Cars, one of the better Pixar films

I love Pixar. All the way from their very first feature film, Toy Story, to the wonderful Wall-E and sentimental Up, I always appreciate their deftly skilled and innovative animation, their wonderfully original plots and in depth characters.

I love all of their shorts, including the quirky one with the old man playing chess with his alter ego!

Pixar always keeps you guessing and is full of surprises, and of course, heartbreak and true sentiment.

I know what you must be thinking from the title. Am I crazy?

Really, you think Cars is better than The Incredibles?

Yes. Yes, I do.

And I’ll tell you why.

Because The Incredibles isn’t a bad idea, no, but it isn’t really the most original idea either.

Superheroes cause collateral damage all the time, yes, and sometimes things happen in the name of the greater good. Sometimes, doing the right thing can cause unintended consequences(I.e the man who wanted to commit suicide, but Mr. Incredible saves him. Then, because the man became injured during the rescue he sues the superhero.) but the right thing should be done no matter what, right?

Well, once superheroes are banned by law, and the superhero family is relocated once again after causing another disturbance that costs lots of money and mind altering, ahem, the father still wants to give being a hero a go—-despite it being illegal and not telling his wife.

Lots of lying, lots of questionable motives, and the father is selfish and reckless best case scenario—-worst case, it is even slightly implied he has an interest in the lady (Mirage) that hired him through her employer. Their dinner conversation is slightly flirtatious.

The whole thing amounts to almost no lessons learned, the whole entire family winds up mortal peril in the hands of a psychotic maniac, and instead of the father saying, “Stop! We need to be better. Let’s listen to what society says and just lay off being vigilantes! My family is too important for this kind of mayhem and danger.”

No. We get... everyone(including the baby)in super suits and they are ready to fight the next evil genius/villain that comes along.

No problem, right? Because it was fun.

The dialogue was engaging, the story was fast paced and not boring—-but what did we get in the end?

Almost no character development.

No understanding of consequences.

Absolutely nothing but sheer action, drama, and hey, superheroes are awesome, correct?!

But, let’s move on now to why I think Cars is a fundamentally better film.

It starts out with a rookie racer who wants it all—-to win the Piston Cup and be famous, to finally get a good sponser aka Dinoco, and be rich and have the respect and notoriety he had worked so hard for.

He doesn’t have a crew chief(by choice), he barely lets anyone help him during the pit stops, and he is arrogant, mean, and acts like a hot shot.

That’s until on the way to the big race he accidentally ends up in a backwater town, Radiator Springs, and ends up destroying a long stretch of road there. The reason he is there and not at the big race is his fault. Entirely. He let his driver keep going even as he was starting to doze off, and needed to rest. McQueen pushed his driver Mac to keep going, and of course, there was an accident that caused him to get separated, to be on his own.

Now in the dusty, run down town, with a broken up road, McQueen has been ordered to fix it, and through the help of his unlikely new friends, and love interest Sally, he slowly becomes the person... I mean car he always was meant to be.

He learns about the history of the run down town, and how it used to be, all while getting to know Sally and Mater, and everyone there. In between fixing the road, his perspective on life also gets adjusted as he takes drives in the country to just relax, and tractor tips with Mater, and slowly, he realizes there is more to life than just racing.

He makes a promise to Mater that Sally overhears and even as it was obvious to be something nonchalant to McQueen at first, Sally makes it clear that it is very serious to Mater. There is a subtle change in the way McQueen views his friends and interpersonal relationships after that. But, it’s palpable, and it’s real.

The main reason I love this film over The Incredibles is the ending.

Doc Hudson ties it together.

He is the one who orders McQueen to fix the road, being the judge and medical doctor for the town, and he is also the one to challenge McQueen to do better (as he shoddily fixes the road the first time) and also to race him.

Doc doesn’t win purely by chance or speed, but by wits.

Doc teaches McQueen it isn’t all about speed, but how the road works, how it feels, what the material is, and the way you maneuver your wheels to get the right traction.

But, he has a secret.

Doc was the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, a three-time Piston Cup champion, who got so badly damaged during a race that he was left behind, forgotten, a legend that was made and now destroyed. Doc then decided that kind of flighty lifestyle wasn’t going to work for him anymore. How could it?

It only worked when you were a winner, not broken like he was.

And even when he was fixed, too late!

McQueen is deeply effected by this story, as the Hudson Hornet was and still is an idol of his.

During the last day when McQueen finishes the road, everyone thinks he left already.

But, he is still there, and takes it upon himself to help every single car and their business, giving them a new look and much needed help for their own image.

It is a great scene, and shows how he’s changed. How he cares now about more than just himself.

Suddenly the news media and his driver Mac is thrown into the mix, picking him up just in time for the big race! But... it was apparent that McQueen wanted to stay in Radiator Springs. Even if it was for a little bit longer.

During the race, he becomes distracted and falls into last place thinking about everyone in Radiator Springs, until he hears Doc Hudson.

And he’s McQueen’s new crew chief!

And there his new friends from the town are helping out at the pit stops! And McQueen actually lets them help.

Then, as the other rookie racer Chick Hicks sideswipes the older racer The King, the latter gets into a terrible crash that parallels the one Doc was in—making McQueen literally stop right in front of the finish line as he was going to win.

Chick wins, but something that melted my heart happens next: McQueen gently nudges and helps The King finish what was to be his last race.

And just for that scene alone, it’s way better than The Incredibles.

The character development is subtle, important, and meaningful.

And yes, the main character learns a lot. Friendship, love, loyalty and respect.

And I love it so much because it hits my heartstrings in a way I cannot explain.

To pair this lovely movie off, I recommend watching the very awesome and very cool American martial arts comedy-drama streaming television series based on the original Karate Kid films, Cobra Kai.

It has a lot of the same things I care about, good character development and the plot is really entertaining and fun. It also shows a lot of things from the older films as well, and references to other characters that aren’t here today.

It’s not always about winning, either, and mercy is not always for the weak—-even for the main antagonist of the Karate Kid films, Johnny.

They give Johnny so much depth and background, and even turned Daniel into somewhat of an antagonist in the show, which I found very refreshing and funny.

I think it’s a great way to end a Saturday, after watching Cars with the family—-to watch Cobra Kai with your significant other in the evening, and find yourself wondering who you actually are rooting for! (Johnny! Lol)