POSTED ON Tuesday, May 30, 2006
.:: CARS World Premiere - Charlotte, NC - May 26, 2006
Well, as I previously posted, J-Rod, Hirsh and I headed up to North Carolina this past Thursday to go to the World Premiere of Disney - Pixar's "Cars". The trip as a whole was better than I could have expected. However, there were essentially two sides to the trip. "The Premiere" and "The Rest". Today's post will cover "The Premiere", with "The Rest" to follow soon. (Jeez.... that is enough quotations already) So, ladies and gentlemen, start your engines...

I promise I will try to take it easy on the usage of automotive sayings.

About four on Friday we made our way from the abyss that we called home (you'll understand with the next post) and mosied over to the race track. We got there at just the right time. Right as we walked up they were unloading all the lifesize replicas of the characters from the movie.


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They were amazing. Honestly. The details and work that were put into these blew my mind. The guards told everyone except the workers and VIP families to leave the area as they were setting up for the red carpet event. We then walked down the red carpet and sat in an area right beside the VIP section. Bear in mind however, we had no VIP credentials whatsoever. We just sat to the side and apparently people assumed we were supposed to be there. Then the rain came.... and came... and came. They finally told all the VIP pass holders to go into the speedway to wait out the storm. So, since we weren't VIP, we went in anyway. It was nice. They gave us ponchos and ushered us in out of the rain. The people who walked in with us asked, "Did you all just jump a fence to get in or something?" To which Hirsh eloquently replied, "Shhhhhhhhh." Luckily they were the only two humans on earth to find Hirsh amusing, so they said nothing. We started to think the rain was a blessing, it got us right into the mix with the VIP's. Then the rain stopped. This is where things got hairy. We saw that they were starting to usher people back outside to the VIP section... and they were checking for passes. I tried to scope out somewhere inside for us to lay low, but I was stopped by a "Piracy Control" officer who asked me for my credentials. I smoothly told him that I had taken it off during the storm and it was back with the rest of the party. He grimaced, and let me go on. But alas... there was nowhere to hide out. So, with the ushers herding us forward, and the credential checkers just ahead, we decided it was time to bail.


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Therefore when I got up to the gate, and the man asked for my credentials, I pulled out my most obnoxious southern accent and said, "You know wut? I don think we're supposed to be in here. -- We just wanna see that movie-thing, but somehow we got in here with all these fancy people." Hirsh followed up with, "We just wanna get out." Confused, the usher just looked at us and kind of pointed to the side. So we just walked on... but apparently we confused him enough that he wasn't sure what to tell us. Because he let us walk right out into the red carpet section. I waved and bowed for the cameras.... I am sure you will see me on E! soon. Eventually, we made our way off the red carpet, through a fence, and back out with the commoners where we took our place in line to get back inside.


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The Premiere itself was the absolute best movie experience I have ever attended. Disney went all out promoting this one. The night started with a cover band, though I cannot remember the name. (I do wonder though, who thought of hiring this cover band that did mainly Beyonce and other R&B for this crowd of 30,000+ NASCAR race fans) After the band was done, the National Anthem was performed and followed up with a flyover of 3 fighter jets. Then we got to watch a 12 lap exhibition race which, oddly enough, was won by the race car with the "Cars" logo on it.

Then the main even started. Larry the Cable Guy emceed the event. And although I have to be honest and admit I have never seen any of his comedy, he was actually very funny. So he broke the ice and then introduced the members of the cast and production staff that were there. This consisted of John Lasseter, Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Cheech Marin, Tony Shalhoub, Paul Dooley, Katherine Helmond, Jenifer Lewis, Richard Petty, Darrel Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and OF COURSE Pixar's lucky charm, John Ratzenberger. The events taking place at the raceway were raising money for a couple of charities, which was great, and Disney themselves donated $1 million to the charities that night.


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After the cast introduction, country singer Brad Paisley performed a few songs. Again... I don't know this guy's work either, but he still did a great job at getting the crowd revved up. (I know, I know... I said "revved") Then came the coup des gras... Chuck Berry performed. Once I got over the shock that Chuck Berry was still alive, I had the amazing realization that instead of singing "Roll Over Beethoven", he should have been singing, "Roll Over Into the Grave Chuck Berry". I mean, I am trying to be nice, but it literally was like watching a car wreck. Even Larry the Cable Guy was stumped at the end when Mr. Berry was walking around the stage in circles, holding the guitar over his head and picking one string over and over again. No one had any idea what he was doing. Except me. I am confident he just forgot which way he was supposed to go to get back to the retirement home. But once they stopped the bleeding and removed Chucky from the stage, they fired up the movies. Four screens. Each approximately 150 'x 75'. Each had multiple DLP projector and they were all synced. That feat in and of itself was astounding. And the sound was literally louder than the race cars in the exhibition.


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The movie was absolutely amazing. Definitely the best computer animated film of the year thus far, and the best in quite a while. To be 100% honest, I did not find the story quite as appealing as the past couple of Pixar films, but that may just be me. And DO NOT take that the wrong way, I still think the story is freaking awesome! It is by far leaps and bounds above most all other CG films out there. And the animation was just so inspiring to watch. You know me, I love animating, and think bringing life to characters is awesome. But looking at some of the animation in CARS just blew me away. Bringing the "cars" to life. Breathing life into their movements, movements that I would not have known where to begin on.... just amazing. The stylization of the movie was perfect, of course, too. The characters, the environments, lighting.... Just a stunningly beautiful movie all the way around. So with that, I can emphatically say that "Cars" is an absolute must see! As a matter of fact, I will be back there on June 9th seeing it all over again.

Seacrest out!

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