Cars

My husband has been patiently waiting for Cars to arrive via Netflix and frankly I was glad too, because this has almost become a daily question from him asking if it was here. Whew!

Cars is a 2006 Disney/Pixel movie that was released on DVD on November 7, 2006. It is an animated film with an all-star cast headed up by Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen, Paul Newman as Doc Hudson, Larry the Cable Guy as "Mater" the wrecker and Bonnie Hudson as Sally the Porsche. I found this to be an enjoyable movie that was not only full of humor but also had a moral to the story. The animation is good (could have been a little better) but gave life to the colorful characters in this movie. Cars has already brought home two awards in 2006. It won the Hollywood Film Award for Animation of the Year and also won the World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Song Written For Film. The song, Best Town, is performed by James Taylor and written by Randy Newman.

Plot Summary

I must say that the characters in this movie really come to life with the wonderful animation by Disney. The all-star cast also come into play, giving the characters incredible personalities that are hard not to fall in love with.

Cars is about a young rookie race car, Lightning McQueen, who is in the race for the championship of the year. Instead of the final race deciding a champion, the race ended with a three way tie for the Cup. Lightning must now travel to California for the tie breaker race. It is along the way that he ends up in a little town along Route 66 and makes his acquaintance with Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), Sally (Bonnie Hunt) and Doc (Paul Newman).

I don't want to go into details here because that will ruin the movie for you.

My Thoughts On Cars

I wasn't jumping up and down to see Cars but it was a movie I wanted to see especially since one of my daughters and her boyfriend loved the movie and had already been to the theater to see it two times. They had already put in their request to borrow the movie to watch it again.

This was a very colorful movie with an outstanding cast doing voice overs. My favorite character was Mater. With Larry the Cable Guy playing this role, you know it will be a good one! I was really impressed at how well the voice fit the character in this situation. Mater's character was an old rusty wrecker. He had seen better days and if you could describe him in a human way, he would be the typical ole country boy.

The plot to the movie is predictable (another reason we are keeping the plot summary to a bare minimum) but you will still enjoy the humor and antics along the way as Lightning McQueen makes his play for the championship in California.

Another enjoyable aspect to this movie is that while you are watching it and a new character appears, you can instantly recognize the voice of who it belongs too in most cases. I know I was surprised to hear Cheech Marin in this movie. It just seemed like a bizarre place to hear his voice pop up but the voice fit the character and fit in with the rest of the gang. Casting for this movie was a well thought out process!

I really liked the fact that Disney incorporated some moral values into this movie. In this day and time it seems that children are very much influenced by what they see and hear in movies. This movie is about friendship, what is important in life and helping out others when in need.

Cast (Voices) & Other Tidbits

Owen Wilson - Lightning McQueen
Paul Newman - Doc Hudson
Bonnie Hunt - Sally Carrera
Larry The Cable Guy - Mater
Cheech Marin - Ramone
Tony Shalhoub - Luigi
Guido Quaroni - Guido
Jenifer Lewis - Flo
Paul Dooley - Sarge
Michael Wallis - Sheriff
George Carlin - Fillmore
Katherine Helmond - Lizzie
John Ratzenberger -Mack/Hamm Truck/Abominable Snow ....Plow/P.T. Flea Car
Joe Ranft - Red/Peterbuilt
Michael Keaton - Chick Hicks
Richard Petty - The King
Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Junior
Jay Leno - Jay Limo
Mario Andretti - Mario Andretti
Tom Hanks - Woody Car
Tim Allen - Buzz Lightyear Car
Billy Crystal - Mike Car
John Goodman - Sullivan Truck

Director - John Lasseter
Rated - G
Running Time - 1 Hour and 56 Minutes


DVD extras include deleted scenes, trailer for "Ratatouille", John Lasseter's inspiration for Cars, animated short clip titled, "Mater and the Ghostlight" and an Academy Award-nominated animated short clip titled, "One Man Band".

Recommendation

This is a wonderful movie for the entire family. All age groups will enjoy this movie. The characters are full of life, good animation, and good humor all combine to make this a movie you won't mind watching again. Adults will love the quirky remarks which helps bridge the gap making this movie appeal to both young and old alike. I give Cars 5 Stars.

2006 Birdfeather