Drive Hard.

Just in time to celebrate the return of Lightning McQueen and Mater to our screens in Cars On The Road here's a good excuse for a look back to the podcast I did with Autism Through Cinema regarding one of my favourite movies - Disney/Pixar's Cars (no really).

You can listen to it here if you haven't already, go on, I'll still be here when you get back. 

To be honest, most folk don't expect it to be in my top ten film list (then spend way too much time figuring out where it sits in relation to Suspiria, The Wizard of Oz, Times Square, La Cabina, A New Hope and Bride of Frankenstein...as you can tell I never did get invited to parties as a teen).

"But why Cars?" I hear them cry.

Well, the Autie-ness of the movie permeates thru' every part of it - from a design point of view the 'faces' of the characters are reminiscent of Thomas The Tank Engine (a huge Autistic favourite) and an almost classic anime style with the wide expressive eyes and clear, readable emotions. Usually when designing a cartoon/animated car the designers would position the 'eyes' as the headlights (which gives a kind of squashed fairly freaky look) whereas with Cars the eyes are place in the windscreen meaning the headlights add cheeks to the face giving it a more human - and therefore more relatable - look.

 

Colour-wise every character is a bright, primary colour, red for McQueen (because he's fast!), blue for The King, Sally and Doc Hudson (the 'good guys') and green for (the envious) Chick Hicks  for example - and based on actual car designs thanks in part to Paul Newman's input - making it easy to identify each one just by seeing them - tho' the little details on each (Lightning McQueen's stickers, Sally's tattoo, Mac's truck driver 'cap' for example) make each one unique and easily to spot as soon as they appear seeing as they all move in a similar fashion.
 

Which I must admit is really soothing to watch - apart from in the exciting race scenes obviously!
 

Talking of the racing, the opening five minutes of the movie is quite possibly one of the most perfect pieces of powerhouse cinema ever (and yes that's a hill I will die on), beating even the Ben Hur chariot race and the Star Wars podracing scene for the sheer adrenaline rush it delivers. 

From the quietly contemplating voiceover from McQueen:
 

“Okay, here we go. Focus. Speed. I am speed. One winner, 42 losers. I eat losers for breakfast. Breakfast? Maybe I should have had breakfast? Breakfast could be good for me. No, no, no, focus. Speed. Faster than fast, quicker than quick. I am Lightning. Speed. I am Speed.”


Which is brilliantly intercut with flashes of the previous laps (enough to grab your attention but never to much as to overwhelm….yet) we immediately know who he is and what his motivation is and – thanks to the ever-relatable Owen Wilson – we love him already.
 

And then, we’re off and dropped into the middle of a perfect Autistic sensory wonderland of screeching cars, flashbulbs, crowd noise and smooth tracking shots worthy of Kubrick in the Overlook, all choreographed to a banging Sheryl Crow theme tune.

As an aside I remember reading an article years back that said that if your (Autistic) child can make it past the opening of Cars without exploding in a sensory heap then it will become their favourite film ever.

And for an Autistic adult who searches out (over) stimulation in cinema it rates up there with the climactic battle from Return of The Jedi, Tron Legacy's lightcycle race and the opening of Suspiria for sheer cinematic sensory joy.

Fact.

It's also during this sequence that we're introduced to Strip "The King" Weathers (the car Lightning admires) and Chick Hicks (our villain for the proceedings) in the simplest and most easy to understand way ever - Chick tries to overtake The King (after first ramming a few other competitors) but King ignores him and drives on, showing how much more mature and old school he is, whilst Lightning angrily interacts with Chick, allowing him to get under his skin (or hood as they'd say here).

Interestingly Chick isn't an impetuous young racer like McQueen - he has a mustache and is voiced by Michael Keaton for starters - he's the same vintage as The King, so we know he's just a bully.

And all this thru' a brilliant use of design and minimal dialogue.

Take the residents of Radiator Springs where McQueen gets stuck are open, friendly and instantly likeable, McQueen's yearning for adventure is as recognizable and affecting as Luke Skywalker gazing wistfully at the twin sunset.

Yes, I use A New Hope as my go to guide for cinema feels a fair bit to this day.

Because like A New Hope (which I'm not ashamed to admit is the film by which I judge every other) Cars isn't afraid to tell a good old fashioned story about hope, friendship, love and loss in a clear and simple - but never simplistic - fashion.

It's the classic heroes journey told in a way that's accessible, exciting, enjoyable and most of all fun.

And this is one of the films biggest strengths and why I think it's, not just utterly autistically friendly but a great film in it's own right.

Sheer unadulterated animated perfection.

And why am I back to talk about it right now?

Because the first two weeks of the holidays with its routine changes and the like have really worn me out so I'm just about to watch it again to fire me up for the weekend and a cinema double bill of Dalek delights.

See? Told you films were my thing.

Ka-chow!