Pixar’s Cars analysis

analysis
#81

Honestly, looking at each near quarter mark in the movie, it does look more like Action…

  1. Refusing tires and tying the race.
  2. Getting lost in Radiator Springs.
  3. Discovering Doc is the Fabulous Hudson Hornet
  4. The media showing up unannounced.
  5. Giving up the race and pushing King across the finish.

I think one of the reasons we were claiming Decision, though I doubt any of us were 100% on that, was because the Signpost ordering seems almost incorrect with Action. But, now that I’ve looked at the areas where the story takes a major shift, none of those seem to have really been forced by any decisions.

Like I continually say, though, I seriously get myself into chicken-egg situations with this part.

#82

This was my reasoning because I have a lot of trouble with action vs. decision. But just to take a stab at it,

  1. LM decides not change his tires, leading to a tie. (Had he not done this, the race outcome would have been different. We know its an important decision because the reporters ask him about it, and his crew quits because of it. The King reprimands him for this too).

  2. When Mac gets drowsy on the highway, he asks to stop and take a rest. LM says they need to keep going. Their decision to not stop leads to falling asleep and LM getting lost in Radiator Springs.

  3. In the courtroom scene, Doc enters, enraged at whoever destroyed the town. When he sees who LM is, however, he says let him go, we don’t need him here. However, Sally makes a speech to the town residents, arguing that LM should stay. Doc says something like “it looks like the town has made my decision for me” and forces LM to stay.

  4. After he fixes the road, LM decides that maybe he should stick around for a while, which provokes Doc to call the media, leading to LM leaving and going to the race.

#83

And, now, I will play Devil’s Advocate:

I don’t have much of a rebuttal for this one, except that it could be seen as a series of actions that lead to the story that Cars actually tells. Lightning refuses (no thought to it) to change his tires and ties the race. You’re right that if this had not happened, there’d be no story, but it’s the actual tie itself that allows the story to exist.

Mac is doing fairly well, though, even if he was nodding off a bit, until the street cars come about and mess with him. However, the story doesn’t really turn until Lightning gets himself lost into trouble in Radiator Springs by tearing up the road/town. Without that, this story would have been much different, and there would have been no need to answer the question of “What do we do with this outsider?”

It turns out that you’re covering about half the movie with this one item. Yes, Lightning staying in Radiator Springs provokes Doc to call, but this consideration only happens after Lightning learns who Doc really is. There was no decision that forced this discovery, IIRC. However, the tone of the movie change once this discovery happens.

Then, there’s the question of whether Doc’s decision to call the media really forces their arrival. Not so much… They could have shown up at any time, albeit, as unlikely as it may be, but it is their actual arrival that forces Lightning back into the racing world.

Finally, when does this story actually end? Yes, Lightning definitely has to make a decision at the end of the race, but there is always both a decision and an action at the climax. Making up his mind here, however, does not force the actual action he takes: pushing the King across the finish line. But, that decision was forced by the “accident” in the first place. In point of fact, the story does not feel over until all three cars have finished the race, even if they haven’t won.

Then there’s this. Why is Lightning pushing so hard in the first act? He’s a rookie. He has no history as a racer and is out to prove he has what it takes. It is the lack of a Past, of any Past as a racer that drives him at this point in the story.

(Plus, the PSR for Action Driver marks Lightning’s final thematic moment as Enlightenment.)

#84

You might have me there. If that encoding of The Past works, I could go with Action drivers.

#85

I don’t know whether I’m right or wrong, either, but I figure it’d be best for someone to espouse the other side. Especially, since this is an area that seems to trip up a number of people.

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#86

Here’s something I just noticed.
Lightning tells his crew not to change his tires (hindering them from doing their jobs). The crew makes some comment, I think, and the announcers definitely say it’s a short term benefit, long term loss. But the temptation to get further ahead is too great.

Mac is about to pull over for the night (Hindering Lightning from getting to Dinoco first). Despite Macs insistence on Federal DOT regulations prohibiting…(he gets cut off, but it would have been something about driving to CA overnight) Lightning insists they continue on. Hinder, Conscience, and Temptation.

Seems like I had another example, but can’t remember now. Is it possible that Lightning’s MC throughline is more about his Mindset than his Universal problems and we’ve been way off all along? This Is why I’m no good at this. I always do this.

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#87

I wondered that at some point this weekend, but then I tried it out and it didn’t seem to work at all. For one thing it would require him to be a Be-er which I don’t think fits.

However, I do feel like the characters of Radiator Springs feel kind of Universe-like. Stuck in the Past, etc. It kind of made me wonder if there isn’t another storform in there. Not sure how that works.

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#88

I’ll say this, it’s really interesting to compare how easy it was for me to see Coco’s storyform vs this and pretty much every other movie. For whatever reason, it was like that one was written on the screen for me. It was really useful to see how to look at a movie to find the storyform, but apparently I could still use another two or three examples that are that clear to really get a good idea for how to do this.

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#89

I looked at this numerous times during our analysis, but I couldn’t make it work as well as our previous choices, as nice as it would seem. That’s not to say that I couldn’t come up with ways to make it work. I always could.

The main thing that steered me away was that Lightning is so focused on changing his external situation, and not himself, that I couldn’t mark him as a Be-er. (As a matter of fact, it seems to be his de facto way of solving problems trying to affect everything that’s around him first.)

After reviewing the form we’ve come up with one more time, I’m rather convinced that it’s correct down to everything but the Driver. I’m still uncertain there, but everything else seems like it should work.

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#90

I agree. The Driver is the only thing I’m not sure about. I keep thinking that signpost order will help us figure this out.

So looking at the IC throughline, Decision gives us:
Preconscious - Subconscious - Conscious - Memory

Action gives us:
Memory - Preconscious - Subconscious - Conscious

BTW I was wondering if the IC Signpost 1 was missing, but when I watched the movie again I realized there was a handoff – The King plays IC in Act I with the first speech he gives LM about being talented but stupid for not treating his crew better. (LM’s response is basically to nod along while having a fantasy about winning the Piston Cup and getting famous).

Not sure where that leaves us though.

Argument in favor of Action: Doing/Progress seem like better Benchmarks for OS/MC than Understanding/Past.

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#91

After getting some distance, and thinking back on it, I can’t actually think of one decision that was a true turning point in this story. It doesn’t appear that any major decisions actually changed the direction of the story as much as thing that happened.

Having played both sides of the argument for the Driver, I’m going to say it’s actually Action as well.

I’d say if we all agree on that, then we can move on to figuring out the Signposts! :smile:

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#92

I am provisionally okay with this – I don’t think I can easily argue for Decision drivers – but at first glance I still think the Signposts might work better for Decision. Maybe start with the OS since I don’t think that one changes?

I am unfortunately running around all day but hope to return to this tonight.

#93

OS:

Signpost 1: Obtaining

The characters are competing to win the Piston Cup and gain the favor of Dynaco. The tie in the race sets off the cross-country journey and the rest of the story.

Signpost 2: Understanding

LM is ready to pull over for Sheriff, until sheriff’s car backfires; LM thinks someone’s shooting at him, which leads to the crazy chase and the destruction of Radiator Springs’ Main Street.

As soon as Doc Understands who LM is, he says “let him go.” This causes conflict with Sally, who seeks to get the town to Understand why LM has a responsibility to fix the road.

Signpost 3: Learning

When Doc beats LM on the dirt track, LM realizes that he still has things to Learn about racing, and Doc eventually teaches him.

As soon as the Media Learn from Doc where LM is, they descend on the town and take LM with them.

Signpost 4: Doing

Conflict in the final act arises from all the things the characters are Doing - racing, cheating, crashing, and helping.

MC (assuming an action driver)

Signpost 1: The Past

As @hunter said, LM is a Rookie with “no history” trying to win his first race against cars with much more experience.

Signpost 2: Progress

In order to get out of Radiator Springs, LM must fix the road and is personally concerned with the Progress he is making on this (he tries to speed up his progress by rushing the job, but makes things worse for himself).

Signpost 3: The Future

Getting to know Sally, Mater and the rest, LM starts to question his own Future — if what he thought he wanted was really what he wanted.

Signpost 4: The Present

LM is dealing with The Present moment in the final race.

IC (assuming an action driver). This is the through line that I’m less sure of.

Signpost 1: Memory

If correct, this is thinly illustrated. The IC moment I see is when The King (as the IC stand in) tells LM he’s “talented but stupid” for not respecting his crew. (What does this have to do with Memory?)

Signpost 2: The Preconsious

Doc is infuriated when he hears someone has wrecked the town’s road, but he also makes an immediate, impulsive decision to send LM away as soon as realizes he’s a racer.

Signpost 3: The Subconscious

LM learns about Doc’s past and gets a warning about the direction of his Innermost Desires (but doesn’t Memory work better?)

Signpost 4: The Conscious

Not sure about this.

What do you think?

#94

I had planned to sit down tonight and work through both orders, unfortunately I probably won’t have the time until this weekend. Sorry!

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#95

Here’s where I really start to fall apart in analyses.

What is the problem in OS SP1? I know they are racing and crashing, and there’s tires popping and and a 3 way tie. But how does that lead back to Obtaining as the source? Is it just because that’s they’re all attempting to Obtain the Piston Cup? If so, how is this significantly different from the final race where there’s crashing and skidding off the track as they attempt to win the Cup?

#96

For that matter, what is to separate the Obtaining of Signpost 1 from the OS Concern of Obtaining? This is where I have trouble myself. My reasoning often feels ex post facto. Like, we could justify Signpost 1 of Doing just as well if that’s what we thought it was.

Interestingly though, the OS Signposts are the only ones not affected by Decision/Action.

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#97

For that matter, I wonder if someone could explain “Doing” better. Superficially it seems like it’s the easiest term but I find it the hardest to encode.

#98

So as I was pondering a response, I was looking at Dramatica and noticed something. The first scene feels a lot like State of Being, Situation, Circumstances, Sense of Self. It’s maybe not perfect, but feels pretty close. I looked at a couple of different story forms, and I promise I’m not doing this to be difficult, but the only way I could get that PSR for OS SP 1, was to put the MC in Mind. That gave the OS a PSR in Psychology, the MC a PSR in Physics, and I think the RS was in Universe, which all felt pretty good (not that I know how to “feel” that). So I hate to discount all the hard work to this point, but I have to ask. Is the source Lightning McQueen’s problems being stuck in Radiator Springs or is it his always-on-the-go, I’m-a-race-car, I-am-speed attitude…er, mindset that causes him problems?

#99

Hmm… MC in Mind gives us an IC in Universe. Is that what you meant? I could see Doc in Universe maybe.

But putting LM in Mind makes him a Be-er, which I just struggle to see.

A Be-er is someone who PREFERS to solve problems internally if given the choice. Some problems require doing, so the be-er may need to do to resolve a problem (like moving an obstruction from his view).

I will entertain this idea though (now you got me all turned around lol).

#100

Sorry, I meant the RS would be in Psychology, but that the PSR would draw from Universe.

My thinking could be way off here. And I feel like the more I think about it at this point, the further away I’m going to get.