I also hate that there are background characters that seem to just exist to make fun of poor/disabled/elderly people (looking at you, Fred). Chick Hicks is hilarious; he races in this movie the way I do in pretty much every racing video game I've ever played.
Acting: 7/10 | Larry the Cable Guy's Mater just jumps off the screen; it's obvious why he was the most popular character. I don't like how most of the Radiator Springs cars are acted but that's more of a problem with the characters themselves than the performances. I love me a good Bob Costas sighting as much as anyone, but aside from him, the non-actors playing themselves were very hit-or-miss. Richard Petty is really good at playing himself, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. is...not.
Music: 10/10 | This is the first time Pixar's gone pop with their soundtrack and it's super memorable. Full disclosure, I had this soundtrack on CD as a kid, but even divorcing that context, these songs are forever tied to this movie for an entire generation, and I think that's for the better. Randy Newman also kills the orchestral score. He does that a lot.
Final score: 7/10 | My opinion of this movie dropped fairly significantly as an adult. I think the main reason for that is that this is the most obvious "kids' movie" Pixar project to date. There's no real adult messaging or even much adult humor to be found here unless you're a huge NASCAR fan, and even then, a lot of it is just reference humor. Furthermore, due to the overly vivid aesthetic, I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of the main movies that gave animation the stigma of being primarily for children's entertainment. I really think there's no reason for it to be this way and it makes the movie markedly worse. That said, when it comes down to it, Cars is just a fun experience overall, and that pushes the score back up for me. Unlike with A Bug's Life, the other Pixar movie to date with questionable characters and (in my opinion) bad aesthetic choices, Cars hits all the right emotional notes and keeps me wanting to come back for more.
Leah
Aesthetic: 8/10 | I liked the background scenery. The colors were pretty, and the views showed the beauty of their world. The expressive character designs had a lot of personality, pretty cool for anthropomorphic machinery. There was cute visual humor too (hello bugs). The part of that bothered me was the aesthetic of a world built around cars. I hated everything related to Dinoco (ugh fossil fuels). At least it was just a few parts.
Animation: 8/10 | The way they made the cars move was clever, using the wheels and windshields in ways that made the characters way more expressive than my car.
Story: 9/10 | Classic narrative of a hot shot getting humbled and learning to value relationships. I liked this story as a kid, and I think it holds up as an adult. It's a fun twist on sports movies. The idea that success won't make you happy is an evergreen concept, and I enjoyed following Lightning's journey. The ending where he pushes the King across the track is touching.
Characters: 5/10 Lightning, Sally, Doc, and Mack are all fun characters. Lightning has a good arc with Sally and Doc as foils. I do think this movie gets weighed down by stereotypes. The treatment of the rusty cars seemed ageist/ableist. The humor would fall super flat if similar jokes were made about human characters. I also hate that they made the Dinoco owner sympathetic/seem like a good guy; in 2022, it's so uncomfortable to see the fossil fuel industry idealized.
Acting: 8/10 | The main cast had solid acting. I really liked Lightning's voice.
Music: 9/10 | I really enjoyed the songs in this movie; they're catchy and fun, and they fit the movie well.
Final score: 7/10 | This is a fun movie. It's got cute designs, a creative concept, a fun story, a soundtrack that slaps... but (not to be too much of a killjoy) the non-critical view of fossil fuels/car culture in this movie soured it for me. I enjoyed the creativity of the movie, but I don't think the way it was applied was responsible.
Maddy
Aesthetic: 5/10 | The racing set pieces are spectacular and great representations of their real world counterparts (Bristol and Auto Club/LA Coliseum), but Radiator Springs is so boring, dull, and bland, but I guess it makes sense within the story. Also, the car designs aren’t terrible, honestly; just ignore the rules of the world.
Animation: 6/10 | I think this is the first Pixar movie (and maybe only one) to feel like it’s the bare minimum of quality animation for its time. It’s nothing amazing and any scene in the day feels straight from a 2006 movie (Bloom moment). There isn’t anything special.
Characters: 5/10 | Lightning is an ASSHOLE. He barely learns his lesson by the end. God, he is so annoying. Mater is pre-Minion crowd fodder, and every secondary character is either stereotype or bland. Besides Doc Hudson. Honestly one of my favorite Pixar characters of all time.
Story: 10/10 | It’s a very simple, barebones story with Lightning barely having a good arc, but god, I love this movie’s story. Nostalgia and being a NASCAR kid absolutely clouded my judgement of this movie, but that’s okay. It’s a movie that I love to death because of its vibes more so than anything else.
Acting: 8/10 | Yes, Larry the Cable Guy is good as Mater. That’s really the only notable good performance here. Everyone else is fine.
Music: 8/10 | LifeIsAHighway.mp3. Score itself is decent enough.
Final score: 42/60 or 7/10 | This is a big childhood movie for me and that absolutely keeps it from being the 5 it actually is in my film reviewer brain. It’s hard to watch this movie critically. For those my age who grew up with this movie, you know how much nostalgic energy is packed into this film. It reminds us of better times, when we could sit back and watch a movie about talking racecars and not worry about the world. Cars is comfort food I’ll always come back to.
Fun Maddy note: The Cars universe makes no logical sense! HOW DOES ANYTHING WORK??
David
ESKETIT
Okay, but for real. The nostalgia goggles do not land any harder on my face for any single movie than for this one, so buckle up because we are exiting reality. Next stop, childhood, baybee.
Maybe it was something about being "a NASCAR kid" or just that it hit me right at that sweet spot where I was old enough to really know how to articulate my enjoyment of things at a time where something I really really liked came about, but man, this movie was The One for me specifically for so long. Even though it's not without its missteps, I don't know that I ever really looked at those flaws as anything less than the minor imperfections that made the movie all the better.
Aesthetic: I dunno, man. I think they absolutely nailed the racetracks, and while I wish that Radiator Springs had a little more life to it... it's really not that bad. The cars having unique designs is a great little touch that gives the world a bit more pop and flavor.
Animation: I think this one has aged worse than most of the rest of the Pixar canon, and I spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out why. I think it's because 2006 was when other animation began to catch up, and the development of technology sort of ensured that this had a very mid-’00s look to it - and while other movies either look more dated and can get away with it or look new and haven't really aged that badly, I think Cars got stuck in the unfortunate valley between.
Story: It's pretty rote material - hotshot dipstick athlete gets his head unscrewed, then screwed on right. Hotshot city girl returns to country town, finds hot jock amidst his awakening, they have a sweet little romance, ooh la la. Town, passed over by the interstate and with it, time, is a wonderful little setting for this place, especially considering the completely improbable odds of finding gasp The Father Figure character. If you look beyond the standard fare, though, god, it's so good. It's got a little bit of everything - humor, sadness, trauma, and the way it all sort of culminates is cheesy as all fuck - but I can't be mad. I just can't. This movie puts a stupid little smile on my stupid little face every time I watch it and it always will.
Characters: Doc Hudson is delighful. Ornery old coot stuck in his ways and goddamnit you're not getting him off that pot anytime soon. Lightning is a hotshot asshole, and while I wish he'd learned a bit more of a proper lesson, I think there's enough of a development arc there that I'm kind of willing to let it slide. The rustbuckets always gave me the heebie-jeebies, and seeing them as a stereotype for rural or disabled people moves that wayyyyyy the hell into squick territory. Mater is Mater.
Acting: There's a reason that Dale Jr. drove cars and didn't go to Hollywood. That said, loved loved looooved the cameos from all the figures from the world of NASCAR. That was one of the huge selling points of the film for me as a kid and I only really wish that we could have had more of them.
Music: Holy shit, I did not remember this entire soundtrack being so good looking back. I mean - “Life Is A Highway” has been on my road trip playlist since June 2006, and “Real Gone”? Sheryl Crow does not miss. John Mayer's “Route 66” is slept on, James Taylor comes in to kill it with a tune, and then good old Randy Newman just packs you up and ships you off to Feels Town with everything else he offers. Gonna ride that shit all night long.
Final score: IT'S A NINE, BABY. Comes home 5th in my overall ranking, and I don't honestly see much capable of displacing it. Of what we've reviewed so far, it is second. Nostalgia carries it home - a thoroughly revitalizing film that puts me in a better place every time I see it - and not many pieces of media do that. The joys of childhood.
Nik
Aesthetic: I think a lot of my preconceived view of the aesthetic was skewed by the video game, which very much elaborated on the environment around Radiator Springs. I think because the game has such a good aesthetic, the movie does not seem as impressive.
Animation: Continuing with the theme of comparing this movie to something else, the animation was not bad, but it just does not have the same level as the previous movies, where the animators worked with characters of many shapes and sizes. Even with different types of cars, they don’t move that differently.
Story: Despite the movie not being on the level visually of many of its predecessors, the story is very rewatchable, and I should know. This was my little brother’s favorite movie growing up, and I’ve seen it probably close to 50 times. It’s simple yet exciting again and again.
Characters: I do not think the main characters of Lighting and Mater are that great, but I do think the residents of Radiator Springs really bring some spark to the movie. While none of them are super fleshed out, they all serve a small purpose. There’s not any meaningless background residents.
Acting: On rewatch, it seems to me like Owen Wilsons role is a bit overhyped. Other than his iconic “wow’s,” it is not anything special. Larry the Cable Guy is also just subpar, and no one else role is memorable.
Music: Nothing from the soundtrack really stands out. It does a fine job of setting the mood but the score is not a vital part of the movie.
Final score: 7/10 | I really like this movie from a story standpoint but the animation and overall feel has to be considered. It just never has the viewer going, as Owen Wilson would say, “Wow”.
Final notes
Life could be a dream! Life could be a dream! Dooooo do do do, sh-boom!
Next up: Ratatouille