Mater and the Ghostlight
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| Mater and the Ghostlight | |
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 A DVD screenshot of the Title |
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| Directed by | John Lasseter Dan Scanlon |
| Produced by | Mark Nielsen |
| Starring | Larry the Cable Guy Owen Wilson Bonnie Hunt Paul Newman Michael Wallis Paul Dooley George Carlin Jenifer Lewis Tony Shalhoub Guido Quaroni Joe Ranft Katherine Helmond John Ratzenberger |
| Music by | Bruno Coon Brad Paisley (Behind the Clouds) |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 2006 |
| Running time | 7 minutes 58 seconds |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Mater and the Ghostlight is a 2006 Pixar computer animated short created for the DVD of Cars, which was released on October 25, 2006 in Australia and in the United States on November 7, 2006. It is about a mysterious blue light haunting Larry the Cable Guy's character, Mater. As it shows a brand new story using characters from previous films, it is similar to Mike's New Car (with characters from Monsters, Inc.) and Jack-Jack Attack (with characters from The Incredibles).
[edit] Synopsis
This short is based on the day to day shenanigans of Mater after the story shown in the feature film, once life has returned to normal in Radiator Springs. It is Lightning McQueen's very first Radiator Springs adventure since he decided to stay in the sleepy town.
The short film starts with Mater playing pranks on the other residents of the sleepy town on Route 66, such as
- pulling some flowers out from underneath Red as he waters them,
- jumping out of Luigi and Guido's carefully stacked tire replica of the Coliseum to frighten them (causing them both to faint and tip over),
- frightening Sally by appearing as a "traffic cone vampire" in her office window,
- attempting to wake Lizzie from her afternoon slumber (the single prank that fails), and
- confusing Fillmore by replacing his organic fuel cans as he stores them.
His final prank is his most successful: Lightning McQueen sees a tow hook hanging from behind a stack of cans and, assuming that Mater is hiding behind it, approaches to foil the prank (saying "I sure hope Mater isn't waiting anywhere to scare me, because I'll freak out"). Mater then jumps off of the roof of Flo's café, screaming. McQueen is startled and knocks over the pile of cans, revealing that the hook was actually from the sign of Mater's place of business. The startle caused the others to laugh. Doc says, "If only you moved that fast on the racetrack." Mater teases, "You look like you seen the Ghostlight!"
Mater's day then takes a turn for the worse, as Sheriff admonishes him for "mocking the Ghostlight," a character of urban legend amongst the cars. The Ghostlight is described as a "glowing orb of blue, translucent light" that haunts Radiator Springs, and hates nothing more than the sound of clanking metal - a sound frequently made by Mater's rickety shell. Sheriff continues to tell the story of a young couple lost in the area, whose only remains were "two out of state license plates." He then concludes with an overly cheerful "Well, g'night". The population of Radiator Springs then leaves within seconds, leaving a very nervous Mater by himself.
Mater drives home, looking about him for the ghostlight. As he reaches his garage he is first frightened by a "lightning bug" (a tiny flying Volkswagen Beetle with bright headlights). As he relaxes a bright blue glow suddenly appear behind him and he goes into a blind panic, driving around in a frenzy, first going along the main road, then going through the tractor field (unintentionally engaging in tractor tipping), past Frank, then around Willy's Butte, and doing a lock-strafe move after that, until exhaustion. The "Ghostlight" however was McQueen and Guido who hung a glowing blue lantern to Mater's towing cable.
The short ends with Mater finally collapsing on the road with the rest of the folks surrounding him, revealing the joke. Sheriff tells him that the only thing to be afraid of on Route 66 is "your imagination." Doc Hudson adds, "Yep. That, and of course, the Screamin' Banshee. Well G'night." The cars once again disappear in seconds, shutting off the streetlights and leaving Mater all alone on the road outside of town. "The... screamin' what??", Mater whimpers and starts trembling again.
The credits roll, and after them there is a closing shot where the frightened Mater finds he has a huge construction vehicle behind him, snarling and carrying the license plate "Banshee". Mater doesn't realise who it is though and warns it of the Screaming Banshee before driving off, bidding the bewildered Banshee good night. The bewildered Banshee exclaims, "Huh?"
[edit] Voice cast
[edit] Trivia
- In the film Cars, when Lightning was found by the reporters, helicopters, and Mack, Mater was shocked at the helicopter light and said, "Oh no! It's the Ghostlight!"
- This is the fourth Pixar short to include dialogue; the first 3 were Boundin',Mike's New Car, Jack-Jack Attack.
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