Max Brooks in his The Zombie Survival Guide says, “What could be a greater deity of American techno-religion than the automobile?” He then goes on to talk about how automobiles are no help against the living dead, as fuel would run out and most roads would be clogged with the corpses of cars and the undead still strapped to their seats inside them. While cars might not help in the zombie apocalypse, they are an essential component of Hollywood.
Life is a highway
The road movies, the heist, capers, action, adventure, sci-fi and everything in between feature cars in various shapes and sizes delivering the mandatory thrills. Surprisingly, it took Pixar’s Cars until 2006 for an animation movie solely based on four-wheeler magic. The movie, set in a world of anthropomorphic cars, has an all-too-human story.
Lightning McQueen is the rookie who might be able to win the big race and make a name for himself. McQueen stops at the desert town of Radiator Springs, where he learns important life lessons. The fact that Radiator Springs was a popular stop on the legendary Route 66, and the judge, Doc Hudson, was a racer himself, hark back to the golden age of automobiles. Incidentally, McQueen is not named after the King of Cool, actor and racer, Steve McQueen. The character is named after Pixar animator Glenn McQueen, who died in 2002.
The voice cast, besides Owen Wilson as McQueen and Paul Newman as Doc, also featured talk show host and car enthusiast Jay Leno and Formula One racer Michael Schumacher. The film, directed and co-written by Toy Story ’s John Lasseter, was well-received and got two Academy Award nominations.
Cranking up the heat
The underwhelming Cars 2 in 2011, also directed by Lasseter, brought espionage into the mix, setting the action in Japan. Michael Caine as the British secret agent Finn McMissile was rather funny, considering Caine famously passed his driving test at 50. With most of the voice cast returning, Cars 2 also had a celebrity cameo with Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton playing himself. After Newman’s death in 2008, Doc’s character was written out. Hawaiian Vacation , the short film in the beginning of Cars 2 , was the best thing about the film. Taking place after the events of Toy Story 3 , the film has Woody, Buzz and the gang recreate Hawaii for Barbie and Ken.
Planes , a spin-off to Cars , was released in 2013 with a sequel, Planes: Fire & Rescue , out in 2014. This is what happens when Disney gets its sticky fingers in the pie. Look what is happening to Star Wars . Planes tells of a crop duster, Dusty, who wants to be a racer. There was Priyanka Chopra as Ishani, the racer from India.
Drive my car
Cars 3 , running in a theatre near you, has got back its mojo with the return of Doc. Hamilton also returns as a voice-command assistant. Ten years of racing and McQueen is a veteran. When the flashy new kids on the block are using new tech to edge out the veterans, McQueen decides to take them on. The film addresses modern-day concerns of an over-dependence on technology, even though anthropomorphic cars are the sensei!
There are also discussions on when is a good time to hand over the baton, the importance of adapting to changed circumstances, apart from the tried-and-tested ‘believe in yourself’ mantra.
The animation in all the movies has been consistently outstanding—the aerial sequences in Planes , the races and the demolition derby, are imaginatively picturised. As long as there are wheels and cinema, we will continue to see different iterations of the journey on the road to redemption. Maybe, Disney will roll out a series on trains next.
