As he makes his way back to the fold, Larry the Cable Guy looks back on why he is proud of the Cars franchise's success. The stand-up comedian, best known for being part of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour group, stars in the Pixar series as Mater, a kind-hearted tow truck living in the fictional Arizona town of Radiator Springs. Mater has become one of the two main faces of the Cars franchise alongside Owen Wilson's Lightning McQueen, appearing in all three of its movies, as well as getting his own short film and animated short series.
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The Cars franchise marks one of the few to come from Pixar alongside the Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles series. Despite the popularity of the original film, the Cars franchise has a unique distinction amongst its counterparts, earning Pixar's sole "Rotten" critical score on Rotten Tomatoes with 2011's Cars 2 coming in at just 40 percent. For many audiences, however, the Cars franchise has a special place in their hearts, and now one star is looking back on its long-standing success.
While speaking exclusively with Screen Rant for the Disney+ series continuation, Larry the Cable Guy looked back on the Cars franchise's success. The Mater voice actor took pride in looking back on how far the franchise has come, namely with its universal relatability for audiences. See what he shared below:
I love voicing Mater; it's a completely different thing than anything I've ever done. I'm a stand-up comic, obviously, and I've done other projects; done other things. But this whole universe that I'm in is completely different. And it's world-renowned; it's all over the world; it's universal, which is really cool. It's cool to do a project that everybody can enjoy all over the place, and it will always be there. So, when my kids bring their kids to Disney, they're gonna hear my voice. It's just a cool thing. I'm really very blessed to have been able to get this part.
As Larry the Cable Guy indicates, the original Cars movie helped launch a whole universe of titles, not only including the two direct sequels, but also the Dane Cook-led Planes spinoff movies made by Disneytoon Studios. With the latter films scoring generally negative reviews and mediocre box office performances, however, plans for a third Planes movie set in space were scrapped and Disneytoon Studios eventually went defunct. This wouldn't completely deter Pixar, however, as they moved forward with Cars 3, which scored positive reviews for its more melancholic storyline in comparison to its predecessors.
While it could be easy to chalk up the Cars franchise's success to younger audiences, Larry the Cable Guy's feelings of it being universally acceptable is sure to ring true to some. Though many will likely continue to best remember the comedian for his now-defunct comedy troupe, those who grew up with Larry the Cable Guy's voice as Mater are sure to keep passing it down through the generations. Audiences can revisit the first three films and the Cars on the Road series streaming on Disney+ beginning September 8.