September 6th, 2022 
Jackson Murphy 
Lightning McQueen and Mater (voiced once again by Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy) leave Radiator Springs for Mater’s sister’s wedding in the new nine-episode series Cars on the Road. It premieres this Thursday September 8th on Disney+. Larry, Bobby Podesta (who directs three of the episodes) and producer Marc Sondheimer discuss the fun new adventures these iconic characters have and why Cars remains one of Pixar’s most beloved brands. (These interviews were combined and edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: Larry, it is so good to see you!
Larry the Cable Guy: Dad Gum! Is that THE Jackson Murphy?
JM: It is! It is! How are you, man?
LTCG: (laughs) Doing good. (Larry brings out a Mater toy and starts doing his Mater voice.) DAD GUM! That’s Jackson Murphy! (laughs)
JM: Love it! Awesome. I love these nine episodes — the humor, the heart, the look. And it combines the Cars Toons (the shorter adventures we got) with the throughline of a feature. So how did you really want to approach this next chapter in the Cars saga?
LTCG: Oh yeah. That’s awesome. And I will say, when we taped this… if you’re wondering if it’s funny or not… for every one of these adventures we had to stop a couple of times and I had to go, “Hold on. Hold on.” And I’d have to walk out and come back and get a drink of water. There’s some funny stuff. These are some of the most well-written shorts. They’re so good. I think it’s cool how they do it. I saw an episode of Mr. Bean, I think, where it was a full movie, but it was cut-up into 10-minute things and you just continued on. And that’s the cool thing about this! It’s a full movie but it continues on with the episodes. How did they it is brilliant because they get in all these little adventures. Each one ends and boom they’re back on the road for another one. You literally can watch it as a full-length, but the way they cut it up, now you can do it on your own time and you’re not gonna have to sit if you don’t have time. I think it’s brilliant, awesome and brilliant.
JM: I completely agree with you.
Marc Sondheimer: We had a blast making [this]. Steve Purcell, our writer and all three of the directors, as a team… it’s a collaborative effort. And one of the wonderful things about Disney+ and being able to tell this kind of a story: we couldn’t do it before. Now with Disney+ we can. It’s pretty cool.
JM: This series is about a journey, and Bobby, you’ve been on a journey with these characters since you animated on the first Cars movie!
Bobby Podesta: It’s remarkable and great to be working with these characters and this world for so long. But one of the best parts of this is to be able to take characters and add to a franchise — and add to a world — in a way that you haven’t seen… after this many years. We show you a little bit about the relationships and the world and that’s the key of the world of Cars — the thing our audiences around the world really key into: It reflects them and their world in different ways and different places. This was a chance to expand upon that.
JM: McQueen and Mater are trying to get to Mater’s sister’s wedding. I can’t believe Mater has a sister! That’s crazy!
LTCG: (laughs) Nobody knew Mater had a sister. (laughs) What a fun little premise. Once people get to [his] sister, it’s fun. I can’t say enough good things about it. It’s really clever.
JM: My four year old cousin will love these episodes because Cars is his favorite film. He’ll especially love the Trucks song. Bobby, are you thinking about four year olds and kids as you’re making these episodes?
BP: Whenever we’re making any of the episodes, we’re never making them for little kids. We’re making them for us to make sure… we’re never writing down. We’re trying to make something that we’re entertained with. But I’m a parent. I’ve watched things with my kids. I’ve listened as they’ve watched things. I’ve recognized when maybe a joke might fly over their head and hit me smack in the face. “Wait — that’s some good writing!” I love it. That double-coding of entertainment is super, super fun. But I’m not gonna lie: when we were writing the Trucks episode, working with Jake Monaco and talking about the chorus, we’re like, “Do we need more than just ‘It’s a Truck thing’?” We’re like, “Nope!” I want something that gets stuck in my head — a good earworm. If a kid’s walking around, maybe [parents] will hear that a lot. They can remember that. It’s like our opening titles. I can tell you all the songs from my favorite cartoon shows growing up. We wanted to make something that kids can be like, “Oh — this is the theme song for the series!”
JM: I love the theme song too. And Marc, the movie episode in this is GENIUS! So many great references, including Brakelight Pictures. Brilliant.
MS: (laughs) That’s one of my favorite episodes as well. It’s super fun and it’s witty and crafty and funny. But it also has a moment of heart in it in the motel room. That’s one of the things that’s fun about the whole series. We play on a lot of different movie genres and have fun with it — put the characters in unique situations. But there are also some lighthearted, soulful moments.
JM: Bobby, with directing the ninth episode, you had a lot to do: where we go, who we meet, who shows up. Was there pressure in making sure this final episode worked out really well?
BP: What we were shooting for (if there was any pressure) was: we wanted it to be satisfying. We’re trying to create everything from the standpoint of, “What does this feel like for our audience?” I’ve watched series and I get to the end and I’m like, “Ehhh…” We wanted to get to a [finale] and have it feel like it had the presence that was satisfying for what you just spent, an hour of your time, watching everything that led up to this. That it was entertaining and had resonance and wrapped up and felt great ALL the way through. Even our end credits our different in our last episode.
Larry The Cable Guy – and Jackson Murphy
JM: Yes!
BP: It’s our last episode. Let’s give you something extra. Let’s just pack it in and fill it out a little bit more.
JM: Larry, I still have this badge here of you and your two buddies Bill Engvall and Jeff Foxworthy from 2010.
LTCG: WOW!
JM: So you all have had some amazing road trips over the years. What’s the craziest stop you ever made on a trip with those guys?
LTCG: Wow. 2010. You’re going back in time. That is so cool to see.
JM: (laughs)
LTCG: We had so many fun times. How can you pick one? I will say, one funny story is: Nobody could ever pronounce Bill Engvall’s last name. Nobody could ever pronounce it. They would always screw up Engvall. It would be Eg-vid or Eg-vull. So one day when they’re putting up the sign when we’re pulling into the arena… we had them put on the sign, “Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy, Ron White and That Other Guy”. (laughs) He wasn’t too happy with it.
JM: In one of the episodes, Mater and McQueen are figuring out if Bigfoot is real. Do you believe that Bigfoot is real, Larry?
LTCG: You know what? I do NOT believe Bigfoot is real. However, when I did my History Channel show [Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy], we went searching for Bigfoot. Of course, we never found Bigfoot. One funny thing about that: I had to hit a bat on a tree and we had to call for Bigfoot. I did it. My buddy went out in the woods and hollered back. And they were so excited they sent it to Texas A&M and they said, “Well we sent it to the voice thing. We don’t know what it is but whatever it is, it’s not human.” (laughs) But it was human! It was my buddy! So I don’t believe any of that stuff. But the episode is really good.
JM: Yes! That episode, The Shining episode, the circus episode. So many great ones. And I wanna see the second half of this adventure. Do you think we’re gonna get it at some point?
LTCG: Absolutely. I don’t see why you wouldn’t get the second half. Look… people love the series. People love those two characters. You got a new batch of kids every five or six years. And then the ones that started with it that STILL love it. I don’t write them. I don’t make the decisions. But once you see this series, I don’t see how you wouldn’t want another one.
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