Premise:

The lovable tow truck Tow Mater from the movie Cars gets his own DVD, a selection of short stories of his tall tales.

Created by the amazing people at Disney Pixar.

Review:

I am probably too old to be a Tow Mater fan but I can't resist his goofy charms. Cars is one of my favourite Pixar films and in my opinion, Mater is the best character in the movie. So who better to get his own selection of shorts?
My preference aside, most people will claim Cars is one of their least favourite Pixar movies, yet despite not being as popular as the others, Cars has proved a commercial success with a whole host of merchandising opportunities. Hence this DVD which you will be able to buy for around £5, it is priced similarly to the Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda spin off DVDs which also last about 30 minutes.

Below is a list of the 9 tall tales:

- Mater the Greater
Mater stars as a daredevil stunt car

- Rescue Squad Mater
Mater makes two appearances in this short, once as a fire truck and also as Doctor Mater

- Monster Truck Mater
Mater is unleashed on the world of wrestling

- UFM: Unidentified Flying Mater
Mater meets Mator, a UFO

- El Materdor
Mater is a great matador, which means a bulldozer fighter in the world of Cars

- Moon Mater
Mater becomes an autonaut and travels into space

- Heavy Metal Mater
The rock star Mater is let loose

- Mater Private Eye
A film noir adventure starring Mater as a private investigator

- Tokyo Mater
Mater goes drifting in Japan

All of the shorts above are entertaining and impressive. Despite not having a cinematic release, the great graphics everyone has come to expect from Pixar are present, as is the great storytelling. There are familiar characters from the original Cars movie and Lightning McQueen plays a big role in every short. McQueen somehow ends up being involved in every tall tale so you get to see the two reunited in many different scenarios and guises. The different paintjobs that Mater and McQueen are given for each different tale are great and well thought out. My favourite being the El Materdor short, the detail in the animation is amazing. Each tale is approximately 3-4 minutes long, so you don't have time to get bored, they just keep coming. The shorts do all follow the same pattern which may annoy some older viewers but I didn't find it a problem at all, it didn't lessen my enjoyment of the films. The shorts are suitable for all the family and I am sure that children would enjoy watching this DVD over and over again.

DVD Extras:

Below is a list of the extras on the DVD and a small description saying what each one is about:

- Studio Stories: McQueen Has No Hands
Animated recollection as to how the animators got around the problem of cars not having hands. They come up with some entertaining solutions.

- Paths to Pixar: Layout
What the layout artists job is-basically decide what is shown on camera, where it's positioned etc. Not that interesting to be honest.

- Mater Bumper-to-Bumper
How Mater came into existence, definitely worth a watch.

- Cars Land Sneak Peek
Disneyland LA is getting a new Cars Land in 2012, I want to go to there. Nice look into the upcoming attractions.

- Making Mater's Tall Tales
A look into how the shorts are made. Doesn't tell you a whole lot, a lot of description of the shorts and not much more.

- Unmade Tales
Ideas that didn't get made. The animated storyboards are good.

- Mater Private Eye's Secret Private Trailer
A trailer for the Mater Private Eye short.

- Cars Toon Storyreels
Three of the toons in storyreel style.

- Sneak Peeks
A look at what is coming up on Disney DVD.

A lot of the extras are entertaining but not really for children, I think they would get bored very quickly, with the exception being McQueen has no hands. Quite a bit of effort has been put into the extras which is nice, most people don't bother watching them so quite often they consist of a rather lame documentary and some trailers.

Overall I would definitely recommend this DVD no matter what age you are. The tall tales are great and the extras are pretty decent. All in all not bad for a fiver!

Cast:

Larry the Cable Guy - Mater
Keith Ferguson - Lighting McQueen

Runtime: 34 minutes

Also posted on ciao under the username shabbating