Went to watch the show Cars at TM this morning. The TM GV shows a lot of advertisements, and it was nearly half an hour after the stated time that the movie itself actually started. There was even a short clip from Pixar which was really funny. It showed 2 buskers competing for a measly coin from the only person in the village square. It's actually a very interesting interpretation of the chinese phrase 鹬蚌相争，渔翁得利. (yu bang xiang zheng, yu weng de li). In the end, the little girl was so stressed she dropped the coin, which rolled into the drain and was lost forever. However, she grabbed a violin and started her own performance, and got a gigantic bag of coins for her efforts. She tossed two into the fountain, and the clip ends with the buskers still trying to get the coins out at night. The rest of the advertisements were the usual ones you see at movies. I think they are of a higher standard than those TV ads, but the visa one is getting a bit stale. At least I didn't have to see the Dynamo one, where a whole room of scientists purposely stain their lab coats. How impossible is that? It's such a silly concept, and the surprise of the cleaning lady was so incredibly fake. I prefer the Pepsi ads on Yahoo Music.

(Possible spoilers coming up)
I digress. Cars is a very nice show because of the wonderful storyline, and the animation is great too. It's about a racing car with a huge ego, selfish, self-centred, brimming with confidence, but who fails to appreciate the people, or rather cars, who have elevated him to that position. By a stroke of fortune (or misfortune, depending on how you see it), he finds himself in an old forgotten town, forced to do community service. Throughout his stay, he learns a lot about friendship, and realises that there is so much more to life than personal achievement. He enters the tiebreaker race without his usual pit crew and distracted by his reflections of the past week. His new friends come in as his pit crew, and he is also able to put some newly acquired skills to good use during the race. If this was a run of the mill cartoon like the Power Rangers, where the good guys win every time, it would still be a good story, but in the case of Cars, the hero does not win the race. Instead, he stops right before the finish line, and returns to help his fallen competitor finish the race. This act shows how much he has changed during his stay in the town. He has truly realised that it can be meaningful to help others and going all out to win may not be the right thing to do. After all, the trophy is just a metal cup. The end does not always justify the means.

The winner, who used underhand tactics to win, was booed when he was presented with the trophy. Instead of getting the cheers he expected, he lost the respect of the fans, who were moved by the actions of the protagonist. The protagonist even got a coveted sponsorship offer despite losing, which he turned down as he was grateful to the ones who had helped him achieve what he did.

Cars is a beautiful story about friendship, trust, helping others and sportsmanship. It tells the tale of a car who was transformed by the actions of others to become much more likeable. In today's rat race, it is certainly heartwarming to see that there are people who still believe in ideals. It is not only about winning, but how you win. With the World Cup currently on, this is something that all the diving and dishonest players can learn from this animated movie.