Cars

We received the DVD of Disney Pixar's Cars as a gift for my son, who had just turned two at the time. I grew up watching what I consider to be Disney classics: Bambi, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and 101 Dalmations just to name a few, and I was uncertain as to how this movie would compare. I have to say that Disney animated movies have come a long way, both in terms of storyline and picture quality. I have a feeling that years down the road, this generation of children will consider Cars to be a classic as well.

Storyline

Lightning McQueen is a rookie race car out to win his first Piston Cup. He is up against The King, the reigning veteran, and Chick Hicks, who would resort to doing just about anything to win the race. To everyone's surprise, the race for the Piston Cup ends in a 3-way tie, and the challengers must meet one week later for a tie-breaking race in California.

Lightning McQueen settles into his trailer, Mack, for the ride out to California, but he encounters some problems along the way. He ends up separated from Mack and gets lost in a small town near historic Route 66. He is pursued by the town sheriff and mistakenly thinks he is being shot at, which in turn leads McQueen to speed away from the sheriff. He becomes entangled in wires and ends up dragging a statue along a local road, ripping up the pavement as he goes. As a result he is sentenced to community service and ordered to fix the road.

The rookie race car begrudgingly starts to fix the road, and along the way starts to know the local townspeople. These include Mater the Tow Truck, Sally the Sports Car, Luigi (who owns a tire store), Doc Hudson the town doctor, Red the Fire Truck, Lizzie the town matriarch, and many others. These local townsfolk are struggling, as the recently built interstate took the traffic off the local Route 66 and away from their businesses. But yet, these townspeople are still happy, and they have valuable lessons to teach Lightning McQueen about what is truly important in life.

McQueen takes these lessons with him as he competes in the race in California, and he in turn shows the world exactly what is important in life as he gives up the Piston Cup to help an ailing King finish his last race.

Cast of Characters

This movie features many names that you will recognize from the world of movies and television. These include: Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen, Bonnie Hunt as Sally, Paul Newman as Doc Hudson, Larry the Cable Guy as Mater, Tony Shalhoub as Luigi, and John Ratzenberger as Mack. Cheech Marin is also in this movie, and there is also a special appearance by Mario Andretti. It was fun to figure out all of the voices along the way.

Animation

Animation on these Disney movies has come a long way since I was a child. Colors are bright and there is a great attention to detail. I have watched this movie hundreds of times (literally), and every time I catch something new. I once paused the movie during a racing (stadium) scene, and you could literally see the emotions on the faces of every fan in attendance.

I do not have a high definition television, but I would imagine that the bright colors would look fantastic on a high def TV.

Recommended Audience

I think this movie is great for everyone. Young children will love all of the car characters. The movie teaches a great lesson about selflessness that all children should learn. This is the first movie I ever showed my two year old (now 3), and I was shocked that this movie held his interest for the entire length of the film. In fact, there are many times when we do not watch this movie because I do not want him in front of the television for that long. He asks to watch this movie almost every day, and for awhile it seemed as if we watched it about that frequently.

As an adult and a female, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I did not think I would like a movie about cars, as I am more drawn to the princess-type Disney movies. But, although this movie is about racing and cars, it is presented in such a way as to appeal to men and women alike. Women are drawn in to the developing love story between McQueen and Sally, and I think every adult becomes reminiscent of the simpler times as portrayed in the flashbacks to an earlier Route 66.

There are some jokes intended for a mature audience, and they will fly right over your kids' heads. For instance, Mater says "I'd give my left two lug nuts to work with Bessie" (Bessie is the machine McQueen must use to repair the damaged road). There is also a reference to freezing your nuts (although they stop short of saying that phrase), and a few other similar innuendos as well. I think it is great to have these references, because as a parent I did not expect that, and my husband and I got a good chuckle. My son is still too young to know why we laughed in the first place.

The sound track is great and features songs by Sheryl Crow, Rascal Flatts, John Mayer, James Taylor, and many others. In particular, "Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts was a popular Adult Contemporary hit when first released.

Movie running time is a very enjoyable 116 minutes.