An irreverent, inclusive, alternative parenting community
This Is Your Wallet On Cars
Cars has been a major presence in my house for quite some time. For a while it felt like the DVD was on auto-play on my TV and I can’t go five feet without stepping on a Cars toy. Ever since the Bean could sit up by himself, he was obsessed with wheels. So it was only natural that Cars became one of the first (and for a while the only) thing he would watch. Of course this led him towards the merchandise.
Clearly the Bean is not alone. Millions of kids have opened up their hearts to Lightning McQueen and Mater, which means that millions of parents have opened up their wallets. Since it’s release in 2006, Cars has earned $10 billion dollars in merchandise. Mattel has made over 600 different die cast cars. Disney/Pixar has managed to keep the Cars engine running by producing a series of shorts—each featuring Mater in a different profession like a fireman, a wrestler, a drift racer… While well produced these shorts were clearly all about selling more stuff, which is why on the shelf of your local toy merchant you’ll see toys of Mater as a fireman, a wrestler, a drift racer…
The original Cars gets kind of a bad rap, which I think is unfair. Technically, it’s a jaw-droppingly gorgeous movie but the story is simple. Let’s face it, the plot is liberally borrowed from the mid-level Michael J. Fox cable staple Doc Hollywood. Maybe that’s why it’s such an easy target. Or maybe it’s because it lacks the pathos of the Toy Story movies or Nemo. The movie is not without it’s flaws. It’s a bit self-indulgent and probably 15 minutes too long, but it’s an incredibly entertaining movie with sharp jokes and fully realized characters. While some think it’s one of Pixar’s lesser efforts, even the worst Pixar movie is miles ahead of most films.
Pixar has gotten a lot of credit lately for bringing heavy emotion to their movies. They do it very effectively. Want to make me cry? Show me the Sarah McLaughlan song from Toy Story 2, the first 10 minutes of UP and pretty much the entire third act of Toy Story 3. While those movies are stunning works of storytelling, my kids hate them. My son, however, loves Cars. Cars is pure accessible entertainment without anything scary or heart-wrenching. It’s a safe-haven for us parents and if you’re the parent of a Cars kid, it’s like crack to them.
Which brings us to Cars 2—the inevitable sequel from the Pixar hit factory, which hits theaters today. And according to the critics, the road ahead looks bumpy. Not only is the movie getting some of the worst reviews in Pixar’s history, it’s getting horrible reviews period. At the time of writing this it only had a 32% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. (Mr. Popper’s Penguins had 46%. )
As somebody who really likes Cars and the father of somebody who loves Cars, I feel strangely defensive about the movie even though I haven’t yet seen it. I first rolled my eyes like a spoiled fanboy when I first heard they were making Cars 2. Of course they were. But when the trailers began to roll out and I saw the kind of movie they were making, I became more interested.
Cars 2 is an old fashioned spy movie. The only connection is has to the original is its characters. Cars 2 could have done an easy lap around the same track when it came to the sequel—especially in this risk-adverse time of Hollywood seems suck in. So I greatly respect Pixar’s choice to try something different.
But let’s make no bones about it, Cars 2 is a toy delivery system. Look at the trailer and see how many new characters were created. Notice how many times Mater changes costumes. My son was quick to point out that even Lightening McQueen has a slightly different paint job. Add up all the merchandise and it’s easy to see how Cars 2 could earn well over $2 billion this year alone.
It’s the first time the well-respected Pixar has made such an obvious money grab. And maybe that’s why there’s such animosity towards Cars 2. It seems like a movie born out of commerce rather than passion, which so far has been antithetical to everything Pixar has stood for.
None of this matters to my son though. For weeks now I’ve been stoking the fires of his excitement, showing him trailers and clips that have been posted online. He’s ready for another Cars adventure. And truthfully, after watching the first over and over again, so am I. Even if it means I'll be shelling out some bucks for new toys.
[image]
-
Comment by mcglory13 on June 24, 2011 at 6:31pm -
Eh, I'm afraid I'm on the other side. I do not like Cars, and I have grown increasingly annoyed and impatient with Pixar. I no longer believe they have any interest in kids, and think they are only into making animated movies for adults. This would explain why Cars 2 is so bad... a throw away project for the "kiddies" so they can get back to movies about toys having midlife crises and old people losing their spouses. It would be nice if somebody was making classy, interesting movies for children and adults, but I'm not seeing that out in the market right now.
-
Comment by kanachick on June 24, 2011 at 7:34pm -
It's because Disney is part of the process. I hold nothing against Pixar...just Disney.
-
Comment by mcglory13 on June 24, 2011 at 7:52pm
-
Disney, with Lilo and Stitch, Tangled, and the Emperor's New Groove, has actually been doing the most progressive, really for children stuff out there for the past decade.
-
Comment by Reeling on June 24, 2011 at 9:47pm
-
Pixar's got it set up so that they tell Disney what to do. Not vice-versa. So I don't believe that Disney meddled in the movie. But I'm sure they offered up several dump trucks filled with gold doubloons so they could have more stuff for Cars Land coming to Disneyland. Some call it greedy, but you can call it corporate synergy. Disney is the best at it.
-
Comment by mightyninjamom on June 25, 2011 at 10:23am -
Will there be crossover merchandising with a fast food franchise? Because they are usually involved as well.
My kiddos liked the first Cars well enough, and watched it obsessively for a few months, like they do with most Pixar films. I'm sure we'll be seeing this at some point. Any word on the second Kung Fu Panda?
-
-
I liked Kung Fu Panda 2, but I didn't love it. I felt the first one succeeded both as comedy and as an action movie. The second one lost a little bit of the magic that made the first one so charming. However, the action scenes were amazing. And KFP2 is one of the few movies that I would completely recommend in 3D. It was used really well. But as much as the Bean liked the first one, I didn't take him to the second one. It's actually a bit more serious and has a bit more intensity than the first. Nothing extreme (probably on the level of How To Train Your Dragon) but that's too much for my sensitive guy.
-
Comment by Floor Pie on June 25, 2011 at 2:09pm -
There's also a Lego tie-in with Cars 2, which explains my boy's sudden enthusiastic interest in the movie. Does he want to get the first Cars DVD out of the library before we go see the sequel? No. Because Legos.
-
Comment by hotmama on June 26, 2011 at 2:31pm -
Cars 2 was 1 hour 53 minutes. Seriously too long and really not interesting. Saw it with a toddler and my almost 6 year old and they were both bored and walking around.
:(
-
-
The original Cars was almost 2 hours also. And yes, I agree there were a lot of scenes of cars talking, but nothing really funny going on. And I often found myself thinking "oh come on, really?" And in a movie that's filled with anthropomorphic vehicles, I shouldn't be working against the plot.
As much as it pains me to say it, not a good movie. And not just by Pixar's high standards...but really fails on a lot of levels. The Bean most certainly did not like it as much as the original.
-
Comment by ks on June 27, 2011 at 8:24am -
I may or may not take the boys to Cars 2--depends on time and money issues, both of which are in short supply this summer. Plus, N's summer camp class will be taking a field trip to see it next week, so A may have to just wait for the dvd.
But I did take them to Kung Fu Panda 2 and I thought it was cute. It isn't quite as much fun as the first one, but we all liked it well enough and I didn't feel like I had wasted the $40 I spent getting us in and paying for popcorn.
© 2013 Created by Offsprunger.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Offsprung to add comments!
Join Offsprung