Lasseter says, “I always thought that Bonnie would be a fantastic female lead in one of our films and that she has what it takes to be the perfect voice actor for an animated film. She’s a great actor, and she has a wonderful voice quality that jumps off the screen. She also brings to her role the ability to ad lib. She makes the part her own and makes it sound natural. I always encourage the actors to find that something that is unique to them, and Bonnie would come up with things that you couldn’t script. She has the ability to make you weep. Her performance has so much emotion and heart, in addition to all the humor.”
Hunt observes, “Sally was a big hot-shot attorney living life in the fast lane in California. You know, Blackberry, instant messaging everybody—very, very busy. And she took a drive on Route 66. Her car broke down and she stayed in this small town and found what was really meaningful in her life. I knew that she was somebody who used to be tough and tried to keep up the pace of her life. She slowed down when she got to Radiator Springs and it made her a little softer, so I thought her voice would be a little softer.
“I think it would be really great if parents took their kids in a Winnebago down Route 66 to experience meeting so many different and wonderful characters in real life,” adds Hunt. MATER/LARRY THE CABLE GUY: One of the film’s standout characters is a backwards-driving tow truck named Mater. The character quickly grew to become a favorite with the filmmakers, and the inspired choice of Larry the Cable Guy as the vocal counterpart helped to really set things in motion.
“Mater was definitely a popular character with the animators, and I think in a way he became the centerpiece of the movie,” says Sweetland. “Animators loved to work on the character because he was so physical and provided a lot of juicy bits for them to sink their teeth into. The model provided a little more freedom because it had a separate cab and bed to the truck. And then you have the tow cable that you can incorporate as a tail or even twirl like a helicopter. Mater does all sorts of stuff with it. Larry the Cable Guy gave us a lot to work with. He’s so funny and yet his performance has so much heart. To me, it’s one of those incredibly perfect voices like Sterling Holloway with Winnie the Pooh.”
According to Larry the Cable Guy, “I love all of Pixar’s movies and stuff. I was sittin’ in the house one day and I got a phone call. And they said, ‘Hey, wanna be in one a those Pixar/Disney movies?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah. I’d love to.’ When I got the fax saying it was a done deal, I said, ‘No way. Ya gotta be kiddin’ me.’ I thought it was going to be some little teeny tiny part. But, man, it ended up bein’ one of the big characters in the film. It was pretty cool. I hadn’t been that excited since I found a vision of the Virgin Mary in some potato salad at a picnic.
“John and I are real good buddies,” he adds. “We’re both into anything that has to do with a track and cars. He makes ya real comfortable. He told me, ‘Mater is your character. I want you to make it yours and do the lines however you wanna do it.’ When I’d say a line and he’d start laughin,’ I knew I was doin’ pretty good.
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