Time Travel Mater-Time Traveler Mater (2012)

Directed by: Rob Gibbs | 6 minutes | animation, comedy, short film | Original voice cast: Larry the Cable Guy, Keith Ferguson, Katherine Helmond, John Michael Higgins

Time Travel Mater is an episode, the eleventh already, in the Mater’s Tall Tales series, in which the old rusty pickup truck Mater (Takel) from “Cars” brags to his boyfriend Lightning McQueen (Lightning), the latter then – as befits tall tales – does not believe him, but Mater eventually comes up with hard evidence. This animated short is definitely one of the better ones from that series.

In ‘Time Travel Mater’, which is included in the Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 2, and thus appears on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time, we get a real history lesson about Radiator Springs. We see how the village on the famous Route 66 came into being and, as icing on the cake, we witness the budding love between Stanley (only seen as a statue in the ‘Cars’ films) and Lizzie. Lucky Mater learned how to travel through time, otherwise Radiator Springs would never have made it…

‘Time Travel Mater’ has nice jokes (for example in the Tail Light Caverns, the caves, which by the way come from the amusement park Cars Land). The story is very clever, the idea of ​​a car selling radiator caps is funny and the use of color is perfect: even little Cars fans will be able to follow the jump in time thanks to the sepia and black and white tones. If you’re not a fan of the cars from Radiator Springs, these Pixar shorts won’t change your taste, but for anyone who likes to step back into the dusty American landscape for a reunion with some of the characters from ‘Cars’ , ‘Time Travel Mater’ is a must.