My dear husband missed half the NASCAR In-jokes, with the King (Richard Petty), Junior (Earnhart JR), and Darrel Cantrip (Darrell Waltrip). Not to mention several recognizable paintjobs in the race at the beginning, all of them getting passed at high speed.
But as fabulous as the starting race was, the movie shines best when Lighting McQueen (Owen Wilson) gets lost on the way to California and winds up in Radiator Springs. Yes, it's a tale of 'life in the slow lane', and I'm sure there's better reviews on Rotten Tomatos 76% Fresh!.
So, I'm going to talk about what I saw as the high points.
First... the racing. In my family, you came home from church in the summer and fixed dinner as that week's NASCAR race roared on TV. I'm guessing that the Pixar team went to the whole race season to get the feel of it, because it looked and sounded just like a real race, complete with the people in the stands. Bob Costas and Darrell Waltrip were the perfect pair of announcers, taking me back to those wonderful days of watching the race with my family.
The trip out to California after the race (to the tune of "Life is a Highway"), was visually stunning. Pixar took a page from LotR for the scenery, and made it just as fantastic to view. Most amusingly were the mountains around Radiator Springs. 1960 tail fins stuck up into the air as sharp cliff-faces, and the classic fenders of the 1930-40s formed the rounded mountain slopes, complete with jagged front grills. Yet it fit the scene fantastically!
Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) really steals the show as the rusting towtruck. He takes our hero out for a night of fun Tractor Tipping. Yes. Tractor Tipping. Sneak up to it, honk the horn, and watch it wake up so scared it tips itself over backward with a 'moooooooooooo'.
Lighting, being a racecar, has no horn. Instead, he sneaks up to one and revs his engine. The sight of every tractor on the field waking up and tipping over from the rumble-roar of a racing engine revved to high speed is just priceless.
Sarge and Fillmore (Paul Dooley and George Carlin) are neighbors, the Army Jeep with the Surplus Store and the VW bus with the Organic Fuels, both greeting the morning with their favorite music. Sarge plays Revillie (sp), and then shouts at Fillmore to 'turn that crap off' as the VW answers with the 'classic' Hendrick StarSpangled Banner.
Luigi (Tony Shalhoub) is the Italian Fiat who runs the tire center, a huge fan of Formula One, and his partner Guido (?) at the end makes up Lightning's pit crew. 4 tires, 5 seconds... I know NASCAR teams who'd love to have that guy.
There's honestly too many great scenes to mention. The more I think about it, the more I want to say. I'll just end this ramble by stating that Pixar's hit the finish line with a winner, and Rotten Tomatos should have it closer to 90%. Forget taking the kids, do this for yourself.