Cars is the latest offering from PIXAR Animation Studies in association with Walt Disney studios. The star of the show is Lightning McQueen, a rookie racing car who is in contention for winning the Piston Cup in his first season – something that’s never been achieved before. On his way to the decisive race of the season however he ends up lost in a small community called Radiator Springs, where things are about as different as possible from the competitive atmosphere he’s used to. From being a selfish, one-car show, can he make the transition to a likable team player, get back to where he’s meant to be and win the cup?

It’s a pretty predictable plot but that really isn’t a problem as Cars is one of the most enjoyable animated movies ever made. To be honest for most of it I was veering from 4 to 5 stars and back again, but the final half hour is just so wonderful that there was no doubt in my mind that it deserved 5 stars overall. The film is consistently funny and entertaining, but the real joy of it is the depth to the characters. PIXAR seems to revel in producing cartoons about creatures or objects other than the normal set of animals so beloved of animators – they’ve done toys, bugs, monsters, and now cars. These cars though have far more personality than some real-life actors I’ve seen!! Owen Wilson was the perfect choice to cast as Lightning, he has exactly the right air of determination and naivete, The rest of the voice cast are also superb, including Paul Newman as the Judge of Radiator Springs, Bonnie Hunt as Sally (the love interest - what, you didn’t know cars could fall in love?!?!?), and Tony Shalhoub as an Italian tyre seller in love with Ferraris – of course. John Ratzenberger also has a part as Mack, the transporter lorry who loses Lightning half-way to California for the big race. Watch the closing credits for an in-joke about the fact that he’s been in most of the PIXAR movies as a voice. Michael Keaton gets to be the voice of the bad guy, and obviously enoys doing to. The interaction between the characters is very good and the jokes fly thick and fast. There’s also a cracking musical score to keep things moving along apace.

After a more than shaky start in Radiator Springs, Lightning begins to form a friendship with Mater, who comes across as not being all there but has some quite astonishing abilities.

Mater: What's your name?
Lightning McQueen: You... you don't know my name?
Mater: No, uh... no, I know your name. Is your name Mater too?

Apart from the aforementioned Sally, who seems quite out of place in Radiator Springs and has definite views on interstates, there is also Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), who also didn’t start out at the Springs and has a secret about his past. The background stories to each character lend depth to the proceedings and the various levels of jokes, from slapstick to quite sophisticated, lend that PIXAR quality of enjoyability across all age ranges. (Even my friend who is too young to realise that she’s not too old to watch animated movies admitted to quite liking it!) The visuals are of course spectacular, and the impression of speed during the racing sequences is quite realistic. There are some great little touches that you might easily miss – the bugs are actually little cars, but guess which car – VW Beetles! It even manages to be quite unexpectedly emotional near the end. The end sequences feature snippets from car versions of various PIXAR movies, such as “Toy Car Story” and “A Bug Car’s Life”, which were very funny.

Car Woody: You... are... a... toy... car!
Car Buzz: You are a sad strange little wagon, and you have my pity! Farewell!

Overall, Cars is wonderful entertainment for anyone, regardless of their age. Thoroughly recommended.


Related Links
Top Ten Animated Movies

Also by PIXAR:

Finding Nemo
Toy Story 2


See also: