<\/a>Cars Toons co-director, Rob Gibbs, spoke exclusively to Upcoming Pixar about his experiences on the series.<\/p>\n If you’re a fan of the shorts, you’re probably really excited for this Friday’s premiere of Monster Truck Mater. But before you catch the latest installment in the series, check out the inspiration behind the project, in-jokes to look out for and even some upcoming scenarios that Mater will end up in.<\/p>\n ——-<\/p>\n Upcoming Pixar:<\/strong> How did Cars Toons come about; what inspired the shorts?<\/em> John Lasseter felt that there was no reason to do these shorts unless they expanded the World of Cars and explored new characters and new environments. One of our animators, Bobby Podesta, had the idea of Mater telling Tall Tales about his supposed past. Thus the beginning of Cars Toons. <\/p>\n UP:<\/strong> Which of the ‘Tall Tales’ was your favorite to work on; why? In contrast, Monster Truck Mater is an adrenaline rush backed by rock music. It was fun to explore different types of Monster Trucks that Mater would "wrestle" and find different ways for him to defeat them. Another short that will air later this year, Heavy Metal Mater, is awesome. <\/p>\n
\nRob Gibbs:<\/strong> They started out as a series of short ideas, to "keep the characters alive", that would air on TV to fill the gap between Cars and Cars 2. They were to run about 30 seconds each. But the more interesting ideas were the ones that involved bigger stories and more characters. <\/p>\n
\n<\/em>RG:<\/strong> I have many favorites for different reasons. [Unidentified Flying Mater] is a short in which Mater meets his alien counter part, a buck toothed UFO<\/span>, and it’s a story of friendship. I found the idea very charming. It wasn’t until a couple of our story folks had the idea of doing a reverse alien abduction and then it became a story of Mater rescuing his new best friend, and it all unfolded. The score, done by Mark Mothersbaugh, is really sweet. <\/p>\n