Wow. Uh…I never really thought that this day would come. Could it be…that I’m actually excited for Cars 3?
Yep, the third film in a not-so-loved franchise from the typically top-mark Pixar Animation Studios is now a movie that I’m…well, I won’t say “excited for,” but I will say that I now have a genuine interest in.
Why is that? Well, that’s because the studio has dropped its first teaser for the film today.
Before we get into the minutia of this teaser and what it means for the movie itself, I’ll give you guys a minute just to experience that teaser:
Quite different from what you guys were expecting, right?
Where we could have gotten a typical music-filled, colorfully buoyant teaser for a movie that not very many people are looking forward too, what we get instead is a dark, gritty, and overall somber look at what appears to be Lightning McQueen’s final moments as a racing champion. This is cleverly lamp-shaded by a line of dialogue from a race commentator: “McQueen is fading! Fading fast!” This is right before we see McQueen swerve out into a brutal car crash.
In a rarity for animated trailers, I was (and still am) genuinely conflicted about how I feel about this trailer in relation to the past two films in the Cars franchise. As it stands, only one arguably decent movie was made (Cars), while the rest were just garbage (Cars 2, Planes movies). So the existence of a Cars 3 only annoyed me a little. But that was only because it didn’t even have my curiosity. But now, I have to admit that it does have my attention (to some degree).
Mind you, Pixar wouldn’t be the first studio to drop a teaser that skewed older than teasers for other animated features. Think back to when How to Train Your Dragon 2‘s first teaser trailer dropped:
At the time, there was nothing else quite like it for teaser trailers to animated movies. Only difference here is that for How to Train Your Dragon 2, everyone lost their minds in complete agreement that it was the most awesome teaser for an animated movie ever, while Cars 3 is being met with wildly differing opinions across the board.
Like I said, the teaser trailer has my attention. But if it’s indicative at all of the general tone and direction of the film itself, than Cars 3 now has my full, undivided attention!
The film is being directed by Brian Fee from a screenplay by Robert L. Baird and Daniel Gerson (in what will be his final, credited screenplay). Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, and Cheech Marin will reprise their roles as Lightning McQueen, Mater, Sally Carrera, and Ramone.
Cars 3 races into theaters on June 16, 2017.
What do you think? What is your reaction to this surprisingly dark teaser for Cars 3?
Edited by: Hannah Wilkes
