It's not your finest day. You're in police custody, trying to pave an impossible stretch of highway and get out of a tiny town you're trapped in. Plus, your celebrity status doesn't seem to help with these nobody models from the 50s. Until a 1959 Fiat 500 called Luigi is visibly thrilled. You grin and tell him who you are, and he yelps with a thick Italian accent: "I must scream it to the world, my excitement from the top of someplace very high."
Then comes the question. "Do you know many Ferraris?" You shrug. "No, no. They race on the European circuit; I'm in the Piston Cup," you boast about your utterly American sport. "Luigi follow only the Ferraris," he frowns, speeding off and leaving you pulling tar. Groan.
You are Lightning McQueen, and, on an ordinary day, never short of fans. You're a bright scarlet stock car and, despite your low-key sponsor not allowing you enough budget for real headlights (stickers will do), you're well on the way to being the first Rookie to win the Piston Cup, quite like a NASCAR-endorsed major racing series. As the next big thing, you're being wooed by the best team, and everything's falling into place. Staying ahead by a lick, you've made it as favourite to win a 3-way tiebreaker for the Cup. With the big race in a week, you're primed to go. Or at least you would be, if you hadn't gotten lost.
The Pixar/Disney alliance is one of the finest collaborations in contemporary cinema, with one smashing success after another (The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, Toy Story). As the animation takes a massive leap forward with each instalment, it isn't a wonder Cars is the most technically proficient animated film ever. Still, it is surprising just how tightly director John Lasseter stretches the 'for audiences of all ages' dictum. While this is possibly the cleverest script among the brightly coloured lot, it remains to be seen how content children are with just the bells and whistles, leaving the jokes for the rest of us.
So, just how much character does Cars have? Tons.
I don't know about the kids, but I couldn't recommend an animated big-screen flick to you more. Then again, I'm a motorsport enthusiast with an absolutely Luigi-like bent of mind, so I might be more than a bit biased towards a movie with growling race cars and breathtakingly rendered vintage automobiles, chock-full of references and tributes, cheeky in-jokes and pop-culture allusions. There's a lot of typical cartoony shtick, sure, and simplistic sentimentality galore, but when Lightning McQueen's biggest fans -- a couple of twin red Mazda Miatas called Mia and Tia -- vroom up to him and flash their headlights mischievously in unison, you know this film rocks.
Cheech Marin is Ramone, a suave 1959 Chevy Impala, and Tony Shalhoub (television's neurotic detective Monk) provides the accent for my man (my Fiat, I guess?) Luigi. And then there's a Mack truck voiced by John Ratzenberger, the unmistakable Cheers actor and virtually Pixar's lucky mascot.
But it's about the cars. The film is detailed to an awesome level, with not just faithfully recreated automobiles themselves but close-ups of hubcaps and car stereos rendered fine enough to make your jaw drop. Repeatedly. Not only can you see brilliantly reflecting chrome and real-enough-to-feel whitewalled tyres, the rust is where the magic lies, with decrepit and dented machines instantly taking on a different character from our usually spiffy leading man. Watching this all-car world is mesmerising, even the tiny bugs encircling fluorescent lights being of the Volkswagen variety.
Cars is a fabulous film, an intelligent, touching, and warmly compelling ride. Kids might like it (I'm still curious) but adults definitely should. This is as good as summer blockbusters get, and, even if you aren't in the mood for animation, I urge you to give this a shot.
I have but one complaint: if there's a car named Sally, she ought to be a Mustang.
Rediff Rating: