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- Disney/Pixar takes another step into the Cars universe with the release of a new streaming series, Cars on the Road.
- The nine episodes follow beloved Cars characters Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater on a cross-country road trip to Mater's sister's wedding.
- The themes of the episodes range from an encounter with Mad Max-style ragers in the desert to a Jurrasic Park-style encounter with giant dinosaurs.
Everyone loved Cars, the 2006 animated feature film from Pixar that introduced the world to Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater, Sally and Doc as well as the desert town of Radiator Springs. It was an idealistic, downright Frank Carpaesque look at life in a small, forgotten town populated by iconic but somewhat nutty personalities that just happened to be automobiles… and tow trucks, tractors, and the occasional snorting farm implement.
It was an enormous hit. The first Cars grossed half a billion dollars worldwide, not counting all the profits from those #95 Lightning McQueen fuzzy slippers, school backpacks, and the CarsLand section of Disney’s California Adventure park next to Disneyland. The movie succeeded because it drew on universal themes of friendship, loyalty, and the extended family that often masquerades as the many characters of small-town life.
Disney and Pixar have spent the years since that first lovable movie trying to replicate the magic of the original Cars. Cars 2 came out in 2011, visually rich and evocative but so confusing that even the main characters couldn’t follow what was going on. The somewhat redemptive Cars 3 in 2017 had glimmers of the original’s warmth and message mixed in with historically accurate characters from NASCAR history. There were other features: Planes, and Planes: Fire and Rescue, as well as a series of shorts called Cars Toons: Mater’s Tall Tales. And there was a separate short about Baja racers somewhere in there, too.
But the world of talking, thinking, sentient car characters has not been played out yet. Now the universe of Cars goes digital again with the release of Cars on the Road, a nine-episode series available exclusively on Disney+.
“Disney and Pixar’s Cars on the Road kicks off in the familiar town of Radiator Springs where Mater shocks his friends by revealing he has a sister and is preparing to drive across the country to attend her wedding,” Disney says. “Sensing his reluctance, Lightning McQueen steps up—as any good bestie would—offering to tag along and make it a fun road trip. Through nine episodes, each approximately eight minutes in length, the pair traverses the nation and stumbles into some rather unusual and comical situations.”
The release is missing the phrases “wacky adventures” and “good times” but otherwise seems fairly accurate. The series features our heroes McQueen and Mater on nine separate but equally rollicking adventures drawn from various car-related themes all thought up by Pixar writer and director Steve Purcell.
“We had poked at a few different ideas for the series, but the one that [executive producer] Pete Docter really gravitated to was self-contained shorts that could be fun and expressive and wild,” said Purcell, who wrote all nine episodes and directed three. “I always loved road trips when I was a kid. To put these characters in that situation gave us a lot to chew on and exaggerate. It was fun exploring different genres, depending on where they were. It was almost like making a new movie every time.”
The themes of the episodes range from an encounter with Mad Max-style ragers in the desert to a Jurrasic Park-style encounter with giant dinosaurs to an encounter with Bigfoot. Mater even tries jet-powered land speed racing at Bonneville, and the pair spend the night in what could easily be an exact replica of the Disneyland Haunted Mansion.
Will you, an adult, enjoy them? It depends on how deeply you’ve bought into the Cars world. It’s a truly enthralling universe, for sure, and any chance to check back in with characters we loved from the first movie and enjoyed from subsequent outings will be entertaining. Cars on the Road is mostly aimed at younger viewers. However, if you’re sitting at home caring for toddlers, getting them to watch these new snippets will probably be far more entertaining for you than whatever the big purple dinosaur guy is doing or the smarmy, wimpy Cayou. Disney+ is $7.99 a month.
