Pixar’s run from 1995 to 2010 needs to be put in history books. If you were born in the early 2000’s, there’s a very large chance that you were raised on Pixar movies, and to this day, they still hold a close place in your heart.
I am no different. I grew up loving “Toy Story,” “The Incredibles,” “Finding Nemo,” “Up” and countless others. Those movies could not be matched in my mind, but there was always one that stood out above the others.
For four years of my baseball career I wore number 95 because I was obsessed with the 2006 Pixar classic “Cars.” Watching it as a kid, it was easy to love because of the high flying action of the opening act and the pretty locations, but as an adult, there’s even more things to appreciate about it.
In the opening scene, the hotshot egotistical rookie race car Lightning McQueen is climbing the ranks in the U.S.’s main circuit. It’s the final race of the season in which the winner takes home the coveted Piston Cup.
After a nasty crash which leaves nearly half of the racers with the car equivalent of torn ACLs, Lightning has a commanding lead heading into the final laps. Although he has all the talent necessary to be the best in the world, Lightning doesn’t take help from anyone, and when his crew chief advises him to pit and change tires, Lightning disregards him and decides to push his luck.
On the last stretch, Lightning’s tires explode, which I could kind of equate to a pair of basketball shoes tearing apart mid jump. Crawling his way to the finish line, the league’s veteran ‘The King’ and the Grayson Allen of Cars, Chick Hicks make stellar comebacks to end the race in a three-way tie.
The league announces that a tiebreaker race will take place in a week all the way across the country in California, and the three racers all go their separate ways and head on the country-spanning road trip.
On an overnight drive, Lightning’s transport truck Mac falls asleep on the road, and Lightning gets lost in the vast road surrounded by desert.
He ends up stuck in a small midwestern town called Radiator Springs that has suffered drastically from a highway being built years prior, allowing travelers to completely bypass them.
In order to make it to his big race, Lightning must put his selfish nature aside and help fix the damages he caused the night he arrived.
The simple work in this simple town allows him to slow down and appreciate life with the help of others and show more compassion to those around him.
It’s a shame the animators and story writers that worked on the pinnacle of Pixar movies like “Cars” are now probably working on the effortless cash grabs of Phase 4 Marvel projects.
“Cars” is so simple, but so complex. There’s such a larger story to uncover that can only be appreciated by older audiences. That’s the beauty of Pixar: their movies are universal for any audience, and they all come with my highest of recommendations.
The themes of small town America and the gradual decline of the American Dream flew so far over our heads when we were kids because of the cool racecar plot. Mom and pop shops all over the country are being slaughtered by multi-billion dollar mega corporations and modernization, and it’s only more ironic now that Pixar is owned by one of the most dominant corporations of the modern era.
Existential dread aside, “Cars” has so much more of a story to tell than just battling egocentrism, there’s lessons to be learned for viewers of all ages.
Overall: 10/10
“Gary Vernon Jr?? Nah that man’s name is Rascal Flatts”
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