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Five things: animated movies and TV series that got cars right

Monday, 28 September 2020

Animated movies and TV shows don’t often put much detail into their cars. Here are five that did.

Animated movies and TV shows have a very easy out when it comes to cars – just make ‘em up! And a lot do, or just go for a “close enough” approach.

But today we are taking a look at four animated movies and one TV series that very much didn’t take the easy way out and absolutely nailed the cars, even when there was no real reason for them to do it. And, no, we aren’t even going to mention Pixar’s Cars movies, because they were supposed to be right…

Ratatouille

You expect a Citroën DS in a movie set in France, the detail-perfect Chausson bus, however, is just one of Ratatouille’s surprises.
You expect a Citroën DS in a movie set in France, the detail-perfect Chausson bus, however, is just one of Ratatouille’s surprises.

So this probably rubbed off from Cars, being another Pixar movie and all, but this sweet animated film about a rat who just wants to be a chef has some of the best animated cars puttering around in the background that you are ever going to see.

And because it is set in France, that are largely funny French cars, which look like cartoon cars in real life, so it is utterly perfect!

The obligatory Citroën 2CV and DS 19 feature, alongside more modern fare like the Renault Clio, and while the Citroën Type HY van and Chausson APVU 3 bus are delightful highlights, the stars are the Facel Vega and (in a Teutonic twist) a big Mercedes-Benz 600 that make the briefest of appearances.

He might have a drinking problem, but Sterling Archer certainly doesn’t have a car problem – they are all fantastic.
He might have a drinking problem, but Sterling Archer certainly doesn’t have a car problem – they are all fantastic.

Archer

The sole television entry into this list comes in the form of the delightfully twisted and subversive series about a fictional spy that has blossomed into so much more in its decade-long run.

The ubiquitous Crown Vic (left) features a lot in Into The Spider-Verse, which makes sense given it is s common taxi and police car. The frequent E39 BMW (right) less so... but its still cool.
The ubiquitous Crown Vic (left) features a lot in Into The Spider-Verse, which makes sense given it is s common taxi and police car. The frequent E39 BMW (right) less so... but its still cool.

The series time-hopping “it was all a dream” set up over the last few seasons has meant that the car spotting has become even more diverse and exciting, with literally every car that features in Archer being a true and accurate rendering of the real thing, so the episode set among illegal street racing featured a lot of JDM classics, while everything else from modern and classic American cars, Soviet-era VAZ and ZIL models, Euro classics, a Toyota Hilux, a Mark 1 Cortina, a McLaren M6 and even a Lotus 49 F1 car have featured.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse

While Into the Spider-verse was rightfully acclaimed for its story, animation, art style and, well, everything else, it also deserves massive credit for getting the heavy New York traffic perfect as well.

They might be blocky Lego representations, but The Lego Batman Movie goes all-out on its Batmobile count.
They might be blocky Lego representations, but The Lego Batman Movie goes all-out on its Batmobile count.

While there are a whole bunch of models for car spotters to pick in the traffic, two in particular stand out with the ubiquitous Ford Crown Victoria dominating the screen time as a police car and taxi.

The other one is a beautifully rendered BMW E39 3 Series that appears a number of times in different colours throughout the course of the film. So often, in fact, it is quite distracting for the car spotter. An animator was either clearly a bit lazy of a big fan of the E39…

The Lego Batman Movie

Okay, so the movie is set in 1957 and this is a 1959 Caddy, but The Iron Giant gets the look of its cars right.
Okay, so the movie is set in 1957 and this is a 1959 Caddy, but The Iron Giant gets the look of its cars right.

Okay, so this is a Lego movie, so the cars are only ever blocky representations at best and, even then, aren’t based on real cars. But there is one painfully brief scene that justifies its inclusion here.

It is the scene where Robin discovers the Batcave for the first time, and we get a quick view of all the Batmobiles parked in it. And I mean ALL of them.

Everything from the Tim Burton/Micheal Keaton-era rocket-propelled Batmobile, the brilliantly monolithic one from the ‘90s animated series, the first ever Batmobile that was just a red 1950s convertible with a chrome bat emblem on the bonnet and even the massive tank that was the Batmobile in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel series…

The Iron Giant

Not only is The Iron Giant a sweetly touching story for all ages done in a traditional animation style, it is also a car-spotting treasure trove of period correct post-war vehicles.

Everything from a 1951 Hudson Hornet to a Harley-Davidson motorbike and a Ford F-350 tow truck feature, and even accurate military vehicles get a look in with the expected Willy’s Jeep. But it is the wonderfully accurate Cadillac-produced M41 Walker Bulldog tank that is the star there.

One slight slip up, however, is the lovely but derelict 1959 Cadillac Series 62 Hogarth and the Giant play with in a junkyard. It is very accurately rendered, however the film is actually set in 1957…