Pixar Raises The Bar Once Again With ‘Cars’

When I see a Pixar film, the first thing that comes to mind is not, “Is it any good?” That’s actually the furthest thing from my mind.

After six stellar films, beginning with Toy Story in 1995 and up through 2004’s The Incredibles, the question is rather, “Just exactly how high did they raise the bar this time?” You can judge for yourself when Cars, the seventh film from the Pixar stable, arrives at Edmond Town Hall this weekend.

Cars, the second-highest grossing movie of the summer (bested only by the juggernaut that is Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest), follows a hotshot rookie car, Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson), who’s in pursuit of the vaunted Piston Cup, the pinnacle prize of the racing circuit and season.  Only two rivals stand in his way: The King (voiced by Richard Petty), a veteran racer making one last run before retiring into the sunset; and brash braggart Chick Hicks (voiced by Michael Keaton), a stock car racer who’s had to finish second to The King his entire career and is now looking to pass the wily veteran while also staving off the young newcomer.

The cocky McQueen, still dreaming of the good life that’ll be his once he wins the Piston Cup, gets rudely awakened when an unexpected detour lands him in Radiator Springs, a dusty town just off of Route 66. His voyage to the “land that time forgot” brings him in contact with a group of eccentric characters, from curmudgeonly car Doc Hudson (a wonderful Paul Newman), to sassy sports car Sally (a charming Bonnie Hunt), to an earnest, yet simple tow truck named Mater (a very funny Larry the Cable Guy). McQueen fears he won’t be able to escape the town in time for his beloved race, but this little burg and its inhabitants are about to teach him there are things much more important than fame, fortune and fast living.  

John Lasseter, the head of Pixar who in late January, after Disney’s $7.4 billion purchase of Pixar, was given charge of running all of Disney animation, jumped behind the wheel (pardon the pun) of Cars as director for the first time since he helmed A Bug’s Life in 1998. Not only does he show no rust (other than the immaculately rendered corrosion on Mater and other veteran vehicles we meet along the way), but he brings his obvious love of automobiles to bear in the attention to detail given each setting (from the dazzling opening race sequence, during which we see amazing touches, right down to the burning, bouncing rubber pieces on the track, to all the facets given to the faded, forgotten town of Radiator Springs) as well as the poignant, affecting levels he brings to each metallic character.

In fact, Lasseter and his team bring such depth and emotional resonance to this tale that one begins to wonder why most films with flesh and blood actors can’t seem to wring half as much feeling out of an audience as the guileless Mater and his mates do.

Cars, rated G for all audiences (but at just shy of two hours, might be a tad long for the youngest), also features outstanding voice work by John Ratzenberger, Tony Shalhoub, George Carlin and others. It’s a wonderful, entertaining movie that will certainly get you laughing and, by the end, might surprise you with its emotional heft as well.

It’s also a well-written film of many layers that is peppered with all kinds of NASCAR references as well as Pixar’s usual, fun mix of pop cultural jabs. However, true to their form, the humor is not simply dependent on which star is voicing the character, but evolves out of the situations and the characters themselves, not just the personalities behind the mikes.