Day 12: Ghostlight!
October 12, 2022
Dear Disney,
In 2006, in the DVD box set of Cars, Pixar brought audiences back to the world of Cars in a short that is a horror/supernatural/prankster piece called “Mater and the Ghostlight.” This short is quick and witty and always fun to watch, but, similarly to “Legend of Mor’du,” I never considered this to be especially holiday related. I was wrong. “Mater and the Ghostlight” is a perfect, spoopy, Halloween-esque short for all ages.
The short opens with Mater pulling a series of pranks and scares on the citizens of Radiator Springs. Lightning MCQueen thinks all of these pranks are relatively foolish, and Mater asks Lightning if he knows about the Ghostlight of Route 66. Sheriff overhears the conversation, and when asked by Lightning if this was true, Sherrif tells the urban legend of the blue orb that haunts Radiator Springs. He tells about a couple vanishing, leaving only two out-of-state license plates behind. Mater finds that his imagination has run wild with Sheriff’s story and is scared of the Ghostlight now that he is alone as all of the citizens of Radiator Springs have gone back to their individual houses and stores. Throughout the night, Mater thinks that the Ghostlight is behind every bush. Mater is even scared by a small lightning bug, thinking that the bug was the Ghostlight. Suddenly, Mater is encompassed with a light-blue glow: the Ghostlight! The remainder of the short is Mater being chased throughout Radiator Springs by the Ghostlight. By the end of the short, Mater learns that there is no such thing as the Ghostlight. The light that had been following him all night was none other than a lamp affixed to his tow-hook.
The short is fun and campy and spoopy. I kind of love how campy it is. We can really see the characters of Radiator Springs interact with each other on a day-by-day basis and that is what I like about it.
Watching the short for 31 Days of Halloween has got me interested in watching the other Cars shorts. I think I will do exactly that.
Sincerely,
Jim Dear
