After the release of Cars in 2006, Pixar has been releasing shorts set in the Cars universe, entitled Mater’s Tall Tales. Each story revolves around Mater telling what is seemingly a tall tale about himself. On Friday, July 30, a new “Cars Toon” is set to premiere on the Disney Channel, “Monster Truck Mater”. This is now the sixth episode in the Mater’s Tall Tales series, following such episodes as “Unidentified Flying Mater”, and “El Materdor”. The official description for the episode follows:
Mater is a professional wrestler who works his way up the ranks from amateur to World Champion Monster Truck Wrestler, wrestling all kinds of characters along the way. When faced with his biggest opponent yet, Mater tags in his “tag team partner,” Frightening McMean.
Upcoming Pixar recently conducted an exclusive interview with the co-director of the short, Rob Gibbs. You can find the transcript to that here.
The “Cars Toons” were Pixar’s first venture into television (not counting the numerous commercials they animated). They were also the first shorts utilizing characters from one of their films. Pixar looks to continue that tradition with the previously announced brand new Toy Story short that will accompany Cars 2 in theaters in 2011. That’s right. While the storyline to the Toy Story feature films may have come to an end, we will be treated to at least one more trip with Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang. In all likelihood, shorts will be the new medium for fans to enjoy some more Toy Story.
The success of the “Cars Toons” helped pave the way for the use of previous Pixar characters in new shorts. Now, maybe we’ll see the return of other Pixar characters in the future? With the opening of a new Pixar branch in Vancouver, Pixar Canada, it may just give them enough manpower to do so.
The brand new 5-minute short, Mater’s Tall Tales: Monster Truck Mater, premieres on the Disney Channel on Friday, July 30 at 9:30 PM E/P.
