Welcome back, we’re live at the DoubleMule News Center, which feeds on… uh, grass, mostly. Which is while we will begin by saying Cars 2 is not officially a Pixar title. Not yet. Though apparently Toy Story 3 is in the bin, and rumors of Cars 2 have surfaced more than once.
Paul Newman was selective in his later years, and power to him – it’s been a long while, and the mules are not quote horses, but Newman once interviewed to the effect he preferred not to go out (of movies) on his knees. Sean Connery supposedly only takes voice-over roles these days, and Newman’s last performance was similar, voicing “Doc” Hudson in Cars (2006).
It was arguably Disney-Pixar’s best supporting role in recent times, and they flatly excel in supporting roles – summed with the other non-Lightning cast members, Newman’s presence threatened to make the movie an ensemble without a star. We’ll ignore the stiffly-delivered NASCAR and racing legend cameos.
Aside from a few cherry-picked but familiar roles, aka Oscar fodder, Newman’s previous thirty years never got back the the sting of his work in the 60′s and early 70s. Then again, “PL” was busy thereafter making a quarter-billion in charitable contributions with his “Newman’s Own” product line, and while mules aren’t big on most such fare, the ceasar dressing adds some kick to alfalfa.
Newman also put a good deal of energy into a stage production, Our Town, which was a featured song of the same name in Cars and overall shared a number of themes. Hard to imagine coincidence alone at work there. His performance in Cars, or so mules with “again, again!” foals have reported, was the centerpiece of what was, though nobody admits it, one of the best (computer) animated movies of all time.
The crucial element of Newman’s final film was the simplicity and childishness of the plot, to which he magically brought nuance in the clunky form of a 1952 Hudson Hornet. He was nobody’s fool, on the road to perdition, and combined sport with proxy, all with the sap required of a kid movie.
It was a more successful reprise of the mentor and “torch passing” role that failed in The Color of Money, and with nothing more than a set of two-dimensional blue eyes, Cars was able to capture the essence of a great actor – without the insulting physicality that marred lucrative but damaging curtain calls for Rocky Balboa or Indiana Jones.
Cars 2, if it was in the works, should remain a dream. Put it away Pixar. The Fabulous Hudson Hornet has finished his last race, and a long and laudable string of quality preceded the finale. In Cars, what should have appeared embarrassing and shallow on script, Newman elevated into a gruffly-delivered summary of his life’s work.
It should be allowed to stand alone, unattached to inferior sequels.
