Cars 3 (2017)
A sequel to Cars 2.
Intro song (“Run That Race”). Five years after competing in the World Grand Prix, Lightning McQueen, now a seven-time Piston Cup champion, and his contemporaries Bobby Swift and Cal Weathers (sponsored by Dinoco), find themselves overshadowed by Jackson Storm, a rookie who is part of a new generation of racers who use the latest technology to improve their performance. As Storm's success progresses throughout the season and attracts other rookies, most of the veterans either retire or are dismissed by their sponsors. In the final race of the season at Los Angeles, Lightning starts falling behind Storm after both of them pitted. He tries to keep up, but in doing so blows a tire and suffers a violent crash, leaving him badly injured and ending his worst season on record prematurely, while Storm goes on to win the Piston Cup.
Four months later, Lightning, who has since recovered from his crash, decides that he will continue racing and calls his sponsors, Rusty and Dusty Rust-eze, who have Lightning come train at the Rust-eze Racing Center (“Kings Highway”). Upon arriving, Rusty and Dusty reveal they have sold Rust-eze to a businessman named Sterling. Sterling assigns Lightning to train under Cruz Ramirez, where he struggles to adapt to the modern training methods. After Lightning accidentally damages the multi-million dollar racing simulator (the XDL 24-GTS Mark Z), Sterling tries to force him to retire. Adamant that he can still race, Lightning instead offers that if he wins the upcoming Florida 500, he can decide if he wants to keep racing; otherwise he will retire immediately. Sterling reluctantly accepts the deal.
Cruz's unconventional training methods and lack of racing experience frustrate Lightning, as they race in Fireball Beach and a figure-8-style demolition derby Thunder Hollow against multiple racers and the Diva of Demolition, Miss Fritter, which Cruz ends up winning through luck (“Thunder Hollow Breakdown”). Lightning rages at her and accidentally breaks her trophy. An upset Cruz reveals that she had always wanted to be a racer but never started a race, so she resigns as Lightning's trainer and heads back to the training center. Feeling guilty and with no other options, Lightning calls his friend Mater for advice, who suggests that Lightning track down Doc Hudson's mentor Smokey in his hometown of Thomasville, Georgia, so Lightning catches up to Cruz and convinces her to rejoin him. In Thomasville at the Thomasville Speedway, they meet up with Smokey (“Glory Days”), who reveals that even though Doc never raced again, he found new happiness in training Lightning. After Lightning accepts that he will never be as fast as Storm, Smokey and Doc's old friends, Louise "Barnstormer" Nash, River Scott, and Junior "Midnight" Moon, help him learn new tricks to overcome his speed disadvantage, using Cruz as his sparring partner. However, during the final practice race, Cruz suddenly overtakes him and he suffers a flashback to his crash, shaking his confidence.
At the Florida 500, Lightning starts at the back, but with assistance from Smokey in the pits, manages to gradually push up the ranks. Sterling, who still believes Lightning cannot win, orders Cruz back to the training center to prepare a rookie for the following race, despite her wanting to stay and watch the race. Overhearing the exchange and remembering Cruz's dream of racing, Lightning avoids a massive multi-car pile-up and has his crew outfit her to take his place in the race, believing she is the key to defeating Storm. While shaky at first, Cruz is able to push up the ranks, thanks to Lightning coaching her from the pits, and eventually ends up right behind Storm. Feeling threatened, Storm tries to intimidate Cruz, even to the point of ramming her against the wall in the final lap. Using one of Doc's old moves, Cruz flips over Storm, overtaking him and winning the race.
As Cruz celebrates her victory, Sterling offers her a role on his team, but she instead takes a counteroffer from Dinoco's owner Tex Dinoco. Since Lightning and Cruz were both wearing #95, both have won the race, meaning that Lightning gets to decide if he is done racing. Returning to Radiator Springs, Lightning reveals that Tex has bought Rust-eze from Sterling. Now decked in Doc's old racing colors, Lightning decides to continue racing, but trains Cruz first for the season (“Ride”).
TRIVIA
This film has an emphasis on the roots of NASCAR and the early days of it, how it started on dirt tracks and back roads with people. Part of how racing got started in the South was because of bootleggers who smuggled moonshine from the rural areas into the city. These bootleggers were the drivers who were essentially racing for their lives because if they got caught, they would go to jail. The filmmakers consulted Jeff Gordon, a four-time NASCAR champion, and Ray Evernham, who served as Gordon’s crew chief.
Visual Style
Junior Moon, a ’40 Ford which was a moonshine-runner kind of car, is based on Junior Johnson, an all-time moonshiner and NASCAR driver.
Smokey is based on Smokey Yunick, a World War II flight engineer who became a car mechanic.
River is based on African-American NASCAR driver Wendell Scott.
Luise is based on Louise Smith, an early female NASCAR driver.
The Rust-eze Training Center was inspired by boutique manufacturers in Europe.
The Cars series focuses on being more photorealistic and based on the ideas of hyperreal, art directed realism, and believability. It is still stylized to accommodate its car-sized populations.
Technology
The production utilized a new rendering mode, Rix Integration Subsystem (RIS), which made scenes like the demolition derby race possible. In previous Pixar films, the animators had to do the animation first before the rendering, but RIS allowed animation and rendering to take place simultaneously in a process called "hardware shading", making it much easier for the animators to see what a completed scene would look like when finished.
Easter Egg(s)
Chick Hicks, one of Lightning’s former rivals during Cars, is now the host of Chick’s Picks a commentator show on the Racing Sports Network.
A 2022 Pixar short series Cars on the Road is set after the events of Cars 3 and follows Lightning and Mater as they embark on a road trip to attend the wedding of Mater’s sister.