CARS CARS CARS CARS CARS CARS CARS CARS CARS CARS CARS CARS CARS CARS!
There’s a reason why Pixar has only put out six films in the last decade while Dreamworks Animation craps out several a year. Quality over quantity.
Forty years ago that Interstate didn’t exist. The town got bypassed just to save ten minutes of driving. -Bonnie Hunt, “Cars”
“Cars” is due out June 9th, and I have higher hopes for the film than any other since, well, “The Incredibles.”
Higher hopes, in fact.
Forget for a moment that the animation is at least three years ahead of what Dreamworks can render (and two years ahead of what they can even imagine; witness the waterfall and the stadium shots with “the wave” made of headlights from the linked trailers to see the pretty.) That I can look forward to any piece of entertainment that prominently features Larry the Cable Guy is a miracle, but then again, Pixar is a miracle maker. It’s about the story and unique, interesting characters, not cute gags and voice actors; while Dreamworks trots out Will Smith and Ben Affleck, Pixar employs Albert Brooks and Craig T. Nelson (not to mention Sarah Vowell), all who promptly put the aforementioned to shame. The idea of “Cars” first disappointed me when we knew next-to-nothing about it (in late ‘04, when “The Incredibles” was hot) but the more I hear the more I love. The more I can’t wait until the very first screening in the area, the one I’ll be at.
I am of course biased in my anticipation of “Cars.” Your best source for Route 66 news on the web is going apeshit over Cars, and god bless him for it; the film was originally titled “Route 66,” as it takes place on the Mother Road, and lost its designation only to avoid confusion with the 1960s CBS series (that had little, if anything, to do with the Main Street of America.) But that’s the supreme example of Pixar’s superior intellect and work: would Dreamworks ever touch such a subject? Animators from Pixar, including Honcho John Lasseter himself, toured parts of the road in the southwest to get an idea of what the historic highway had to offer, and elements of Route 66 (the Cadillac Ranch, the Wigwam Village) can be found in the fictional “Cars” Route 66 hamlet of Radiator Springs.
The point: there’s love and knowledge and care in this film. I can tell you this and I haven’t even seen it yet. Meanwhile, Will Smith is a hip-hop fish. David Schwimmer is a cowardly giraffe. Save Shrek (and who knows what the third film will have to offer,) why does anyone give Dreamworks their money, or even the time of day?
Friday, June 9: give Pixar your money, please.