Tow Mater

Tow Mater
Cars character
Mater as he appears in most Cars media
First appearance	Cars (2006)
Created by	John Lasseter Joe Ranft Jorgen Klubien
Voiced by	Larry the Cable Guy (2006–present) Adam Burton (Cars 3: Driven to Win)
Family	Mato (sister) Cruz Ramirez (cousin-in-law)
In-universe information
Species	Tow truck
Gender	Male
Occupation	Owner of Tow Mater Towing & Salvage
Significant other	Holley Shiftwell
Home	Radiator Springs

Tow Mater (also known as Mater) is a fictional anthropomorphic tow truck of the Pixar Cars franchise. His appearances include the feature films Cars, Cars 2, and Cars 3, as well as in the TV series Cars Toons and Cars on the Road. Mater is also a playable character in each of the Cars video game installments. He is voiced by Larry the Cable Guy.

In Cars, Mater is the local tow truck who owns and operates his own towing and salvage yard in Radiator Springs and is the first vehicle in town to support Lightning McQueen. They quickly become best friends. In Cars 2, Mater heads overseas to act as Lightning's crew chief in the first ever World Grand Prix, but inadvertently becomes involved in international espionage after being mistaken as a spy. In Cars 3, Mater is a supporting character who stays behind in Radiator Springs, but gives advice to Lightning McQueen on how to defeat Jackson Storm later in the film.

Following his debut in Cars, Mater has taken on the role of secondary protagonist throughout the franchise and is generally seen as the series' breakout character, most apparent in his role as the main protagonist in Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales, Cars 2, and Cars 3.

Development

Concept and creation

Mater takes his name from construction superintendent and die-hard NASCAR fan Douglas "Mater" Keever, who was later invited by Pixar to provide the voice of one of the motorhome characters watching Lightning McQueen race at the beginning of the film. Cars director John Lasseter met him in 2001 while conducting research for the film at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte. Upon meeting Lasseter, Keever introduced himself by the nickname he had been given in childhood: "My name's Mater[...]Yeah, like tuh-mater, but without the tuh." This line was eventually used by the character in the film. Keever explained that the nickname originated in him throwing tomatoes around his family's farm. Lasseter was immediately interested in him as he felt that he was a definitive NASCAR fan. Although the cheerful truck character was originally intended to be a flatbed, Lasseter realised that the concept was not working and came up with the idea of a tow truck instead, using Keever's nickname as a pun to create "Tow-Mater".

The former Kan-O-Tex Service Station and the 1951 International Harvester tow truck that inspired the design for Mater

Mater's driving skills include a claim to be "the world's best backwards driver," an ability inspired by Dean Walker, a Kansas Historic Route 66 Association president known in Riverton as "Crazy Legs Walker, the Ambassador of Crazy Feet on Route 66" for his ability to twist his feet backward and walk in reverse. The Pixar production team met Walker during a nine day tour of Route 66 guided by historian Michael Wallis in 2001 and decided to include his ability in the film. Wallis was keen for the production team to incorporate aspects of the people that they met on the trip into the car characters to make them more human. He also said that Mater's character was inspired partly by "a troubadour in Erick, Okla., who wears a redneck tuxedo" named Harley Russell. According to Wallis, Mater's appearance was inspired by "a rusty old tow truck" that they came across in Galena, which he knew would end up in the film. Wallis recalled the moment that inspired Mater's design: "There was an old wrecker in an empty lot by Route 66 in Galena, Kan., ... Joe Ranft, the studio's head of story and a key member of the Pixar team, stopped and noticed it, and Mater was born." The inspiration for the character was a 1951 International Harvester tow truck that was used to pull equipment from the lead mines of Galena and, following the release of the film, was parked outside the former Kan-O-Tex Service Station as a tourist attraction. Due to copyright reasons, Disney requested that the truck be renamed, so the owners decided to call it "Tow Tater".

Voice

Tow Mater is voiced by American stand-up comedian Larry the Cable Guy. He said that he loved voicing the character because it was completely different to anything he had done previously.

Appearances

Cars

Main article: Cars (film)

Tow Mater is a jolly, outgoing tow truck who lives in Radiator Springs, a near ghost town on historic U.S. Route 66. He owns a salvage yard called "Tow Mater Towing & Salvage", but after the town was bypassed by the interstate, has not seen any real work in years. After meeting Lightning McQueen in the impound for destroying the town's main road, he tries to befriend him. After a few days of being mostly ignored, Mater manages to talk Lightning into joining him for his favorite hobby "tractor tipping", which results in the pair narrowly escaping Frank, a large red combine harvester. On the drive home, Mater shows Lightning his special move, the ability to drive backwards with extreme precision, dubbing himself the "world's best backwards driver". Lightning is amazed by this ability and slowly begins to open up to Mater about his fast-paced life as a Piston Cup racecar. After Lightning agrees to let him go on a helicopter ride if he wins the race, Mater declares that he made a good choice in choosing Lightning as his best friend. Mater is later disappointed when Doc Hudson forces Lightning out of Radiator Springs. He is excited when Doc is revealed to be a former champion and brings Mater and the other residents to help Lightning in the tie-breaker race. During the race, Mater serves on Lightning's pit crew. Afterwards, he rides in the Dinoco helicopter that Lightning promised him above Radiator Springs.

Cars 2

Main article: Cars 2

Mater replica on tour for Cars 2

Five years after the events of the first film, Mater, having no idea that he would soon be dragged into a life-threatening espionage mission, patiently awaits Lightning McQueen's return from a long Piston Cup season. As soon as Lightning arrives in Radiator Springs, Mater immediately goes on his favorite hobbies with him all day until Lightning leaves to spend time with Sally in the evening at the Wheel Well in Tailfin Pass.

Mater decides to sneak into the Wheel Well that evening and act as Lightning and Sally's waiter, but gets distracted by the announcement of the World Grand Prix, an event promoting a new alternative fuel called Allinol, on the Mel Dorado Show. When Francesco Bernoulli, a Formula One inspired racecar competing in the race, claims that he is a better racer than Lightning on the show, Mater goes in over the phone to defend him. Lightning drives in to defend Mater after Francesco starts insulting them both, and decides to become a competitor in the race in order to get back at him. Lightning invites Mater to join him as his crew chief to make up for not letting him come to his other races, and they set out from Radiator Springs to Tokyo for the inaugural race.

At the pre-race party, Mater is mistaken for an American spy by British Agent Holley Shiftwell after Rod Redline, the real American agent, is caught and plants his intel device on Mater. Mater is mesmerized by her beauty and falls for her immediately. During the first race, Mater becomes sidetracked with Holley and meets Finn McMissile for the first time, but costs Lightning the win in the process, resulting in him lashing out at Mater after the race for seemingly telling him imaginary things over the radio. Feeling rejected, Mater decides to retire as Lightning's crew chief and return home, only to be taken back into the spy mission by Finn. Meanwhile, Lightning receives a note from Mater telling him that he left before he could apologize, and realizes that he inadvertently hurt their friendship.

Finn, believing that being a tow truck is only part of Mater's cover as a spy, becomes convinced that he would be an indispensable ally on his and Holley's mission and invites him to join them in meeting an informant in Paris, France. From Paris, the trio head out by train to Porto Corsa, Italy where Mater receives his first task as a spy; infiltrate a secret meeting being held by the Lemons in order to find out who the mastermind behind the sabotaging of the racecars in the World Grand Prix is. Mater learns that the Lemons intentionally made Allinol defective in order to create sentiment against alternative fuel and drive more profit into their oil business, which in turn would pay for their repairs. When Lightning chooses to continue using Allinol during the final race in London despite the danger, the Lemons decide to kill him. Mater immediately becomes terrified and accidentally blows his cover, resulting in him being set to be crushed by the large gears inside Big Bentley along with Finn and Holley.

After escaping Big Bentley, Finn and Holley go after Zündapp while Mater rushes to Lightning's pit stall in the midst of the race to warn everyone of a bomb that will explode if Lightning gets close, only to learn that the bomb is actually inside his air filter. Just then Lightning arrives completely unaware of the danger and desperately tries to apologize to Mater for his outburst in Toyko, leading to a high-speed chase between the two ending in a final confrontation with the Lemons. Mater quickly realizes that Axlerod is the mastermind behind the plot against alternative fuel and is granted an honorary knighthood by the Queen, and Lightning gets to restore his friendship with Mater, telling him that he is officially coming to all of his races from now on.

After returning home, Finn tells Mater that he has approval from the Queen to take part in more spy missions. Mater respectfully declines, believing that he is meant to live with his lifelong friends in Radiator Springs, but competes in the unofficial Radiator Springs Grand Prix with Lightning by retaining a pair of rocket jets, part of the weapons arsenal he acquired from Finn and Holley.

Cars 3

Main article: Cars 3

Mater remains McQueen's best friend and supporter, going as far as wearing over-the-top novelty hats to encourage McQueen during his races. He is there with Sally to comfort McQueen after he crashes, and is among the rest of the Radiator Springs residents to witness McQueen make the decision to continue racing. Mater decides to stay with the other cars in Radiator Springs while McQueen heads to the Rust-eze Training Center to prepare for the Florida 500, and asks McQueen to call him after he has arrived there.

Later in the film McQueen video calls Mater, and they both have a heart-to-heart conversation. McQueen asks Mater for help after seeing that nextgen racer Jackson Storm has set a new speed record. In response, Mater helps McQueen remember Doc Hudson's mentor and crew chief Smokey, and he decides to locate him and ask for his advice.

During the Florida 500, Mater becomes aware of Sterling's selfish plans and buys McQueen some time by distracting Sterling, allowing McQueen to get Cruz Ramirez to replace him during the race. Mater later returns with everyone to Radiator Springs, and is there when McQueen reveals that he would continue racing but first spend the rest of the season as Cruz's crew chief. In a post-credits scene, Mater is seen singing in his junkyard. He receives a call but accidentally knocks his stand over.

Mater and the Ghostlight

Main article: Mater and the Ghostlight

Mater and the Ghostlight takes place after the events of Cars and follows Mater's new hobby of pranking various residents of Radiator Springs at night. His final prank on Lightning McQueen is the most successful. Everyone starts laughing at McQueen, and Mater teases him by saying that he looked like he had seen the Ghostlight.

Sheriff admonishes Mater for "mocking the Ghostlight," an urban legend amongst the cars. The Ghostlight is described as a "glowing orb of blue, translucent light" that haunts Radiator Springs, and hates nothing more than the sound of clanking metal. He concludes with an overly cheerful "Well, g'night!" The population of Radiator Springs then leave within seconds, leaving a very nervous Mater by himself.

After Mater reaches his salvage yard, he is frightened by a "lightning bug" (a tiny flying Volkswagen Beetle with bright headlights). As he relaxes, a bright blue glow suddenly appears behind him and, thinking it is the Ghostlight, goes into a blind panic, racing around Radiator Springs until he is exhausted. The Ghostlight, however, turns out to be a glowing blue lantern placed on Mater's tow hook by McQueen and Guido as payback for the pranks Mater pulled on the other cars.

In a post-credits scene, Mater finds that he has a huge construction vehicle behind him, snarling and carrying the license plate "Banshee." Mater does not realize what is though and warns it of the Screaming Banshee before driving off, bidding the confused vehicle a good night.

Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales

Main article: Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales

In Cars Toon: Mater's Tall Tales, Mater returns as the main character with Larry the Cable Guy reprising his role. Each tale begins with Mater telling a far-fetched story of his past. In the story, Mater finds himself in an inescapable predicament. When McQueen questions Mater over whether the events in the story actually occurred, Mater responds, "Don't you remember? You was there too!", and continues the story including McQueen's sudden participation. The short series end with Mater leaving the conversation, often followed by characters or references to the story that was being told, putting up a possibility that the story might have been real.

Cars on the Road

Main article: Cars on the Road

After the events of Cars 3, Mater reveals that he has an older sister living at his childhood house in the eastern United States, much to the awe of Lightning McQueen and the other residents of Radiator Springs. He spontaneously announces his decision to drive across the country to attend her wedding, but laments that he has not seen her in ages and is not looking forward to the trip. To make Mater feel better, Lightning offers to go with him and make it a road trip; Mater happily agrees. During the trip, Lightning and Mater make stops at various events and landmarks across the country, including a dino-park, a haunted hotel, and a movie production. Mater is often more open to meeting new cars and trying new experiences than Lightning, which often tends to lead to something unexpected and uncomfortable for him.

When Mater and Lightning finally arrive at Mater's childhood house, Lightning is immediately shocked at the enormous size of the house and the obvious wealthy upbringing of Mater. Lightning and Mater soon discover that Cruz Ramirez is also at the wedding; her cousin, Mateo, is the groom, meaning Mater and Ramirez will become family. When Mater and his sister, revealed to be named Mato, finally see each other, their appearances and personalities sharply contrast from one another. Mato prods Mater on and reveals their competitive rivalry over who is better. They initiate several competitions with one another, delaying the wedding. With help from Cruz, Mater and Mato are able to work out their differences, and the wedding proceeds. At the dinner, Mater gives an inspirational toast. This prompts Lightning to think about the time he and Mater spent together during the road trip, and that taking the road back with Mater would be a better decision than to take an airplane home. The series ends with Mater and Lightning beginning the drive back to Radiator Springs.

Video games

Mater with other Disney/Pixar characters advertising Disney Infinity

Mater appears in all Cars video games with Larry the Cable Guy reprising his role in all games to date (with the exception of Cars 3: Driven to Win). In Cars, Mater is a playable character in Arcade Mode, "Tractor Tipping", and "Rustbucket Race-O-Rama" levels. He does commentary for the "Radiator Springs Grand Prix" and the "Radiator Springs GP". He teaches McQueen how to drive backwards in "Mater's Backwards Lesson". Mater is also a playable character in both the Story and Arcade Mode of Cars Mater-National Championship. Cars Race-O-Rama introduces three new rivals to Mater: Bubba, Tater and Tater Jr., all of them tow trucks, who challenge Mater to a race for the towing rights to Radiator Springs. Mater also makes an appearance as a playable character in Cars 2: the Video Game as well as Disney Infinity, Disney Infinity 2.0, and Disney Infinity 3.0 as a playable character and a figure.

In popular culture

• In 2006, Hollywood automotive body customizer Eddie Paul created Lightning, Sally, and Mater as real-life vehicles brought by Mack on a 41-city Cars promotional tour.
• Real life replicas of Mater and Lightning McQueen are shown at Disney California Adventure Park at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA and Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot (as plants due to the sequel, Cars 2) of Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, FL. In addition, unofficial replicas have been created by fans of the movie.

Reception

Steve Daly of Entertainment Weekly described Mater as the breakout star of Cars, commenting that "he steals every scene he's part of". Michael Agger of Slate commented that although Mater comes across as a Southern stereotype, he is presented in a positive light. He praised Mater's drawl as a "lovely instrument, overflowing with character" and the sweetness of his friendship with Lightning McQueen. Empire's Olly Richards singled him out as the only character that the audience was likely to remember at the film's credits, describing the other characters as not particularly funny. Phil Patton of The New York Times described Mater as the "most lovable character" in the film.

Mater's prominent role in the plot of Cars 2 received an unfavourable review from A. O. Scott of The New York Times, who described him as Pixar's "redneck Jar-Jar Binks" and considered it a "calamitous" move. He disliked his "exaggerated drawl" and thought that Mater is "dumb, excitable and puppy-dog loyal, his idiot-savant automotive expertise grounded in humble, blue-collar simplicity". Aly Semigran writing for Entertainment Weekly reflected on this and also questioned why he had been given top billing in the film despite being the "second banana" to Lightning McQueen, but felt that he would not ultimately be detrimental to the franchise. A. A. Dowd of The A.V. Club wrote that placing Mater in the film's leading role was "the biggest sin" of Cars 2. He likened Mater's espionage storyline to The Man Who Knew Too Little, with Bill Murray as Mater, and described him as a "fairly one-note character, built mostly for comic relief". Polygon writer Julia Alexander opined that with the release of Cars 3, Pixar attempted to ignore the events of Cars 2, making no reference to Mater's heroism and honorary knighthood in the second film due to its poor reception and instead focused the third film squarely on Lightning McQueen.