My favorite movie growing up was Pixar’s “Cars”. It follows a simple concept that has been reused numerous times, ‘what if this thing was alive and sentient?’
While the movies are entertaining at any age, watching them with a more developed brain adds a new level of intrigue.
Every time I watch the franchise, I notice new and previously unexplored avenues that Pixar never elaborates on further, which is probably for the best, considering these are kids movies.
As one would say to their bro’s: if I had to see it, so do you. Bear witness to the ever-expanding puzzle of what is and isn’t canonically implied to exist in the Cars universe.
The Anatomy of a Car:
Since the characters in the movies are sentient, this suggests that cars have brains, which begs the question do they have other body parts such? What do stomachs and circulatory systems look like in a car? Is gasoline the cars’ food and their blood? If so, how do gas stations get their gas? Is there a facility that harvests car blood to sell for a profit? It could partially explain how cars die.
Canonically, the part of the car under the hood is their nose, which was shown during an extra credit scene with Mater.
Speaking of Mater, he keeps rusty car parts in and around his junkyard domicile. Does this mean he’s some kind of a gas harvester? Serial killer? Cannibal? Unfortunately, it’s a question that will never be officially answered.
If Planes and Cars are Sentient… What Else Is?:
Through the “Cars” and “Planes” franchises, we have seen that both cars and planes are sentient, which implies that military vehicles, such as tanks, are sentient as well. Sarge is a military Jeep, so it’s possible. Furthermore, Filmore’s alarm clock blares Jimi Hendrix’s Star Spangled Banner, which famously included sounds of bombs being dropped onto civilians.
Vehicles of warfare are very clearly a real thing in the Cars Universe and I don’t like the idea of modern warfare being carried out by them. If car war exists, then so does car PTSD.
Real World Events:
Several factors in each movie subtly, sometimes unintentionally, imply that real-world events have occurred. The most infamous example is a scene in “Cars 2” where Mater is pulled out of a TSA line by British Intelligence agent, Finn McMissile, in order to escape Lemons. The fact that TSA exists in this universe leads to the idea that the 9/11 terrorist attacks most certainly happened. Since planes are also shown to be sentient in the franchise, were they hijacked by car terrorists or did the planes commit the act of terror on their own?
There is also a Car Pope in one scene, meaning that Car religion exists. So was Jeepsus Christ crucified? These are the real questions we need to be asking instead of why Pixar continues to make Toy Story movies.
There is obviously so much more to this rabbit hole that I could never do justice to in one article but I highly recommend using your imagination to think about it. One final note, Sedan Hussein is a thing, so do with that what you will. Kachow? More like have your mind Ka-BLOWN!
