Why Cars 3 Is For Little Girls In The Way Cars Was For Boys

If you're a parent of a little boy over about 5 years old, you've probably already seen Cars 3 -- [...]

By Russ Burlingame

If you're a parent of a little boy over about 5 years old, you've probably already seen Cars 3 -- or you're hearing a never-ending parade of requests to head to your local theater for the latest installment in the toy-driven (no pun intended) franchise from Disney and Pixar.

This time around, though, the studio has got their sights set on little girl consumers -- err, moviegoers -- as well.

It's a pattern that has served Disney well in recent years; gender-coded franchises like Star Wars and Marvel being given a female lead or two have brought girls into the theaters in larger numbers, while most of the male consumers haven't left things they lost just because the door is a little more wide open.

Like Star Wars, the Cars franchise has tremendous potential in terms of merchandising, toys, and clothing -- so it makes sense for the studio to test those limits, especially in light of a franchise looking for a sense of direction after a forgettable (but profitable!) second installment.

Meredith Placko joined director Brian Fee and producer Kevin Reher to discuss the addition of Cruz Ramirez, the first remale racer to get any significant screen time in the Cars franchise, to the series and what it means for the future of Cars going forward.

Meredith Placko: Talk to me a little bit about bringing in Ramirez, cuz there's a point in the film where you don't think she's going to be that essential of a character. When she gets sent off, you guys really turn it on it's head.

Brian Fee: Yeah. We wanted it to sneak up. We want you, we're chasing McQueen. I say as a character, he's chasing his comeback as most of the film.

Kevin Reher: And we love a buddy picture.

Fee: So we always just look for the character at any given moment in the film is to serve the main character's goals, up until it's not. But she also steals the show, whenever she's on. Even from the moment we see her, you know? So our goal was wanted you to hopefully fall in love with Cruz, and then so when we, when things really start to get serious, you know.

CRISTELA ALONZO

Placko: No, no I get it. Watching films now with a different eye, especially looking at gender roles in films. It's very topical right now. And I was like wow, this isn't like Pixar to just sweep a woman character and use her to sell the male storyline. I thought it was a very good subversive twist you guys did.

Reher: We had a wrap party, for the whole company, last weekend. And this woman who was walking by said, "Thank you for making a feminist animated movie." And we were like 'Wow! That was not the intent, but okay, I'll take it.'

Placko: I think it's just strong, I like when you see characters as equals.

Reher: Well Kiel Murray, who is a writer who came in towards the end, definitely had a point of view. And she and John (Lassiter) went toe to toe about, nobody's going to care if McQueen is going to win this race. It's too inevitable, John. And why not have him be an unlikely mentor. And Brian was always open to this.

Fee: I have two daughters. We changed the gender of our character, because we wanted the movie for our daughters. The Cars franchise is looked at as a franchise for boys. That was never the original intention, and it certainly is not now that I have a chance to have a say in it. I have two daughters.

Reher: We also got incredibly lucky in casting of Critstela Alonzo, who brought, aside from. We had to have the right actress, the right voice, so you didn't get the sense are they dating? Are they boyfriend and girlfriend? Is he leaving Sally? You know, all those kind of questions. You never felt that, we never got that note from anybody. But also that her back story, her story of being a young woman in a border town of Texas where her mother said we cut hair. And we clean hotels. Motels. That's what we do. And she's like, I want to be an actress. I want to be a standup comic. And we even said to her, are you okay with us making this kinda part of your story. And she's like, yeah, of course! Fine!

How Cars 3 Picks Up Threads From The Original Cars

GIRLS WITH GUITARS

Placko: I think that's something really important, as we go forward in (the entertainment industry), and I really appreciate about this film. We look at the gender inequality, but we just make it equal.

Reher: The funny part too, is the concept of diversity and self awareness, we've been at this for six year. So it wasn't just like let's (snap) just get on the bandwagon! And knock out a feminist story.

Fee: We've just been trying to make the richest story we can. Cruz did not start off as a female character, but she quickly switched when we realized this movie to be deeper. We need this character to be deeper. What's in this for my daughters? Why do they want to watch this movie? What do I want to say to my daughters? You know, I had a conversation with my girls where I was trying to get them to play a musical instrument. And I said, how about the guitar? And their response was, guitars are for boys!

Reher: Where do you get that?

Fee: Ya know? And I was just, awww you guys are so young and you're already drawing these lines. And these lines shouldn't be there at all. And you're so young.

Placko: Do you know who daddy works for?

Reher: Make them see Wynonna on YouTube. She's Girls with Guitars, she does a great song called Girls with Guitars.

Fee: And then at the same time, I would watch them not try something if they thought they would not be good at. They would just be like, no I don't wanna do that. I know the real reason they don't wanna do that, is because they're not going to be instantly good at it. They don't want to look like they are not good at something. And the pressure they put on them, they're elementary school kids!

Placko: That's another story right there! It's another good lesson that isn't often told.

Reher: John Lassiter told a story about his mother who was an art teacher, ya know? And his whole joke is "My mother was an art teacher who is the art side of me, and my father was a parts manager from a Chevy dealership, and the cars part of me." But he tells a story about his mother being observing kids drawing, and they look over and see a drawing that's better than theirs, and they stop drawing. What mechanism? It's boys and girls. What in the brain makes that value judgment?

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(Photo: Disney/Pixar)

MORE CARS 3 NEWS

Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast cars, the legendary Lighting McQueen finds himself pushed out of the sport that he loves. Hoping to get back in the game, he turns to Cruz Ramirez, an eager young technician who has her own plans for winning. With inspiration from the Fabulous Hudson Hornet and a few unexpected turns, No. 95 prepares to compete on Piston Cup Racing's biggest stage.

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