Cars Toons

Premise

''Mater's Tall Tales''

All Cars Toons in Mater's Tall Tales follow a shared formula: Each episode opens with Mater saying, "If I'm lying, I'm crying!" and then the title card. Next, McQueen and Mater see something that results in the latter proceeding to tell the former a “tall tale” about something he supposedly did in the past, before the action shifts to the flashback of Mater's story. At a midway point, the action briefly shifts back to Mater and McQueen in which McQueen questions Mater over whether the events in the story actually occurred (or in some episodes asks him what he did next), resulting in Mater proclaiming that McQueen was also involved. The flashback then resumes with McQueen's sudden and usually unwilling participation in the story's events. After Mater finishes his tall tale, McQueen denies the fact that Mater's tale is real before one or more characters/elements involved in the story coincidentally appear to McQueen's shock (with the exceptions of "Tokyo Mater", "Unidentified Flying Mater" and "Time Travel Mater"), paradoxically suggesting that Mater's story really happened.

All episodes also feature Mia and Tia and various pit crew forklifts in supporting roles (with the exception of "Time Travel Mater").

''Tales from Radiator Springs''

All Cars Toons in Tales from Radiator Springs follow the daily lives of McQueen, Mater and their friends in their hometown Radiator Springs, following the events of Cars 2.

Voice cast

Main article: List of Cars characters

• Larry the Cable Guy as Mater
• Keith Ferguson (2008–2013) / Owen Wilson (2014) as Lightning McQueen
• George Carlin (2009, archive recordings) / Lloyd Sherr (2013–2014) as Fillmore
• Tony Shalhoub as Luigi
• Guido Quaroni as Guido
• Michael Wallis as Sheriff
• Katherine Helmond as Lizzie
• Lindsey Collins as Mia
• Elissa Knight as Tia
• Jerome Ranft as Red (only in Tales from Radiator Springs)

Production

Production of the series began in 2006 following the success of Cars. The first nine shorts were produced by Pixar, while all the following shorts were produced by Pixar's subsidiary, Pixar Canada.

"Tokyo Mater" premiered in theaters with Bolt on December 12, 2008. The short is the first Disney/Pixar production presented in Disney Digital 3-D. However, it is not featured on the film's home media releases. Sulley and Mike from Monsters, Inc. make cameo appearances in "Tokyo Mater" as their car forms from the credits of the first film.

Release

Merchandise

The Disney·Pixar Cars Die-Cast Line included die-casts of various characters from the shorts, including "Rescue Squad Mater", "Mater the Greater", and "El Materdor", in the toy line.

Video game

A video game based on the series titled Cars Toon: Mater's Tall Tales was developed by Papaya Studio and released on October 19, 2010 for the Wii. A PC version was also released outside the United States and on Steam worldwide in 2014.

Home media

A DVD and Blu-ray compilation of the first nine shorts, titled Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales, was released on November 2, 2010. The compilation includes "Mater the Greater", "Rescue Squad Mater", "Monster Truck Mater", "Unidentified Flying Mater", "El Materdor", "Moon Mater", "Heavy Metal Mater", "Mater Private Eye" and "Tokyo Mater". "Moon Mater" and "Mater Private Eye" debuted in this set.

"Air Mater" and "Time Travel Mater" were released on Pixar Short Films Collection, Volume 2, while the former was also released as a bonus short on home media releases of Cars 2. "Hiccups", "Bugged", and "Spinning" were released on Disney.com and YouTube. "The Radiator Springs 500 ½" was released on Pixar Short Films Collection, Volume 3.

YouTube

Mater's Tall Tales were added to the Disney Jr. YouTube channel from January through August 2024, where they accumulated about 22 million views with the most-watched episodes being "Tokyo Mater" (17M) and "Monster Truck Mater" (5M).

Unreleased short

In addition to "The Radiator Springs 500 ½", which was released in 2014, director Rob Gibbs revealed at the 2013 Disney D23 Expo a fifth Cars Toons: Tales from Radiator Springs episode titled "To Protect and Serve". The short was expected to debut in 2014 on Disney Channel, but it ended up being unreleased for unknown reasons. Despite never being released, it did receive merchandise, including die-cast models and a book. The book contains several images from the short, which confirms that it was completed but, as of now, remains lost media. In the short, Sheriff goes on a mandatory vacation, leaving 2 squad cars in charge. However, the squad cars soon wreak havoc on the town by ticketing everyone for minor offenses.

Short films

''Mater's Tall Tales'' (2008–2012)

• Role: Fire Truck (and briefly Doctor)

• Guest stars: Bret Parker as Ambulance, Laraine Newman as Nurse GTO, Peter Sohn as Panicked Car

• Role: Daredevil

• Guest stars: Jess Harnell as Announcer

• Role: Matador

• Guest stars: Peter Sohn as Padre

• Role: Drift King

• Guest stars: Robert Ito as Ito San, Mach Tony Kobayashi as Kabuto, Jack Angel as Lightning Dragon McQueen Announcer

• Note: Automobile versions of James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. (who also appeared in the credits of the original Cars) appear in the background.

• Role: UFO

• Role: Monster Truck Wrestler

• Guest stars: Danny Mann as Referee/Dr. Frankenwagon, Jan Rabson as I-Screamer/Dr. Feel Bad/Paddy O'Concrete, Jess Harnell as Captain Collision/Announcer/Fan

• Role: Heavy Metal Rock Star

• Guest stars: Paul Eiding as Dex Dinoco, Jess Harnell as Forklift Holding Heavy Metal

• Role: Astronaut

• Guest stars: Teddy Newton as Impala XIII, Josh Cooley as Roger

• Role: Private Investigator

• Guest stars: Carol Bach-y-Rita as Carmen, Torbin Xan Bullock as Big D, Danny Mann as Clyde, Jess Harnell as Claude, John Cygan as Stinky

• Role: Stunt Airplane

• Guest stars: Stacy Keach as Skipper, Danny Mann as Sparky, Jonathan Adams as Judge Davis, Lori Alan as Blue Hawk, John Cygan as Green Hawk, Paul Eiding as Red Hawk, Bob Bergen as Black Hawk

• Role: Time Traveler

• Guest star: John Michael Higgins as Stanley

''Tales from Radiator Springs'' (2013–2014)

• Note: This is the only Cars Toon episode not to feature Lightning McQueen or Mater.

• Note: This is the last Cars Toon episode to feature Keith Ferguson as the voice of Lightning McQueen. August 1, 2014 Disney Channel

• Guest stars: John Cygan as Idle Threat, Jess Harnell as Blue Grit, Danny Mann as Shifty Sidewinder, and Steve Purcell as Sandy Dunes.

• Note: This is the only Cars Toon episode to feature Owen Wilson as the voice of Lightning McQueen.

Characters

''Mater's Tall Tales''

''Tales from Radiator Springs''

• Note: A gray cell indicates the character was not in the episode.

References

References

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9. Bastoli, Mike. (August 13, 2010). "Report: Cars Toons BD/DVD on Nov. 2; no 'Nemo' Blu-ray (2 UPDATES)". Big Screen Animation.
10. Bryko. (August 11, 2013). "D23 Expo Round-Up: 'Toy Story of Terror', New Cars Toons on the Way". Upcoming Pixar.
11. Zahed, Ramin. (September 26, 2008). "Mater Stars in Own Mini-Show on Disney". Animation Magazine.
12. Lesnick, Silas. (December 9, 2008). "Exclusive: First Look at Pixar's Tokyo Mater!". ComingSoon.net.
13. Sciretta, Peter. (November 23, 2009). "New Pixar Cars Short: Unidentified Flying Mater". /Film.
14. Sciretta, Peter. (July 14, 2010). "New Pixar Cars Toon "Monster Truck Mater" Premieres July 30th". /Film.
15. Gallagher, Brian. (October 6, 2010). "Cars Toons Short Heavy Metal Mater Debuts on the Disney Channel". MovieWeb.com.
16. (November 14, 2011). "Interview: Pixar's Rob Gibbs talks about Cars 2 Air Mater short". Live For Films.
17. Weiner, David. (August 17, 2011 }}{{dead link). "ET Exclusive: 'Air Mater' Takes Flight". ET Online.
18. Desowitz, Bill. (November 4, 2011). "Pixar Canada Launches with Air Mater". Animation World Network.
19. "Mater's Tall Tales : Time Travel Mater". Zap2It.
20. (June 6, 2012). "'Time Travel Mater' to Air on Disney Channel This Week Ahead of Disneyland 'Premiere'". Stitch Kingdom.
21. Rizvi, Samad. (March 22, 2013). "Three 'Cars' Shorty Shorts Debut Tonight On Disney Channel". The Pixar Times.
22. Labrecque, Jeff. (March 13, 2014). "Lightning McQueen revs his engine off-road in Pixar's new Radiator Springs short – EXCLUSIVE".
23. McDaniel, Matt. (May 19, 2014). "Disney/Pixar's 'Cars' Roar Back in a New Short". Yahoo!.
24. (August 1, 2014). "Get Your Motor Running: A New Pixar Cars Toon Is Coming to Disney Channel". Disney Insider.
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