The Radiator Springs 500½

The Radiator Springs 500½ is a Cars Toons episode. It is the fourth in the Tales from Radiator Springs series, and was premiered on Disney's app Disney Movies Anywhere on May 20, 2014 and Disney Channel on August 1, 2014.

Plot

The town of Radiator Springs is hosting their annual "Stanley Days" celebration, in honor of their town's founder Stanley, which Lightning McQueen got dressed up as him, and the rest of the residents have been dressed with early 1900s looks. Mater then spots a cloud of dust in the distance, which a group of Baja racers have sped into town looking for McQueen, having heard he was the fastest racecar in the west. Mater tells them that McQueen is the fastest in the north, south, east and west. Sandy Dunes asks for Mater's name, which Mater replies, and Sandy asks, "What's a 'Mater'?" Mater then replies, "Nothin'. What's the 'Mater' with you?", before the Rimshot Pitty rolls into frame hitting his drums, which he does this every time Mater says a pun. Shortly thereafter, the Baja racers insult Stanley, making Lizzie angry, and prompting Lightning to utter, "Looks like our leisurely drive just turned into a race."

Luigi and Guido then give McQueen an off-road modification, and the racers prepare to start the race. Mater informs the racers of their course with a series of extremely quick and confusing directions. While the racers are speeding their way, Mater leads the rest of the gang along on the leisurely drive, and gets dressed as Stanley so to cheer Lizzie up. The racers come to two canyons with some tractors nearby, which Mater informs them to go left, but they turn right after getting confused with Mater saying that turning left is right when he meant it is correct. As the other residents drive over the rolling hills that were behind the canyon on the left, the racers go over a bumpy ground with rocks scattered around. The Baja racers stop on the edge of a cliff, which Sandy says that "There's no way that Stanley fella coulda done this!" McQueen, thinking that the others gave up, falls down the cliff, and the other racers follow him before they all slide down a steep hill. Sally asks Mater what it is like on the rolling hills back in 1909, which Mater responds that they had ups and downs.

Next, the racers drive through a cactus patch, getting injured with several cacti pieces stuck to them. Meanwhile, Mater and the crew enjoy the drive on the road going past a lake. As they arrive in the Tail Light Caverns, Ramone enjoys the shines of the tail lights on Flo, before Mater says to "go with the flow." The racers, meanwhile, come into a different cavern, which Sandy thought it was the Tail Lights Caverns, until McQueen realizes, by using his off-road headlights, that there are actually tailpipes inside the cavern, which all shoot soot at the racers.

When Mater and the crew are in the Enchanted Forest, Fillmore asks Mater how much further they are, which Mater replies that they're not out of the woods yet, until they are a few seconds later, and Mater says, "OK, now we are," and the Rimshot Pitty bangs his drums again. The crew arrive back in town, and the Rimshot Pitty bangs his drums after Mater, still in his Stanley costume, says that he's "beside himself," which is Stanley's statue. The crew then wonder where the racers are (as they should be back by now), which the racers are revealed to be lost at dark in a spooky forest instead of the Enchanted Forest, and get scared by the multiple car corpses found around them. As the racers speed back into town, they are humbled by Stanley's bravery - they can't understand how a car like Stanley could have traveled on such a treacherous journey (not knowing that their path was completely different). Mater asks them if they enjoyed their leisurely drive, which Sandy replies that Stanley was "one tough customer." McQueen then responds that Stanley is "the roughest, toughest car in the west" as a ghost of Stanley appears and winks.

Voice Cast

• Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen
• Larry the Cable Guy as Mater
• Steve Purcell as Sandy Dunes
• Jess Harnell as Blue Grit
• John Cygan as Idle Threat
• Danny Mann as Shifty Sidewinder
• Bonnie Hunt as Sally Carrera
• Cheech Marin as Ramone
• Lloyd Sherr as Fillmore
• Katherine Helmond as Lizzie
• Tony Shalhoub as Luigi
• Guido Quaroni as Guido
• Paul Dooley as Sarge
• Jenifer Lewis as Flo
• Michael Wallis as Sheriff

Additional voices

• Lori Alan
• April Winchell

Quotes

"Mater: "Alright, here's what you wanna do. It's simple: Head right outta town, turn right you off the main street there, go left there at the tractors, and then you head right over them Rollin' Hills, right past the Cool Pool of Tranquility, right through beautiful Tail Light Caverns, right through the Enchanted Forest, and you right back at home."
Sandy Dunes: "Wait, so, left at the tractors?"
Mater: "Right."
Lightning McQueen: "And by right, you mean left?"
Mater: "Left is right."
Blue Grit: "Right is left?"
Luigi: "No, left is right."
Idle Threat: So, we turn right?"
Sandy Dunes: "Enough! Let's..."
Sheriff: "GO!" (Backfires, race starts)"

—Mater explaining the rules, and the racers get confused, [[{{{3}}}]]

"Sandy Dunes: "How's our dust taste, city boy?"
Lightning McQueen: "Not as good as mine!""

—Sandy and Lightning racing, [[{{{3}}}]]

Trivia

• This is the first Cars Toons episode to have McQueen voiced by Owen Wilson (his original voice actor from the films) rather than Keith Ferguson.
• The forest in which Lightning McQueen and the Baja pros get lost follows a deleted scene from Cars. In that scene, before arriving in Radiator Springs, Lightning McQueen found himself in a graveyard full of car corpses with trees growing through them, causing him to panic.
• The famous Wilhelm scream is heard when the racers fall down the cliff after the bumpy ground with rocks.
• Sandy's line to McQueen, "How's our dust taste, city boy?" may be a reference to in the first film when Sheriff says to McQueen, "Get a good peek, city boy?" while being "operated" on by Doc Hudson.
• One of the car corpses in the forest closely resembles Doc Hudson.
• Sally is a Porsche 996 Carrera 2002; her "Stanley Days" outfit resembles a Porsche 356C Carrera 1959.

Gallery

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• Red.

  Red.

• Mater, Lightning McQueen, Sally, and Sarge.

  Mater, Lightning McQueen, Sally, and Sarge.

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• The graveyard.

  The graveyard.

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• Concept Art.

  Concept Art.

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  Concept Art.

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  Concept Art.

• Concept Art.

  Concept Art.

• Concept Art.

  Concept Art.

Videos

• "McQueen Gets Challenged" Clip

  "McQueen Gets Challenged" Clip

• "Bailey" Clip

  "Bailey" Clip

• First preview

  First preview