#Blog, my Analysis of the new Cars 3 trailer

Warning: hella long read if you want to go through it all. TL/DR: Watch the trailer

Here’s the FB video I used to reference everything if you want to follow along exactly: https://www.facebook.com/ign/videos/10154256875781633/

Youtube if you rather prefer that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4K7JgPJ8-s

So I was looking online for any good analysis on the Cars 3 trailer but I haven’t found much so I decided to do my own from a car guy perspective. I split my analysis up scene-by-scene split up by the immediate cutoffs in between each part.

First scene:

Right here you can see the new generation (right) of stock car compared to the old (left). The right has a more GT car-like feel with a bit of Hofmeister kink and boxy, widebody-like proportions but with the front still bulging in front to retain a muscle car feel; this is pretty reminiscent of modern day American muscle/sports cars (Mustang, Camaro) while the left is pretty much 2007 NASCAR generation; a little narrower and now look very outdated compared to the new breed of stock car. It’s important to remember that cars are people in this world, so unlike real world racing where teams can replace cars, cars here can only modify themselves and compete for as long as possible until they get too old to race (much like the professional sports world).

Second scene:

First thing I notice off the bat is the difference of body shape of the cars. The left appears to be a circa-2006 stock car while the right car is a little more modern, has chiseled sides with a defined character line running along the side, appears to be circa-2013 Dodge Charger-esque stock car. I love how the Charger is just effortlessly pulling ahead of the 2006 car, emphasizing the age difference between the two cars and its effect (new one is faster, duh). Also, notice the amount of detail in the damage. You can see how the sides of both cars have cosmetic damage on the side, as expected from all the pack racing that occurs in real life NASCAR.
Also, it’s the first hint that we see Pixar daring to show some more mature themes. This kinda cosmetic damage are like insignificant scrapes or bruises for an athlete. No animated movie should have any business in showing that kind of detail to little kids, so showing this detail is a hint to the more mature atmosphere in the movie.

Third Scene

Again, the amount of detail is amazing. The lighting detail on the catch fence and little things like the debris on the concrete barrier just make it way more realistic and contribute to the gritty theme of the trailer.

Fourth Scene

You can see the different varieties of cars. On second thought, the NEW stock cars don’t seem like stock cars as much as Endurance GT cars. For now, I’ll assume that they are the new generation of NASCAR but you never know, maybe some Endurance racers decided to try NASCAR for a change.

Fifth Scene

Here you can really get a good appreciation for the effort Pixar put into the details. The track has very subtle tire and burn marks, the lighting is hazy, almost like the race is taking place in the smoke of a fire, which contributes to the tense, gritty atmosphere. Also, the detail and shading on the cars; the car to the right has a bit of browning going on at the bottom of the rear bumper, which is either shading or possibly wear from the racing.

Sixth Scene

Now this is where it gets REALLY good! We can CLEARLY see the new generation of NASCAR and the old generation. The new car has a wispy, almost Indycar-esque rear wing along with that boxy, widebody proportions and the modern tail lights. We can also clearly hear in the background the whir of an electric motor.

Seventh Scene:

Lightning McQueen is leading the pack out front but notice that the other cars are hot behind his tail, second place even appears to be drafting him, waiting to slingshot on the next straight. Oh by the way, why is there a blue Lightning clone in 3rd place?

Eighth Scene:

The detail here is again, insane. The texturing of the track, the detail and shininess of the grass, it’s all there. Also, the sweltering sun beating down on the racers like smoke from the cigar of an Italian gang boss overwhelming the air space of the back room where a wrestler is forced to agree to lose the next round or his head. It already knows what’s going to happen, and it’s not going to be anything good.

Ninth Scene:

The mainstream Hollywood media and Pixar won’t confirm it, but I will, it’s Jackson Storm, the new “rookie” in town. The weirdest thing is that he’s either an electric or hybrid car judging from the sound. I’m betting the former because I assume Pixar wants to keep with the “eco car” thing going on from Cars 2 and to introduce new tech; what better way to do that than with an electric racecar?

Tenth Scene:

Look at Jackson Storm just hauling the old gen cars with his badass electric torque, also a sign of that he is definitely the new hotshot rookie. From here, you can see Jackson’s features. He’s a new gen NASCAR but he’s electric. Also note the blue highlights, they pop out like Tron lights, also indicative of the futuristic nature of the character. Also note the super thin tail lights and aero.

Also worth noting, check Jackson Storm out from here in the thumbnail for the OFFICIAL US teaser on Youtube. 99.86239% (just a bonus trivia thing, what do the numbers after the decimal point represent? Hint: Read the numbers in Japanese) sure that’s Jackson Storm judging from the futuristic headlights and color. Also, his face is just like Lightnings except Jackson is more serious. Welp, there ya go, that’s Jackson Storm before they reveal him. You heard it here first ya hear?

Eleventh Scene:

Here we can see and hear how tired McQueen is. Visually, he’s beat, debris and cosmetic damage everywhere, probably from trying to push his way through the packs to keep up. Also, a nice little touch, looks like he kept his legit tail lights from the World Grand Prix judging from the way light reflects from it.

From here, just about when he’s about to lose traction, his rear right tire is about to explode (which is what side tire blew in the opening race in the first Cars movie, ironically). Also note the lack of emphasis on the side pipes; in the first movie, the lighting was emphasized on the side pipes because those were partly what gave Lightning his appeal, all the girl cars fell for that side pipe exhaust sound. But now, those side pipes are just a relic from Lightning’s glory days.

Here, just before the traumatic crash, we can see Lightning’s current style. He went back to his old Cars 1 body style with the NASCAR spoiler but he’s retained the WGP livery with the lightning transitioning into flames.

Here, with Lightning busy crashing into the guardrail, we can speculate why Lightning crashed, here’s my theory. When we first saw Lightning, he was just barely holding onto the lead. My theory is that these 3 cars passed him and Lightning got desperate. In the struggle to regain the lead, Lightning probably reverted to his bad tactic/habit of not changing the tires to save time. In doing so, the right rear blew and well… see the next slide.

Oh snap, metal sparks are flying (awesome job on part of the animators BTW for getting that detail) everything is slow mo. Lightning is heavily breathing in the background, struggling for air…

Smoke is pouring out of the engine bay and wheel wells, Lightning’s breathing is slowing down, crap. His rear spoiler is violently ripped off but not quite, his side pipes are bent and dislodged, his eyes are closed, he’s probably unconscious, pure chaos.

The right rear tire is definitely blown, that’s the root cause of the crash, and more parts continue to fly through the air, coming from behind our point of view. Lightning’s old habits got the best of him, and by now, all the other racecars have left Lightning and no other car can be seen from our point of view. No one is there to pick him up again like he did for Strip Weathers “The King” in 2006.

All I can say now is, expect a horrific wreck like that of Doc or the King. Lightning definitely survives (the whole plot revolves around him trying to deal with racing against all these younger, faster racecars, which is a rather interesting concept for a kids’ movie to talk about, but that’s a topic for discussion for another time)

Ending:

Right in the CHILDHOOD! This is a rather dark proposition but is definitely good marketing. Lightning will have to deal with now being the old(er) veteran on the track, he is no longer the hotshot rookie everyone is talking about. So everything will change I guess. But Lightning WILL NOT DIE, specifically in this scene if anything

HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE

That was my first analysis of a movie trailer and hopefully I’ll do more in the future on car-related films but that’s the start. I’m trying to expand outside of my AE86 build since it’s very difficult to get time in to work on it since I’m in colloege (finals in two weeks, then I’ll be back to work on the AE86, until then, I’ll try to broaden my horizons and give you guys my take on stuff going on in the car world :)