Featured image credit: Flickering Myth

Stoked for Cars 3

When I first saw the teaser trailer for Pixar’s Cars 3 I was blown away, as were many of my friends who grew up with Pixar. The realism alone was enough to leave us wide eyed and dry in the mouth from resting our jaws on the floor. We see Lightning McQueen in a mid-air barrel roll in slow motion just before it cuts to black to show the big red emblem with Summer 2017 across it and the phase, “From this moment. Everything will change.”

“What’s going to change? Are they killing off McQueen? Why isn’t it summer 2017 already?!” I was excited.

Selective Parents Claim Cars 3 Trailer Traumatized Their Children

Today, I read an article stating that some parents have started complaining about the “dark tone” of the trailer. Saying that it has been traumatizing their children, and that the subject matter is “too intense.” Digital Spy wrote about this earlier in the week after parents stood on their Twitter soap box in anger of the trailer. One parent actually tweeted, “Don’t watch the Cars teaser with your kids unless you want to have the death conversation you avoid by saying Spot went to a farm.” Another one wrote, “ looks really dark. I’m actually scared.” Scared of what? There are children who grow up watching NASCAR and Formula 1 with real crashes.

WARNING: I may come off as arrogant, rude, ignorant, or just plain mean in this article. I am not trying to offend or stir controversy. Just using my common sense, and ideas, to form an opinion based off my own life experiences which may be different from your own.

I’m sorry, but kids today are tech savvy. I’ve seen toddlers with iPads and using apps more than I do. I highly doubt a 40 second trailer of a CARTOON car accident, which shows a tire blowing out and just the profile of a car in the air, will traumatize a child’s mind. I think that word is being misused in this context. Like saying a knock-knock joke is hilarious, or using the word “amazing” to describe a fast food item. Using top shelf words for bottom cabinet situations.

Maybe young children, who know the series, will ask questions with concern. As well they should, because even young adults are asking questions and making predictions. If a child was frighten by the trailer, my sincerest apologies when I say – okay, and? That is part of being a kid. Getting scared, asking questions, and learning the facts of life is childhood in a nutshell.

Using the word “traumatized” for a Pixar teaser trailer is just an incorrect use of the word. Traumatized is defined as, “subject to lasting shock as a result of an emotionally disturbing experience or physical injury.” Its a word reserved for much more serious tragedies than a teaser trailer for a movie that will most likely be rated G.

When parents were outraged over the movie Deadpool at least that had some logic to it. Parents were upset about the movie’s R rated content, but only because many children are going through a superhero phase thanks to Marvel (owned by Disney) and DC pumping out TV shows and movies on a media assembly line. Parents didn’t want to bother with the whole, “You’re not old enough to see this movie. Why? Because I said so.” Argument. Fair enough, I suppose… But this isn’t a rated R film based on a mature graphic comic book series, this is Pixar.

What amazes me is the “dark tone” argument. Do these selective parents remember the Disney films they grew up with? Off the top of my head I will list Disney, and Pixar, movies with dark subject matter. Ready:

  • Pixar’s Up – Main character’s wife dies.
  • The Lion King – Main character’s father dies by his uncle’s hand. Uncle is also eaten alive.
  • Pixar’s Finding Nemo – Main character’s wife, and 99% of his children, are killed and eaten.
  • Beauty and the Beast – Main villain is killed while trying to murder the main character.
  • Snow White – Main character is poisoned, and main villain is killed.
  • Cinderella – Child labor and abuse.
  • Bambi – Main character’s mother is killed.
  • Dumbo – Main character gets taken away from his mother, and gets drunk.

To name a few.

I am not a parent, so it’s easy for people to come back with, “You don’t understand!” I’m not saying parents are wrong from trying to protect their children’s innocence, especially in today’s wacko world, but we have to stop overacting to things that are not significant, like movies. I think its odd that parents demand film studios to edit their content, why should they? If you don’t want your child to see something, don’t let them. If you hate the idea of doing that because you know they are going to scream, cry, and break stuff, then the issue isn’t with the people making these films. Keep in mind that the animators at Pixar have families too and I bet if Cars 3 was the gritty horror film these parents made it seem they would have given us a warning first.

Cars 3 Prediction

I can’t wait for Cars 3. I’d like to cast in my guess prediction of the movie right now. I think McQueen will be up against new-age race cars running on electric or hybrid fuel sources. McQueen’s accident will mirror Doc Hudson’s and it will be like a Days of Thunder Pixar spoof. But we won’t know until later on, till then I’m going to enjoy the mystery.

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