Often, though becoming less frequent, a Disney film is mentioned to me that I have not seen.  When I admit to my not having viewed it, the shock it produces would make you think that I said that I had been born with twelve legs, or fill in your own fantastical statement.  How have you not seen Cars (2006)?!  This was said to me as the YouTube channel that I do with my buddy Isaac, called Oh Man Disney, spent a week at Disneyland in California.  One of the premier rides at the Disney California Adventure Park is based on this movie.  It has its own land to go with it, modeled after the backwater Route 66 town called Radiator Springs in which much of the film is set.  To quell their ire, I said I would watch it, so here you go.  Their confusion over not having already done so is matched by my own over what takes place in it, and why people like it.

It is the final race of the Piston Cup that we see the first Cars taking part in during the opening scene.  There are cars on the track, cars in the stands, and cars in pit row.  Basically, cars are people.  It makes no sense, but you are just going to have to go with it.  There are only three participants on which you need to focus.  There is the veteran Strip “The King” Weathers (voiced by Richard Petty); the perpetually second, and not happy about it, Chick Hicks (voiced by Michael Keaton); and the brash and cocky rookie, Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson).  Lightning is our star, and he snubs his pit crew’s advice of changing out tires, to their disgust, in favor of widening his lead and thus taking home the trophy.  This decision proves costly as his tires give out as he is nearing the finish line, allowing the other two to draw even.  As Lightning limps to the end, the others cross the checkered line at the same time, triggering a final, winner-take-all race to be held in five days in California.  Everyone is eager to get to this destination, Lightning particularly so because he believes it will help him woo the coveted Dinoco sponsorship, allowing him to drop the well-meaning but burdensome Rust-eze company.  Thus, Lightning brusquely leaves an appearance for Rust-eze so that he and his trailer, Mack (voiced by John Ratzenberger), can get on the road.  In turn, Lightning pushes Mack to keep driving despite the semi’s evident fatigue.  This leads to Mack dozing off a bit, which is taken advantage of by a pack of young modified cars looking to make trouble.  In the resulting chaos, the door to the trailer pops open and Lightning is spilled onto the interstate.  Startled, he dodges a few other cars before realizing he is being left behind.  He then spots what he thinks is Mack, and follows the taillights for a while down a side road before Lightning realizes that it is not his trailer.  Lightning then wanders into the nearly deserted Radiator Springs, and is startled by the dilapidated tow truck Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy).  Now in a frenzy to get back to the interstate, Lightning contrives to wreck the one road going through Radiator Springs before being apprehended by the Sheriff (voiced Michael Wallis).  The next morning, Lightning is brought before Doc Hudson (voiced by Paul Newman).  Doc wants to immediately throw the annoying race car out of town, which is fine by Lightning, who is willing to do whatever to make it out of there and to California.  This is about to happen until Sally Carrera (voiced by Bonnie Hunt) intervenes.  She cites the damage done by Lightning and advocates that he be kept there to fix the road before he can be allowed to leave.  This involves dragging a heavy paving machine across the chewed-up concrete, which he sees as beneath him.  Yet, when he tries to escape at his first opportunity, he quickly finds that he has not been given the gas to make it far.  I do not know how he is still alive after this, but I digress.  Because he is stuck in Radiator Springs, he decides to start making friends, something we have previously seen him decidedly without but wanting to have them.  The first is Mater, whose *ahem* innocence leads him to ignore Lightning’s rebuffs.  The other is Sally.  She is not impressed with the hotrod, though when she sees him complete the road, her mind starts to change.  The tougher one to impress is Doc.  When Lightning first complains about having to pave the road, Doc challenges Lightning to a race, saying that if the younger car wins he can leave.  However, Lightning is not prepared for the dirt course and flies off the track after the first turn.  Later, Lightning discovers that Doc had been the Hudson Hornet, a former three-time Piston Cup winner.  Lightning is impressed, but Doc is bitter about racing because the circuit had unfairly blamed him for causing a wreck.  So committed is Doc to keeping his competitive past a secret that he alerts the media to Lightning’s presence in Radiator Springs directly after the newer race car had brought some life back to the town, and he and Sally were beginning to get familiar.  When the press and all their cameras show up, along with Mack, Lightning is whisked away to California.  While he seems poised to finally achieve his lifelong dream, he cannot shake visions of Radiator Springs.  As such, he is performing poorly until the denizens of Radiator Springs arrive to be his pit crew.  Thus buoyed, Lightning is about to win when he sees how Chick Hicks had caused The King to wreck.  Instead of finishing the race, Lightning goes to the injured veteran and helps him finish.  Nobody is happy with Chick Hicks, but they are thrilled by Lightning’s sportsmanship.  With this, he is able to convince his new team to relocate to Radiator Springs, and all the vehicles lives happy ever.

Cars produces more questions than answers, but I will not cover them in any detail.  Of course, anthropomorphic vehicles are not new.  Suffice to say, a world where cars are basically stand-ins for people simply does not work.  Still, it is not fair to end the conversation on such a note.  My Catholic sensibilities were piqued when Sally takes Lightning for a ride as part of their courtship, for lack of a better work.  This is a new sensation for the racer, who is used to going as fast as he can in the pursuit of one goal, that being winning.  She takes him up to a rocky outcrop overlooking Radiator Springs, and for the first time Lightning begins to notice things past which he had previously zoomed.  This is as fitting a metaphor as any in the way we should approach our relationship with God.  Many want what they want right away, and question the veracity of any experience if they are not instantly gratified.  Faith can be an instantaneous reward.  Christian history is full of examples of people praying for something in the moment and having that prayer immediately answered.  More often, though, it seems that God takes the long view of your life.  The important thing to remember is that He always has your best interests in mind.  It is hard to see this in the here and now, which is what Lightning has trouble accepting while having to endure Radiator Springs.  To not have such difficulties requires slowing down and taking the time to understand that to which God is drawing us.  It can make a world of difference as we see for Lightning.

Not only did I not get the logic behind Cars, I also found it boring.  Then again, this is not a movie aimed at my demographic.  Still, I do not get why so many Disney fans, my friends included, think of it as a must see.  I may be mostly unfazed Disney, but I do not view this film as being materially different than anything else produced by the Mouse.  But, hey, if you want to put it in front of your eye-balls, knock yourself out.