CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 06/09/06

Get Your Motor Running

By danny munso

Pixar head honcho John Lasseter is back in the driver's seat with this tale of a egotistical race car stranded in a small town who loses everything before learning what's really important, and ends up with a film with a heart as big as a carburetor.

Cars

Screenplay by Dan Fogelman, John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Kiel Murray, Phil Lorin, Jorgen Klubien
Story by John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Jorgen Klubien (Lasseter directed and Ranft co-directed)

Hotshot Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) is a brash, selfish rookie on the racing circuit who thinks he doesn't need anyone else to succeed. On his way to a winner-takes-all race in California to determine the owner of the coveted Piston Cup, McQueen gets lost; in his haste to get back on the highway he accidentally destroys the road leading through Radiator Springs, a ghost of a town on the near-deserted Route 66. Sentenced by the town judge (v. Paul Newman) to repair the damage, McQueen meets an unlikely band of cars including tow-truck Mater (v. Larry the Cable Guy), tire guru Luigi (Tony Shaloub), and Sally the Porsche (v. Bonnie Hunt), who make his pit stop a blessing in disguise.

Although he looks pretty state-of-the-art and can carry a heavy load, Lightning McQueen has quite a lot riding on his shoulders. Cars has the unenviable task of being the first Pixar release under their new $7.4 billion deal with Disney, while at the same time being burdened with the legacy of continuing the animation studio's amazing streak of six consecutive blockbusters that not only raked in truckloads of cash, but also left their mark on popular culture. Back in the director's chair is Chief Creative Officer (and founding member) John Lasseter, who co-wrote and directed the Toy Story films and A Bug's Life before stepping back to overseeing the studio's recent releases.

Worse, ever since the teaser trailer for Cars hit in 2004 speculation swirled that this could be the film that proves Pixar may not be completely invincible. Every ad since then has done little to ease the fear. After all, cars are not nearly as cuddly as toys or fish or as cool as monsters and superheroes. You may find it surprising then that Lasseter not only injects life into these cold frames, but somehow places Cars among the studio's most heartfelt films.

While Pixar's movies have never been one for ordinary approaches, the script by Lasseter and his team of writers (Dan Fogelman, Joe Ranft, Kiel Murray, Phil Loren, and Jorgen Klubien) takes a large risk with the film's deliberate pace. Once McQueen hits Radiator Springs, the story, like its lead, downshifts into a slower gear and the script travels at the leisurely pace of this deserted town and its inhabitants. With the world of racing miles away, Lasseter takes his sweet time setting up not only the town's colorful characters, but also the history and state of the world they have created. McQueen initially feels the need for speed and tries to break free, but eventually realizes how much can be learned by taking your time and stopping to look around every now and again. It's ironic that car enthusiast Lasseter's dream film about fast machines turns out to be an ode to life in the slow lane.

The strangest part of Cars' success is that the film is far from perfect. The middle's leisurely tour of Route 66 may bore some audience members (kids and adults) and the story being told is hardly original, as the writers of Doc Hollywood might attest. Furthermore, the most powerful moments of the film are completely predictable. Yet, Cars not only ends up working, it ends up amazing. A few climactic moments at the end had me breaking out in goose bumps, and the wave of sentimentality that hangs over the third act is so genuine that kids everywhere will be turning to their parents and wondering why their mom or dad is sobbing. Cars is proof that great execution can overcome a somewhat generic story.

Note: Be sure to stay during the credits for a hilarious bit featuring John Ratzenberger, who has voiced characters in all seven Pixar features, and a moving tribute to co-director Joe Ranft, who died last year in an automobile accident.

Cars rightfully earns its place in the Pixar pantheon and once again proves that no studio knows family entertainment better. With any luck, Lasseter will bring his gifts to the barren Magic Kingdom, where he has recently been named Chief Creative Officer of Disney's Animation division as well as its theme parks Imagineering department. It says a lot that he is on record saying he plans to revive the studio's hand-drawn animation tradition, for no one knows better than Lasseter that characters drive the story, be it a whistling mouse on a steamboat, a fish lost at sea, or four-wheeled machines with engines of gold.

Cars

Walt Disney Pictures
Rated G; 117 min.

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Danny Munso graduated from film school in 2004 and can currently be found on his computer working on one of his many half-written screenplays. Or, more likely, he's on the Internet checking the scores of his beloved Bay Area sports teams.

Cars courtesy Walt Disney Pictures

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