Cars Toons: Tales from Radiator Springs

Starring: Tony Shalhoub (3 episodes), Lloyd Sherr (4 episodes), Michael Wallis (3 episodes), Paul Dooley (3 episodes), Guido Quaroni (3 episodes), Larry the Cable Guy (2 episodes), Bonnie Hunt (2 episodes), Cheech Marin (2 episodes), Keith Ferguson (2 episodes), Owen Wilson (1 episode)
Directed by: Dylan Brown (4 episodes), Jeremy Lasky (3 episodes), Rob Gibbs (1 episode), Scott Morse (1 episode)
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Animation, Comedy
2013-2014

Seasons Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Short cartoons about the residents of Radiator Springs.

Review:
Tim: I can't say I was a huge fan of "Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales". They were admittedly pretty cute, but they were repetitive. My son really enjoyed them. I was more excited to watch these episodes, as I expected them to be better since they focused on multiple characters instead of putting Mater (the worst character) in the lead spot for every one. I appreciated seeing some other characters in the limelight, but this one didn't live up to its promise.

The first one, "Hiccups" is actually pretty decent. Lightning gets the hiccups and all the residents offer him their various cures. It's straightforward, but it offers some nice visuals and is fairly entertaining. It's a chance to see Lightning interact with quite a few different characters. I enjoyed it as much as you can enjoy any 2 minute short film. "Bugged" featured Red, which was nice, but it featured even less of a story. A bug (a VW beetle, ha ha) is bugging him by flying around his face. Not much else happens. The animation is good for that one, but the story is too basic. I wish these had 4 minutes instead of 2- they would have allowed a bit more to happen. "Spinning" is similar. It features Guido in the lead role, which is appreciated. But, the story is as basic as it can be. He is spinning a sign and is really good at it. Again, impressive visuals, but there's not much substance.

"The Radiator Springs 500 1/2" is a marked improvement over the first three. It's the only one that showcases even a glimmer of the potential for Cars short films. This one is 6 minutes long (it could have been longer) and features an actual story. Truthfully, it feels two different stories that feel crammed together. One is that they are all celebrating Founder's Day, and the other is that a group of out-of-town cars come into Radiator Springs and challenge Lightning to a race. This is also noteworthy because it's the only short that features Owen Wilson's voice as Lightning McQueen. It's a fairly decent story and it's entertaining. If more short films like this were made, I'd happily sign up.

The idea of short stories set in Radiator Springs is a really good idea, but the execution was a bit lacking. It's obvious there was no grand design or vision for these. There's a fifth episode that was supposed to come out over 5 years ago, then 3 years ago, and is still unreleased. That doesn't give you much confidence in the plan for these.

Still, I'm a fan of the world of Cars and I appreciated these episodes. It's fun to see more of this world. I just wish the episodes were a little longer and a little more involved.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Series, We Recommend: Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales