every Pixar movie can be an overwhelming critical success, but Cars 2 was particularly troubling for what it didn't do after its release.
Pixar movies have been memorable for the stories they tell and the awards they take home afterward. Ever since Toy Story in 1995, the majority of movies Pixar released have found critical success. Unlike most Pixar films though, Cars 2 did not earn any impressive accolades and even missed out on a typical honor bestowed by films from the company. Pixar movies will need to avoid the same fate that befell Cars 2 and the way it carried over to Pixar's legacy.
Cars 2 Was The First Pixar Movie That Wasn't Nominated For Any Oscars
Cars 2 Was Pixar's 12th Film, But Failed To Reach The Heights Of Other Pixar Movies
Cars 2 ended an unprecedented streak of 11 consecutive movies receiving an Oscar nomination, which is one of the more infamous aspects of the often criticized film. Pixar films, especially in the first decade of the studio's success, earned plenty of critical claims. This included Oscar nominations for all their films. Of those, six films won the award for Best Animated Feature.
The Best Animated Feature Award was first presented at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002.
Toy Story received a special achievement award for its innovation in animation in 1995. After that, several earned nominations, especially after the introduction of the Best Animated Feature Award. During that initial streak of success, six Pixar movies won the award for Best Animated Film. These included Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, and Toy Story 3. The first Cars movie was nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. However, the sequel not earning a nomination isn't surprising when looks back at the reception to the film.
Why Cars 2 Wasn't Nominated For Any Oscars In 2012 - Should It Have Been?
There's A Good Reason Cars 2 Was Considered A Critical Dud Upon Release
In Cars 2, Lighting McQueen goes off to race in Europe, with his best friend Mater getting mixed up in a game of spies along the way. This leads the rusty tow truck to go around the world pretending to be a spy, uncovering a conspiracy surrounding the races McQueen is competing in. While the movie has some fun moments that lean into the inherently ridiculous nature of the premise, the movie fails to achieve the same standards of storytelling excellence as seen in previous Pixar films. While the animation was great, that's to be expected from all Pixar films.
Cars 2 also ran the risk of being a completely different story from its predecessor. The 2006 movie was Lightning McQueen's heartwarming redemption story of finding humility and creating real friendships, while Cars 2 was a spy thriller — and a weird one at that. The contrast between the two movies was very off-putting, which affected the story. Having an odd spy movie with Mater as a main character in place of a nice McQueen story was confusing. Even the spy story in itself felt very disted throughout the film.
Only Five Other Pixar Movies Have Not Been Oscar Nominated After Cars 2
Cars 3, Finding Dory, Monsters University, The Good Dinosaur, And Lightyear Failed To Earn Oscar Cred
While Cars 2 fell flat, the box office success of the film led Pixar to make Cars 3. While it was an improvement over the previous entry, that movie and four others did not receive an Oscar nomination, highlighting how Pixar's flawless trend was broken by Cars. However, that doesn't mean the studio has completely lost its critical standing films. Assuming the massively successful Inside Out 2 receives a nomination for Best Animated Film, 22 out of 28 films from Pixar will have received a nomination. That's about 78% of their total output.
Even with the presumption that Inside Out 2 will win next year's award, Pixar's dominance for the longest time seems to be over.
It should be commended that almost four out of every five movies Pixar makes will receive an Oscar nomination. However, a troubling trend seems to occur more frequently than before Cars 2. Pixar movies are not getting nominations as frequently, and the last Pixar movie to win the Best Animated Feature award was Soul in 2021. Even with the presumption that Inside Out 2 will win next year's award, Pixar's dominance for the longest time seems to be over.
Pixar has faced some lackluster reception from movie-goers coming out of the pandemic. Elemental didn't have the box office performance Pixar expected, while Lightyear was swarmed with controversy and backlash from fans. It was refreshing to see Inside Out 2 be received so well by fans commercially and critically. Unfortunately, this harsher trend towards Pixar was started by Cars 2: The same movie that ended its dominant run of 16 years.
Cars 2
- Release Date
- June 24, 2011
- Runtime
- 106 minutes
- Director
- John Lasseter
Cast
Larry the Cable GuyMater (voice)
Lightning McQueen (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
Cars 2: Released in 2011, Cars 2 follows Lightning McQueen and Mater as they journey overseas for the World Grand Prix. While McQueen focuses on the race, Mater becomes entangled in international espionage, transforming their adventure into a high-stakes mission beyond the track.
- Writers
- Ben Queen
- Sequel(s)
- Cars 3
- Studio(s)
- Disney
- Distributor(s)
- Disney
- Budget
- $200 million
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