Mater and the Ghostlight (2006)

Let's be realistic.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

This DVD extra was directed by John Lasseter. Mater loves to go around Radiator Springs and pull stunts on Lightning McQueen and try to frighten him when it is least expected.The Cars turn the table on Mater by telling him the tale of the Ghostlight, an orb that comes out of the dark which rattles Mater. Later on in the night Mater lets his imagination get the better off him as he fears the Ghostlight is right behind him.For a short the animation is very good, you can see on the screen the care Pixar has taken in how they draw the characters and lit them. Just check out the reflections on the bonnets.

I might have seen this short when renting 'Cars' a few years ago but had forgotten about it. Upon renting the first volume of Pixar shorts on DVD, I watched it to refresh my memory but I didn't find it as engaging as 'Jack Jack Attack,' 'Burn-E' and 'Dug's Special Mission.'Two of the strongest aspects are the song 'Behind the Clouds' that opens and closes the short and the lovely fluorescent-coloured lighting that sufficiently illuminated the dark sky for the most part but some shots are too dark and not detailed enough, especially those when Mater is left alone and is scared of what he thinks is the ghost light. There a a few clichéd moments such as the record scratch when the police car mentions the ghost light, the false alarm situation of Mater thinking the cute lightning bug was the ghost light and a slow-motion scream. The dialogue was a tad simplistic and at one point repetitive, but I liked the upbeat-to-slow country music playing after the generic-sounding scary music. There were also some laugh-out-loud moments such as Mater playing tricks on the other cars and trying to scare them, especially Lightning McQueen hoping Mater wouldn't scare him, the brief appearance of the cow tractors (they made me laugh in the main feature) and Mater not noticing the Screaming Banshee after the opening credits. Overall this is one of the weaker feature-related Pixar shorts but its music is mostly worth a listen and the lighting is on the whole beautiful. 7/10.

Following on from the action in Cars, the town is all being subject to practical jokes from Mater the tow truck. When Lightening learns of the legend of the ghostlight and the fear in puts into everyone (not least Mater), he decides to get a little payback on his friend.Every Pixar DVD contains an extra short film and, in addition to the one often screened before the film proper, it is a nice touch that I genuinely do appreciate – I would like more films to include a short as part of some of their screenings just as a way of improving experience (rather than, say, 30 minutes of trying to sell me things). Generally the quality is high which will come as no surprise to anyone who understands how high the Pixar bar is set. However nobody can hit every time and for me Cars was OK but certainly nothing all that special in terms of the material. This short continues that trend and also focuses on one of the weaker characters in Mater.The material is straightforward and pretty much comes down to a series of comic over-reactions from Mater to a light. And that's about it. For younger viewers it has enough energy and timing to provide plenty of amusement but those looking for the edge of adult wit and comedy beloved of Pixar will find themselves wanting. Overall then what we have is a colourful and amusing DVD extra that will be good enough for children but sadly offer nothing to the wider audience that I'm used to Pixar expertly catering for.

This cartoon features "Mater," the most lovable character in the great animated movie "Cars." This seven-minute comes as a feature in the "Cars" DVD. Actually, all of the characters are in here, but Mater has more "screen time."The story is a simple one of the other cars trying to teach Mater a lesson. In brief, they give him a taste of what he's been dishing out. The buck-toothed tow-truck has been going around scaring everyone with surprise attacks and they are tired of it. So, one night they all gather in a circle and they tell him a story about the dreaded "Gas Light" ghost. After everyone goes home, they sit back as the tow truck gets scared out of his gas line later that night by the "Ghost Light," which is rigged up by the others to scare him. And, if he still didn't get the message, they set him up for another mind game and the cartoon ends with that thought in mind. Overall, it's not really all that funny (except with Mater is shaking in fright) but it's well- crafted and beautiful to watch, like the feature film. It could easily have been a small segment inserted in the film.