Pixar shocked everyone with their first Cars 3 teaser, released late last year. After the ultra-goofy Cars 2 with its spy antics and its car-related puns and its cable guys named Larry, no one was expecting to be blindsided by some kind of tragedy reel with muted colors featuring what appeared to be Lightning McQueen’s fiery death. Does Pixar have an explanation for this?
Not quite — this new trailer is an extension of what was released a couple months ago. It starts out with the same scene, but elaborates a bit. We don’t know yet if the crash scene happens before or after what the rest of the trailer shows, but It establishes that McQueen is now in the reverse position of where he was in the first movie: HE is the aging veteran facing a new generation of cocky newcomers, including his new adversary, Jackson Storm.
It still feels different. The colors are less bold, the lighting is more realistic, and you barely see the eyeballs on the car windshields as they zoom past. Is the entire movie going to be rendered this way, or is that just an effect for the trailer? We should find out next summer, when Cars 3 crashes into theaters.