Mater and the Ghostlight

Directed by:	John Lasseter Dan Scanlon
Written by:	Joe Ranft John Lasseter Dan Scanlon
Release date:	2006
Running time:	7 minutes, 9 seconds

Mater and the Ghostlight is a 2006 animated short film created for the DVD of Cars, which was released on October 25, 2006 in Australia and in the United States on November 7, 2006. It is about a mysterious blue light haunting Larry the Cable Guy's character, Mater.

Plot

The short begins with Mater pulling pranks on the cars. These include:

• Stealing away flowers from Red as he is watering them
• Killing Luigi and Guido by jumping out from behind their tires
• Scaring Sally Carrera by pretending to be a cone vampire
• Attempting to Crush Lizzie while she is sleeping

  

  Mater without headlights

  

  Another picture of Mater without headlights

• Making Fillmore replace his cans of Gasprin by constantly adding more

Mater and the Screamin' Banshee.

Everyone is gathered at Flo's V8 gas station. Sally and Lightning McQueen notice a tow cable hiding behind some cans. Assuming it to be Mater pulling another prank, McQueen approaches the cans. Suddenly, Mater jumps out of nowhere and scares McQueen. McQueen jumps back and crashes into the cans; it turns out the cable was just from one of Mater's signs. Mater tells McQueen that he looks like he has seen "the Ghostlight". Sheriff then tells Mater not to mock the Ghostlight. He describes it as a translucent orb of glowing blue light, and proceeds to tell a story of a young couple that encountered the Ghostlight, and only "two out of state license plates" were left. Then everyone leaves in a hurry to their respected homes, leaving Mater in the dark. Mater becomes scared and slowly drives to his home. While there, he loses his only headlight. Soon, a glowing light approaches Mater, and thinking it to be the Ghostlight, pleads for mercy. But it turns out to be a lightning bug. Then, a blue light appears behind Mater, and he starts running in fear of the "Ghostlight". Then, McQueen and Guido appear and exchange successful glances. It turns out the "ghostlight" was only a lantern that McQueen and Guido hung on Mater's tow cable. After that, they say that there is nothing to fear except your imagination. "And of course," adds Doc Hudson, "the Screamin' Banshee. Well, g'night!" And everyone drives away, once again leaving Mater. At the end of the credits, the Screamin' Banshee appears behind Mater, but he takes no notice of the monster.

Voice cast

• Larry the Cable Guy: Tow Mater
• Owen Wilson: Lightning McQueen
• Paul Newman: Doc Hudson
• Bonnie Hunt: Sally Carrera
• Cheech Marin: Ramone
• Michael Wallis: Sheriff
• Paul Dooley: Sarge

Non-speaking characters include Luigi, Guido, Flo, Fillmore, Lizzie, Mack, and Red.

Trivia

• This is the second Pixar film not to win or get nominated for an Academy Award. The first was Red's Dream.
• The song used in this short, "Behind the Clouds", is heard for a short time in Radiator Springs in the movie Cars.
• In this short, Mater loses his headlight. However, it was repaired before Cars Toons.
• Cars Mater-National Championship and the Xbox 360 and Wii versions of Cars: The Video Game both feature a mini-game based on this short called Ghosting Mater.
• In Cars Mater-National Championship, Mater still fears the Ghostlight.
• Along with Miss Fritter's Racing Skoool, this is the only Cars short that's not a Cars Toon.
• This is the only short not to have Owen Wilson and Paul Newman being replaced by Keith Ferguson and Corey Burton, respectively.
• This is the only short to feature Doc Hudson and Mack.

Home Media

• Cars DVD released November 7, 2006
• Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 1 DVD released November 6, 2007

See Also

• Cars Toons