Mater and the Ghostlight

It goes without saying how clear the animation is here. The attention to details and a very simple story makes it a wonderful 7 minute short.

Derived from the "Cars" universe, it talks about how Mater teases his friends and how they decide to take revenge, all in a funny manner. The imaginative plot also delivers a message to children who will perceive it permanently.

The various themes it samples are self-righteousness, sarcasm, dear, hallucination (kind of) and light horror. Music and background score add to the fun. Fantastic direction & very colorful setup. The niceties, of you focus on them, are bound to reveal how the makers are filled with creativity.

BOTTOM LINE: A very cool short; definitely one of Pixar's best.

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.

Mater and the Gaslight is definitely not bad, but other than the animation really there is nothing special I particularly find about it. The animation is indeed gorgeous, like with all of Pixar's other work, not only beautiful in the colours but there is a sense of atmosphere too, the music fits wonderfully, the Ghostlight is creepy and the voice work especially from Paul Newman and Michael Wallis is great. However, it all feels rather routine, apart from the sight of Mater shaking and looking scared, there is never really anything that across as funny or moving, and the rather thin story holds few surprises. I also have an issue with Mater, I find him much better as a supporting character than a lead, by all means his appearance is not as problematic as it was in Cars 2, but he is rather bland here. In conclusion, worth watching for the animation but it is just lacking for me in humour, charm and heart. 6/10 Bethany Cox

This cartoon features "Mater," the most lovable character in the great animated movie "Cars." This seven-minute comes as a feature in the "Cars" DVD. Actually, all of the characters are in here, but Mater has more "screen time."

The story is a simple one of the other cars trying to teach Mater a lesson. In brief, they give him a taste of what he's been dishing out. The buck-toothed tow-truck has been going around scaring everyone with surprise attacks and they are tired of it.

So, one night they all gather in a circle and they tell him a story about the dreaded "Gas Light" ghost. After everyone goes home, they sit back as the tow truck gets scared out of his gas line later that night by the "Ghost Light," which is rigged up by the others to scare him.

And, if he still didn't get the message, they set him up for another mind game and the cartoon ends with that thought in mind.

Overall, it's not really all that funny (except with Mater is shaking in fright) but it's well- crafted and beautiful to watch, like the feature film. It could easily have been a small segment inserted in the film.

I have seen this short twice and both times I was bowled over by the gorgeous computer-generated animation. Clearly, Pixar is THE studio that sets the animation standard. However, I think this film has a strike against it from the outset and that is because the CARS characters aren't as endearing or timeless as many of the other Pixar creations. They lack the "cuddly factor" or depth of some of the other characters and so, at least to me, it doesn't stack well with the MONSTERS, INC., UP!, RATATOUILLE or INCREDIBLES (among others).

As for the short, it's about Mater and how cowardly he is. The others make up a ghost story and Mater freaks out. It's all great fun for the kids, but adults probably won't love this film unless they are car aficionados or NASCAR fans. To me, it all seemed pretty routine--aside from the great animation.