Mater (Cars)

Mater
Mater as he appears in the first film
First appearance	Cars (2006)
Created by	John Lasseter
Voiced by	Larry the Cable Guy

Sir Tow Mater or better known as Mater is the deuteragonist in the 2006 animated Pixar film Cars and the main protagonist in its sequel. He is voiced by Larry the Cable Guy, and was inspired by a 1951 International Harvester^[1][2] tow truck but bears more of a resemblance to a 1955–57 Chevrolet or GMC; the actual inspiration may be the 1955–56 version since the hood which Mater recovers at the end of the film after a twenty-year absence lacks the "gunsights" of the 1957 model. Originally portrayed as a sidekick and friend to the film's main protagonist, Lightning McQueen, the popularity of the character eventually made him the central character in Cars spin-off media like the Cars Toons series, the Mater and the Ghostlight short and the Cars Mater-National video game, and one of the two central characters in the film Cars 2. He also appears as the main deuteragonist in other media related to Cars. His name comes from "tomater", a slang term for Tomato.

Development

The original vehicle on which Mater's appearance was based^[3] currently sits at the "Four Women on the Route" diner and souvenir store in Galena, Kansas.^[4]

Characterization

Mater's color was originally baby blue, as shown in a flashback; however, over the years, he has rusted into a patchwork light brown/orange color, with some of the blue still showing through. He is missing his hood and his left headlight^[5] (in the short Mater and the Ghostlight, he trembles so much, his right headlight comes loose). In the credits he managed to fish his hood (which has more of its original color on it than the rest of Mater does) from a cliff up in Tailfin Pass, but then sneezed, causing it to fall back down the cliff. His license plate number is A113; the passenger locomotive which nearly crashes into McQueen before his initial entry into Radiator Springs bears the same number on its identification plates. His final personality was based on his voice actor, Larry the Cable Guy, and he uses many of Larry's catchphrases, including "Git-R-Done" during the final race sequence and "I don't care who you are; that's funny right there" during the tractor tipping scene, among others.

Mater speaks with a thick Southern redneck accent with a dash of hillbilly twang and frequently uses incorrect syntax. Mater is also capable of racing, as well as being the (self-proclaimed) world's best backwards driver. He attributes his skill to his rear-view mirrors and his own philosophy: "Don't need to know where I'm going, just need to know where I've been."

In Cars 2, Mater displays a vast knowledge of automotive parts and engines. He correctly answers a code question concerning the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia asked by British intelligence agent Holley Shiftwell, leading her to mistake him for an American agent she is supposed to meet. Later, when Shiftwell and her partner Finn McMissile show Mater a photograph of a mystery car's engine, he identifies it on sight and points out the spare parts being used to keep it running. His knowledge helps McMissile and Shiftwell capture Sir Miles Axlerod, the main villain of this film.

Appearances

Cars

Main article: Cars (film)

Mater runs "Tow Mater Towing and Salvage." Mater is the first to befriend and support Lightning throughout his adventure in Radiator Springs. During the film, Mater shows Lightning how to do "Tractor-Tippin'" and how to drive backwards without crashing by using rearview mirrors, which Lightning uses to counter Chick Hick's dirty racing in the Piston Cup race. In the end, McQueen gives Mater an opportunity to fly in a Dinoco helicopter like he always wanted, saying to Sally that Mater is his new best friend.

Cars 2

Main article: Cars 2

Mater returns as the main protagonist. In the now popular tourist destination of Radiator Springs, the rusty old tow truck Mater has a number of roles, including proprietor of Tow Mater Towing and Salvage, grand storyteller and the heart and soul of the town. But Mater’s favorite title is best friend to Lightning McQueen. Mater values each and every dent he’s earned on his escapades with Lightning over the years, and anxiously awaits further fun with his friend when Lightning returns with his latest Piston Cup.

Cheerful, honest and loyal to a fault, Mater rushes to his best friend’s defense, which ultimately lands the off-duty Lightning in an international racing exhibition: the World Grand Prix. When Lightning invites Mater to come along as a member of his pit crew, Mater leaves Carburetor County for the first time ever. Not long after their arrival in Tokyo, Mater learns that the world outside of Radiator Springs is decidedly different and its newfangled ways may take some getting used to. But when he’s mistaken for an American secret agent, he falls into an intriguing adventure of his own. Caught between supporting his best friend on a globe-trotting racing competition and his new role in international espionage, Mater ends up in an explosive chase through the streets of Japan, Italy, and England alongside a team of British spies and international bad guys. Holley Shiftwell plays Mater's love interest; Mater is mezmerized by her beauty and falls for her immediately. During his intervention with the agents, Mater accidentally causes a miscommunication that costs McQueen to lose the first race in Japan, resulting McQueen to finally lash out at Mater, telling him that he doesn't want his help anymore and that his antics is the reason why McQueen doesn't take him along to his races. Saddened, Mater decides to return home, only to continue his 'mission' with the British agents.

During the chase, Mater learns of a conspiracy plot of the international bad guys known as the Lemons (led by a wanted weapons designer named Professor Zündapp), who are planning to sabotage the Grand Prix by discrediting the dominating alternative fuel, Allinol, in order to turn all vehicles in the world against alternative energy and rely on gasoline, since they own the largest untapped oil reserves in the world. In order to do so, the Lemon cars activate EMP weapons designed as Prix cameras to ignite the Allinol on every race car, to make it look like the Allinol have caused a crash. As the turfs going in Japan and Italy going well, all of the surviving racecars decide to avoid using Allinol in the final race in England, though Lightning admits that he will still use Allinol, prompting the Lemons to conspire to murder Lightning, much to Mater's shock.

Eventually, Mater and the British agents get captured by the Lemons in Porto Corsa, where the second race has took place. They are then taken to London to witness Lightning's demise. Feeling somewhat remorseful of his antics during the Grand Prix and remembering a comment made by McMissile earlier about being laughed as a fool, Mater finally admits to McMissile and Shiftwell that he's not a secret agent. The Lemons intend to fire their EMP weapons on Lightning, only to find that he has escaped the beams (though it is later revealed that Sarge replaced Lightning's Allinol fuel with Fillmore's organic fuel to prevent the radiation, since he has become skeptical on Allinol after what happened in Japan and Italy). As a backup plan, the Lemons place a bomb on Mater's air filter to kill McQueen, since they know he cares much about him. Mater learns this out after escaping to warn the rest of the pit crew about the conspiracy plot. Eventually, McQueen returns for a pit stop, and is glad to see Mater again, feeling sorry for hurting his feelings, but Mater, unwilling to kill McQueen, tries to drive away, with McQueen in pursuit.

The chase remained until the bomb is out of range from Zündapp's detonator, and at an empty intersection, Mater finally stops and reveals the conspiracy plot to McQueen with the help from McMissile and Shiftwell. After helping Finn McMissile and Holley finish off Professor Zündapp and the rest of the Lemon cars, they tried to diffuse the bomb from Mater's air filter, only to find that the bolts cannot come out and it's voice-activated, and none of the Lemon Cars (not even Zündapp) can deactivate it. It was then Mater realized the true identity of the mastermind of the plot: Miles Axelrod, the car responsible for creating the World Grand Prix and the Allinol. Mater then realized that Axelrod came up with these ideas to give alternative energy a bad name to the world and gave Zündapp and the Lemons to do the tasks, as he secretly hates real alternative energy fuel.

At first, Mater is unable to take action, stating of his foolish personality, but McQueen cheers him up to take a stand to prove his point. Without hesistation, Mater and McQueen race to the Buckingham Palace, where Mater angrily confront Axlerod of the plot, pointing out the bolts in the picture of the unseen mastermind and the leaking oil incident back in the pre-race party in Japan. Axlerod initially attempts to deny this, calling Mater insane and delusional, but upon being threatened of the bomb, he is forced to deactivate it with a voice command to prevent killing himself, thus proving Mater's suspicions correct. Mater also confirms that Axlerod's engine matches the one in the photo, and Axlerod is arrested on the charges of conspiracy to crime, arson, embezzlement, and murder. Amazed that Mater has actually foiled a criminal conspiracy plot, McQueen announces to Mater that he can come to all of his races from now on as much as he likes. Following the arrest of Axerlod and the lemons, as well as an investigation over the Grand Prix and the Allinol, Mater gets knighted by the Queen of England for his actions before returning to Radiator Springs with Lightning and their friends.

At the end of the movie, McMissile and Shiftwell pay a visit to Radiator Springs to personally thank Mater for his help. They also point out during their investigation that Allinol was actually gasoline designed to ignite by EMP beams to discredit real alternative energy, just as Mater earlier suspected. They also wish to pick Mater up for a new mission (citing his superficial charm), to which Mater respectfully declines, stating that Radiator Springs is where he belongs. Understanding Mater's point, Shiftwell promises that she will be back soon after her mission since he still owes her their first date. Finn also allows Mater to keep his own rocket boosters, much to Mater's delight.

Mater and the Ghostlight

Main article: Mater and the Ghostlight

The short film follows Mater's day-to-day activities after things have returned to normal in Radiator Springs. Mater likes to play scary pranks on other characters until a blue light begins haunting him. 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. Mater then jumps off of the roof of Flo's café, screaming behind McQueen, who then is startled and knocks over the pile of cans, revealing that the hook was actually from the sign of Mater's place of business, thus a decoy. Everyone starts to laugh at McQueen for falling such a smart trick, and Mater teases, "Whoa, Buddy. You look like you seen... the Ghostlight!"

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.

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 appears 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, past Frank, then around Willy's Butte, and doing a lock-strafe move after that, until he is exhausted. The Ghostlight however was revealed to be a glowing blue lantern to Mater's towing cable hung up by McQueen and Guido.

The short ends with Mater finally collapsing on the road before finally realizing that it's just a blue lantern. It was then the rest of the folks surround him and laugh at him, revealing the joke as retribution for the pranks he did to them (with his best friend Lightning laughing the loudest and throwing in a "Gotcha!"). 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 does not realize who it is through and warns it of the Screaming Banshee before driving off, bidding the confused Banshee good night.

Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales

Main article: Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales

Mater is the main character in the animated short series, A Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales. Each tale begins with Mater telling a story of something he has done in the past. In the story, Mater finds himself in an inescapable predicament. When McQueen questions Mater over whether the events in the story actually occurred, Mater responds, "Don't you remember? You was there too!", and continues the story including McQueen's sudden participation. The cartoons end with Mater leaving the scene, often followed by characters or references to the story that was being told, putting up a possibility that the story might be real.

Video games

Mater appears in all Cars video games to date. In the sequel video game Cars, Mater is a playable character in both the Arcade Mode and in the "Tractor Tipping" and the "Rustbucket Race-O-Rama" levels, does commentary for the race in "Radiator Springs Grand Prix" and "Radiator Springs GP", and teaches McQueen how to drive backwards in "Mater's Backwards Lesson". Mater is also a playable character in both the Story and Arcade Modes of Cars Mater-National. The Cars Race-O-Rama video game introduces new rivals to Mater: Bubba, Tater and Tater Jr., all of them tow trucks. However, Tater and Tater Jr. later befriend Mater.

In popular culture

• Real life replicas of Mater and Lightning McQueen are shown at Disney's California Adventure at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA and Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot (as plants due to the sequel, Cars 2) of Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, FL. In addition, unofficial replicas have been created by fans of the movie.^[6][7]
• Mater made a cameo appearance in the MAD episode "Trans-Bore-Mores".

References

1. ^ GALENApage^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Route 66 News, November 12, 2006; accessed January 2, 2008
3. ^ Wallis, Michael; Suzanne Fitzgerald Wallis. "The Art of Cars". Chronicle Books. pp. 4. 
4. ^ "Galena celebrates Route 66's 80th Birthday". Wordpress. http://route66tvonline.homestead.com/GALENAPARTYpage.html. Retrieved January 18, 2008. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ In the short "Mater Private Eye", part of Mater's Tall Tales, it is explained some gangster named Clyde popped out Mater's left headlight using a screwdriver.
6. ^ Picable – Photo Page: The Real "Tow Mater"
7. ^ [1]

External links

• Mater at the Internet Movie Database
• IMCDb page of Chevrolet 3800s, which include Mater's appearances.