Cars on the Road

Released on Disney+ September 8, 2022

Episode: 9 Episodes (Around 11-14 minutes each)

Rated TV-G

Lightening McQueen and Mater are back for a cross country road trip to attend Mater’s sister’s wedding. The other residents of Radiator Springs are too, but only for a minute in the first episode. Oh, wait, you didn’t know Mater had a sister? You aren’t alone, none of the characters in the show knew either. Over the course of nine “shorts” Mater and Lightening travel across the country to attend the wedding, make new friends, stay in a haunted motel, search for Bigfoot, watch a circus, fight in a Post post apocalyptic battle, and enjoy an entire episode that is mostly a song about how cool trucks are. Yeah, you read all that right. The original voice cast from the movies are all back, along with plenty of new ones.

There are nine episodes and each one is around 11 to 14 minutes long.

Themes:

Family, competition, wanting what you don’t have, road trips, friendship, trying new things, time with the ones you love is time well spent, trucks, fears, family dysfunction, marriage, weddings, dying (well, almost dying), playing pranks, Bigfoot, B-Movies, supporting your friends, the world beyond your home, and how people are all different.

Language:

If you have seen the three Cars movies there is probably nothing you wouldn’t expect. Words like geez, what the heck, shut the heck up and dag gum. Larry the Cable guy as Mater, it’s the norm for him.

Stuff to be aware of:

This show is pretty kid friendly. There are a few episodes that could be a little scary for younger viewers. Episode 2 has Mater and Lightning staying in a Haunted Motel. There are several “The Shinning” gags that my daughter (10 years old) didn’t get. There are two little twin girl car ghosts, the word Racecar spelt backwards (hilarious), and an elevator that dumps waves of antifreeze out of it. I smiled at all the Shinning gags, but I guess its mostly for adults. In episode 3 Mater almost dies and meets an angel named “The Speed Demon.” She is named this because it’s a slogan the racers in the area have. She is just a shinny car with angel wings. In episode 4 our hero’s act like aliens who have captured Mater to scare some other cars away. There is also a B-Movie in episode 7 that has alien zombies. Most of these things are funny, and my ten and eight year old were not phased, but littles may find it scary.

Overall:

This wasn’t as good as the movies, but it was a fun little bite sized romp into the Cars world that we haven’t been to in a while. My favorite episodes were the Haunted Hotel and B-Movie ones. Larry the Cable Guy and Owen Wilson have a fun chemistry and the writers did a good job keeping the humor from the movies alive. I laughed out loud a few times. If you enjoyed the movies you will like this series.