Mater and the Ghostlight (2006) (V)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Directors:

John Lasseter
Dan Scanlon (co-director)

Writers:

Joe Ranft (original story) &
John Lasseter (original story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

25 October 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Family

Plot:

In this short featuring the characters of the movie Cars, Mater is told the story of a Ghostlight, which causes him to be scared. |

Plot Keywords:

Folk Tale | Campfire Story | Route 66 | Surrealism | Practical Joke

Cast

Larry The Cable Guy	...	Tow Mater (voice)
Owen Wilson	...	Lightning McQueen (voice)
Michael Wallis	...	Sheriff (voice)
Bonnie Hunt	...	Sally Carrera (voice)
Paul Newman	...	Doc Hudson (voice)
Cheech Marin	...	Ramone (voice)
Paul Dooley	...	Sarge (voice)

Directed by
John Lasseter
Dan Scanlon		(co-director)

Writing credits
Joe Ranft		(original story) &
John Lasseter		(original story) &
Dan Scanlon		(original story)

Produced by
Darla K. Anderson	....	executive producer
Mark Nielsen	....	producer

Original Music by
Bruno Coon

Film Editing by
Torbin Xan Bullock

Production Design by
William Cone
Bob Pauley

Production Management
Paul Cichocki	....	post-production supervisor
Joshua Hollander	....	unit production manager

Art Department
Neil Blevins	....	set artist
Craig Foster	....	graphic designer
Christina Garcia	....	set artist
Tia W. Kratter	....	shading art director
Dominique Louis	....	title card designer (as Dominique R. Louis)
Bud Luckey	....	title card designer
Nathaniel McLaughlin	....	environment designer (as Nat McLaughlin)
Alex Seiden	....	set artist
Suzanne Slatcher	....	set artist
Sophie Vincelette	....	set dressing supervisor

Visual Effects by
Jeremy Birn	....	lighting artist
Jay Carina	....	rendering & optimization artist
Ye Won Cho	....	lighting artist
Charu Clark	....	rendering & optimization artist
Keith Cormier	....	lighting artist
Airton Dittz Jr.	....	master lighting artist
Angelique Ford	....	rendering & optimization supervisor
Dean Foster	....	lighting artist
Carl N. Frederick	....	rendering & optimization artist (as Carl Nai Frederick)
Jamie Frye	....	digital painter
Ian House	....	lighting artist
Jason Johnston	....	effects artist
Sandra Ford Karpman	....	rendering & optimization artist (as Sandra Karpman)
Mitch Kopelman	....	master lighting artist
Steve May	....	supervising technical director
Eileen O'Neill	....	lighting artist
Andrew Pienaar	....	lighting artist
Jon Reisch	....	effects artist
Michael Sparber	....	lighting artist
Ken Sullivan	....	lighting artist
Peter Sumanaseni	....	lighting supervisor
Erdem Taylan	....	effects supervisor
Paul Topolos	....	digital painter
Brad Winemiller	....	effects artist
Maria Yershova	....	master lighting artist

Animation Department
Fareed Behmaram-Mosavat	....	character artist
Shawn Brennan	....	layout artist
Adam Burke	....	animator
Scott Clark	....	supervising animator
Brett Coderre	....	animator
Nancy Kato	....	animator
Jaime Landes	....	animator
Michal Makarewicz	....	animator
Steve Mason	....	animator
Jon Mead	....	animator
Billy Merritt	....	animator
Dave Mullins	....	animator
James Ford Murphy	....	supervising animator
Victor Navone	....	animator
Dan Nguyen	....	animator
Gregg Olsson	....	layout artist
Bobby Podesta	....	supervising animator
Brett Pulliam	....	animator
Steve Purcell	....	additional character designer
Roger Rose	....	animator
Mark Sanford	....	layout artist
Brett Schulz	....	animator
Bob Scott	....	animator
Doug Sheppeck	....	animator
Michael Stocker	....	animator
Colin Hayes Thompson	....	character artist
Bob Whitehill	....	layout supervisor
Anthony Ho Wong	....	animator
Ron Zorman	....	animator

Editorial Department
Patrick Day Kennedy	....	assistant editor
Hoon H. Kim	....	editorial manager
David Lortsher	....	colorist
Louis Rivera	....	colorist
Jeff Wan	....	colorist
Robin Young	....	colorist
Katelin C. Holloway	....	post-production assistant (uncredited)

Music Department
Joey Newman	....	conductor

Other crew
Kearsley Higgins	....	production coordinator
Brad Kane	....	production coordinator
Susan E. Levin	....	script supervisor
Alex Mandel	....	production coordinator
Becky Neiman	....	end credits designer
Adrian Ochoa	....	production coordinator
Joe Ranft	....	end credits designer
Shane M. Thomas	....	production coordinator

Thanks
Simon Bax	....	special thanks
Ed Catmull	....	special thanks
Steve Jobs	....	special thanks
Lois Scali	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Pixar Animation Studios
• Walt Disney Pictures

Distributors

• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Skywalker Sound  sound design

Runtime:

7 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:G

Company:

Pixar Animation Studios

Trivia:

This animated short film is included as an extra on the DVD of Cars (2006).

Quotes:

Tow Mater: The Ghostlight's gonna strip my parts, and sell them on the computer auction website.

Movie Connections:

Spin off from Cars (2006)

Soundtrack:

Behind the Clouds

Fun for young kids but too basic for a bigger audience

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.