Cartoon Central

We open with our hero, Lightning McQueen (what was his mother smoking?), racing for the Piston Cup. Conveniently, the race is a three way tie so, a tie-breaker is held in California. On his way there, however, McQueen gets arrested in the small town of Radiator Springs. What happens from here is typical Pixar fare: Hero learns to be a better person and make friends. What is more interesting here, is the story, within the story. It’s what’s implied throughout the movie; the surprisingly deep story about how society has become too fast paced. It’s about taking things slow and stopping to smell the roses. That is the great triumph of Cars’ screenplay; the surface story serves only as a Trojan horse.