posted by NotAnyRon on July 27, 2006; screened on June 9, 2006
John Lasseter, Joe Ranft
-
2006
The coolest thing about the new Pixar film is that my good friend Matt Silas (Nomad, Reset, Summer Son) actually helped make the film. He's literally been dreaming about working for Disney Animation since he was a 12 year old kid, obsessing over the films, their creators and the techniques they used to bring the story to life on the screen. In the summer of 2004, Matt got the opportunity to temporarily make his dream come true by working as an intern at Pixar. At this point, it wasn't officially Disney, but pretty close. I was able to visit and took a few pictures.
So, I had two things to look for in this film. The first was, obviously enough, Matt's name in the credits. The second was a shot that Matt described to me, that he was responsible for. He called it the "Jaws" shot. Matt worked on Cars in the layout department. As I understand it, he was essentially a virtual camera operator. He placed the characters in the frame and orchestrated gross movements of the charaters. He chose the virtual lens, camera placement and camera movement as well. Of course, there was a whole team of people doing the same work, so he was only able to complete a few shots in the film. The detailed animation and lighting came later in the process, but he was able to have a fairly large impact on the storytelling and style for his given shot. As an intern, he was not actually supposed to get any of his shots into the final film, but Pixar found that the work of this group was of a high enough quality that quite a few shots actually made it into the final cut. One of these was Matt's "Jaws" shot, which takes place during the first race sequence. It starts on the bumper of one of the cars, and the camera dramatically swings around to the front of the car as it's speeding down the track.
So, I had two things to look for in this film... and I missed them both. AARRGH!!! How this is possible, I have no idea. Missing the Jaws shot is inexcusable really. I wasn't sure if it was in the first race or not, before I saw the film. I also thought the shot was on the main character, Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson), but it's not. No excuse whatsoever. As for missing the credits, I was sitting there checking out the hilariously funny outtakes as they rolled past, and my wife screams "Oooh, oooh. Look, it's Matt!!!" I suddenly realized that I had completely forgotten to look for his name and as I frantically searched the screen I heard "Ooop. Ya missed it." I'm destined to watch this film again, if only to remedy these sad lapses of concentration.
Now, I must be honest and say that this wasn't my favorite Pixar film. In fact, it's near the bottom of the list. That's not saying a whole lot, however, since their films have been consistently great. It's a little like saying Let It Be is an inferior Beatles album. It's Lasseter and his team's own fault for setting the bar so high. Inevitably even they'll miss jumping over it.
My biggest complaint about the film is the story. I just feel as though the creators got in a room and came up with the basic plot in a very short amount of time, without pushing themselves to the next level. First of all, in this world the only living creatures are cars. Even the cows and bugs are cars (and in a brilliantly cute move, the bugs are really Bugs - VW Beetles). Our protagonist, Lightning McQueen, is a hotshot racing car who doesn't need anyone to help him out, not even his pit crew. Or so he thinks. On the way to the biggest race of the year, he convinces the semi trailer, Mack (John Ratzenberger), that's towing him across country, to drive through the night. This makes for a fun scene when Mack falls asleep at the wheel. Through a series of unfortunate events, McQueen is stranded in Radiator Springs, a town on the previously bustling, but now abandoned, Route 66. You might guess that he hates the town and the town hates him, until eventually they all realize they like each other pretty well. The plot and story don't do much else, and thinking back about 15 years, it's pretty easy to realize that the plot is essentially a retread of Doc Hollywood with a hotshot race car instead of a hotshot doctor. On top of it all, I didn't find Wilson't portrayal of McQueen to be at all sympathetic. I knew that somewhere along the way, the audience would be expected to like the character, but the transition to get there was forced and unbelievable. I have to admit, I never really liked the character and never really rooted for him. He was a jerk who had a change of heart to fit the plot, not the other way around.
All of those concerns aside, Pixar can create a beautifully realized world, seemingly in their sleep. The attention to detail in this film is simply astounding. Not only are the bugs VW Beetles, and the cows tractors, but the cows udders are spark plugs. The rock formations are classic car shapes and car parts, but concealed enough that they still look like rocks. If someone pitched a film to me about cars that talk, I'd say it couldn't be pulled off, but somehow they did. The cars have their own rules of physics that actually work. They don't move like cars nor do they move like humans, but all the same we can believe in them when they drive and relate to them as characters. This aspect of the film isn't perfect, but it's really well done.
My final complaint was the throw away usage of Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers (Tom and Ray Magliozzi from Car Talk, the great National Public Radio program). On the hilarity scale, these guys are off the charts. They preach car safety, but don't practice it; I can't tell you how many times I've nearly gotten in an accident because I was crying from laughter while driving and listening to their show. But in Cars, they were shoehorned into the scripted and unfunny role of McQueen's team owners. If you watch the film and recognize their voice, I guarantee you'll be disappointed that they weren't used to their full potential.
In the end, I enjoyed the film for what it was. Kids will surely love it as well, although Lightning McQueen's not as cuddly as Nemo, as cool as Mr. Incredible or as memorable as Buzz and Woody. In the meantime, I'll wait patiently for Ratatouille. The one after Rat will include the famous Mr. Silas as a contributor in a much less temporary role. Congratulations to Matt on fulfilling his boyhood dream! Too bad he's so tight lipped about his particular project, though!