Cars is the latest masterwork from Pixar/Disney - a bit of an unusual outing for the animation powerhouse for a number of reasons. First of all, Cars was inspired by a cross-country vehicular vacation John Lasseter embarked upon to re-connect with his family - after admittedly becoming something of an obsessive workaholic with his other family of pixel-pushers at Pixar. The biggest question mark I had before seeing the film was whether or not endowing cars with human characteristics was going to work. Sure it works with animals and bugs and of course toys - because these critters and objects already seem to have souls and even personalities. You know that an ant is going to have an inferiority complex, etc - but can this concept be applied to cars, which you don't automatically think of as possessing recognizable human characteristics?

I guess the answer, is that in the hands of Lasseter and his pixel posse nothing is impossible. I'll admit that it took a while for me to warm up to the notion of cars as characters, but by the time you meet Larry the Cable Guy's "Mater" the lovable dumb-guy tow truck the point has long since been rendered moot. Cars in fact do have personalities, just ask the Hippy Dippy VW Van "Filmore" a George Carlin creation intent on turning everyone on to alternative herbal fuels - you get the drift, it works wonderfully.

The opening scene is certainly a blast to the senses and may be a bit much for the toddler set. In retrospect the abrasively noisy and intense race sequence that opens the film definitely sets pulses to pounding, but it's certainly unlike the rest of the film which becomes downright sedate by comparison. The race, as we are soon to learn boils down to a contest between three chief competitors: Lightning McQueen (the young, independent, cocky upstart voiced by Owen Wilson) The King - Strip Weathers (the wily veteran whose competitive days are fast winding down - voiced by Richard Petty) and Chick Hicks (The King's heir apparent, a no-class rube who's not about to let this Lightning bug come between himself and his rightful claim to racing's throne - voiced by Michael Keaton in a blink and you missed it part.)

What we're to take from this opening sequence is that Lightning is a one man show, a maverick who refuses to stop in the pits (partially because his crew isn't exactly top notch) but mainly Lightning considers himself invincible. In fact it's this egotistical attitude that almost costs him the race. Not more than 50 yards from the checkered flag an equipment failure allows both Hicks and The King to make ground on him rapidly. As Lightning limps for the finish line all three cars take the checkered flag in a 3-way photo-finish tie. All of which sets up a hype fest of a tie-breaker race to take place in California within a week.

Lightning's decision to skip the pit stop isn't all about unbridled hubris, it seems that a few years back when times were more on the lean side, he signed a promotional deal with a third rate brand of car products. Now that he's become an overnight success, however, this deal has become something of an embarrassing albatross, and rather than accept their invitation to celebrate the first place tie and the enormous amount of exposure the big California tie-breaker will mean to the company, he mopes over to his trailer diesel "Mack" (a Lasseter staple John Ratzenberger) rolls on into his state of the art transport vehicle and indulges in a bit of self-pity. Mack, manages to get him chuffed up again by regaling him with facts and figures regarding his skyrocketing stock and soon the two are all about "California here we come!"

Due to a series of minor misadventures Mack and Lightning manage to become separated and owing to the fact that race cars don't have headlights, Lightning is in a bit of a fix. Once morning rolls around, Lightning imagines that he has some catching up to do and with an engine like his he starts ticking off towns along Route 66 like the roadrunner. Just over a slight rise in the road is a town hidden from his view and by the time he finally sees Radiator Springs it's too late to stop. When the dust finally settles and Lightning's wheels have stopped spinning, he's done a significant amount of damage to the town, it's automotive citizenry and himself.

The town of Radiator Springs has long since been forgotten. Since the interstate came along the once bustling town has been reduced to a dusty footnote in the highways and byways of this great land - but a few faithful have remained, clinging to memories of their glorious past and hoping against hope that somehow, some way those salad days will come again. Among the pragmatists is surly old Doc Hudson (Paul Newman, who also doubles as the local Judge). The good Doc metes out a rather harsh penalty to the cheeky, hot shot whom none of them have heard of (despite his best efforts to impress upon them of his worldly importance, the fame, the fortune, the so on and the so forth). As just a sliver of foreshadowing, it becomes clear that the Judge seems particularly unimpressed by Lighning's claim to fame.

It's at this point where Cars really takes a turn for the weird. I can't imagine a single critic not noticing this odd development, and I'm more than a little bit interested in what everyone's reaction will be to it. In 1991 Michael J Fox made, what I consider to be his best film entitled Doc Hollywood. A charming, beautifully cast film that involves a young plastic surgeon who loses his way and hence suffers a significant delay in his urgent desire to get to California. Speeding up on a small redneck town, he is forced to swerve in order to avoid hitting a cow and in the process manages to take out a goodly portion of the local judges brand new fence with his beloved Porsche. At this point the plot of Cars and the plot of Doc Hollywood become virtually one and the same. There's just no ignoring it, and there's no getting around it. It becomes so obvious in fact, that my guess is that Disney/Pixar must have purchased the rights to use the story. I just can't imagine they'd jeopardize the millions that Cars will no doubt make, without first insuring that Warners and everyone with rights to Doc Hollywood aren't going to line their pockets with Car bucks. The script also borrows a pretty significant bit from Cannery Row where Paul Newman's character is concerned - as far as that one's goes, I'll bet Lasseter's banking on short memory spans.

In any case Lightning gets himself stuck in this podunk speck on the map (doing community service to pay his fine) and the vast majority of the story takes place in Radiator Springs. By virtue of the fact that he's obviously a race car he right away earns the admiration and eventually the friendship of the towns tow truck "Mater," again played by Larry the Cable Guy. I have to say I don't know a great deal about Larry, but as far as Cars is concerned he will, no doubt, be found guilty of Grand Theft Auto by the film critics of earth. By midsummer "Mater-isms" will be on everyone's lips and you won't be able to leave your house without some sort of brush with Mater-ness. From Happy Meals to Burger King's new cheesy potato treats "Mater Tots," (I should trademark that). I wouldn't be suprised if Wendy's makes a fancy package and starts calling ketchup "Mater Sauce." Seriously though Mater's a hoot. With just the perfect combination of dumb guy sincerity, redneck charm and flawless timing, Mater tows off with most of the film's big laughs. Once Lightning's been in Radiator Springs long enough to accept his plight - (escape is impossible without gas) Lightning asks Mater what there is to do for fun in this town and Mater recognizes his chance to make a lifelong friend out of Lightning. In the films' chief male-bonding scene, Mater takes Lightning out for a night of "tractor tipping." Obviously the automotive equivalent of cow-tipping, I wasn't sure how Lasseter and company were going to make this funny, but they certainly did. Definitely the funniest scene in the film, the crowd roared with approval every time a tractor keeled over. This is followed by a harrowing escape as farmer McReedy (I don't remember the name) turns out to be a mean old thrasher and gives them both a game run for their money.

The farmer gets the last laugh as he organizes a tractor stampede that ruins much of the work that Lightning had accomplished, but by now the townsfolk have started to cotton to Lightning and pitch in to help him salvage some of the mess - even though by now it's with mixed emotions that they assist him with the project that will ultimately allow him to leave town. Just like Doc Hollywood, the character arc that Lightning undegoes involves losing his egocentric arrogance, which in both films is given a great boost by a local love interest. Both Julie Warner in Doc Hollywood and Bonnie Hunt (as Sally, a petite and lovely Porsche) are able to crack the hardened exteriors of their respective subjects by softening their own and giving the boys an intimate sightseeing tour of some of the more charming out-of-the-way spots each had come to know by growing up and coming of age in these small towns. Both of which used to be hot spots before the interstate left them to rust and rot as the world passed them by.

One day while Lightning goes to ask the Judge about his sentence, he begins poking around a bit in his garage and comes across a startling discovery. As it turns out, Doc Hudson was once a world famous race car and amid the junk in his garage are a number of back to back world champion trophies. His career came to some ignominious end and seeking refuge from the prying eyes of the world he wound up in Radiator Springs. Much like the Doc in Cannery Row played by Nick Nolte who was once a famous big league picture known as Eddie the Blur. Both Debra Winger in that film and Lightning are ready to cry their discoveries from the rooftops only to be warned off by wiser denizens who caution them from doing so, for pretty much the same reasons. Just like the Row, some people come to Radiator Springs because they don't want to be famous anymore.

Cars proceeds to an ending that only varies from Doc Hollywood in the details, the story is virtually identical. For example, in Doc Hollywood it is the doctor played by the wonderful Bernard Hughes who calls ahead and puts in a good word for Michael J. Fox, which virtually assures him of getting the job he's interviewing for. Similarly it is Doc Hudson who alerts the media as to Lightning's whereabouts so that he can be air-lifted to California in time to compete in the race. With Both of their dreams now come true, both Fox and Lightning are strangely unfulfilled, empty inside, restless with their lives. Both pine for the simple life they'd come to know and for the loves left behind. I won't give anymore away other than to say that yes, both films end virtually the same.

Before I pronounce judgment I want to comment on the unbelievable look of the film. There are times when you're looking at landscape when it's virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. I'm a huge fan of the Pixar films. I even loved Monsters Inc. which puts me in the minority on this site's staff, so how is a person to judge Cars? In terms of it's look It's perhaps the best. There are a million little details that I won't spoil for you and several surprises and hilarious moments that simply comparing the storyline to Doc Hollywood aren't going to ruin or prepare you for. Still the classic Pixar films of the past were not only visually stunning but contained wonderfully original storylines. Which makes this one a little tougher to grade. I guess I'll just go by how entertained I was and knock it down a half grade for it's lack of originality. Which still leaves it with a respectable B. You owe me one Walt.