I just looked at the clock on my computer, and it says it’s 1:13 a.m. at the moment I’m typing this. (I know, I’m practically nocturnal.) Which means I’m already one hour and 13 minutes into the third anniversary of Cars.
Now, before you just start shouting out, “Happy Birthday Cars!” this is a thread for more than that. It’s to share your personal experiences with the movie and in what ways the movie may have touched you. It’s to explain why you’ve been a fan of the movie for these three years. Here’s mine. It will be one of the longest posts, if not the longest.
I can still remember it like it was yesterday. We has bought the Incredibles on DVD in 2005. We hadn’t seen it in the theatres, so we bought it. I was 10 years old. Me, being the dork I am, love to watch all the previews. The preview that really caught my eye was for the new Disney/Pixar movie. The main thing that caught my eye was a rusted old truck driving along side a shiny red racecar. My first thought was, “Why are these two friends?” It really intreged me. By the time the teaser trailer was over, I said to my mom, “Look at this! Pixar’s newest film is called Cars! Ben [my little brother] will love this!” (Ben loved to play with toy cars at the time.) I was right about him loving it, for he did for about two and a half years. Lately, he’s been into other stuff. But little did I know just how much I was going to enjoy it.
Fast forward to May 9, 2006. It was my brother’s birthday, and the first time any Cars merchandise came into our house. My brother got four toys (Lightning, Mater, Chick, and Sheriff) for his birthday. We still have those toys, over three years later.
Fast forward to a lazy Sunday afternoon in June. My mom told us we were going to see Cars. I didn’t feel like going anywhere, believe it or not. I wanted to see it, but on a different day. But we went anyways. Before we did, we had lunch at a nearby park from MickeyD’s. There were the Cars toys in our Happy Meals. (I of course loved the Doc toy. It was the only pull car that didn’t fall off the table. It was a miracle! XD) Then, we went to see Cars. The first scene we saw was when Luigi meets the Ferarri. I thought it was the beginning of the film! Apparantly, our theatre was running behind. I do remember having to keep an eye on my brother while Lightning’s tires popped since my sister had to go potty. My brother wanted to follow. Ugh. Then, when Lightning found Doc’s Piston Cups, I didn’t see it. My sister had to go potty again and I had to accompany her this time. Other than that, I loved the experience! When I left, I thought to myself, “Why didn’t I want to come today?”
Now, I have mixed ideas when it happened, but I know I started having ideas for fanfics early on. I am always confusing myself. Was my first memorable idea created in summer of 2006 or 2007? Did I write my first one in the winter of 2007, or 2008? I forget! It’s somewhere between there! But I know I was writing by 2008. For I can still remember thinking up of ideas while listening to my CD player (which later evolved into my iPod). It was hard for me to not listen to a song, and have it not connect to Cars, or a Cars fanfic. Slowly, but surely, Cars was taking over my life.
Now, my obsession with it was low-key at first. When Cars came out, I was a Danny Phantom fan (or Dan phan if you want to make it catchy). I loved it more than Cars! But once DP ended, my Cars obsession grew faster than ever. I think it was because I needed something to fill in the void. That was also when more Cars fanfic ideas came to my mind. I was also very secretive with my obession. I didn’t even let my parents know about it! I was 12 at the time, and I though if people knew I like Cars, I’d be made fun of. But as time went on, I couldn’t deny it. I soon announced it to my family. Of course my brother thought it was cool, my sister thought it was a little dorky, and my parents helped encourage it. But I still didn’t tell my friends. All through 7th grade, I kept my obsession my dirty little secret. It wasn’t until last year, 8th grade, when I told them. Now, I’ve annoyed them. They made those nightmares of being made fun of almost true. Only they didn’t tease me about it. They just couldn’t stand it. But there was one thing that Cars taught me that wasn’t something you could learn from watching the movie. It was that everyone has their own interests, and no one should care about what other people think. It’s your life, and you should live it the way you want to. Even if it does mean annoying my friends to their breaking point. 
Another thing the movie taught me (and this is something that you have to watch the movie to learn) is that life is truely about the journey. Life is too precious to waste, and I’ve been living it out to the fullest. It’s a motto I’ve followed for a long time now. I still remember in 7th grade, we made a high school time capsule. And for motto, I put down the theme of Cars.
I have so many memories I could share with you all from personal experiences with the movie, put it would take up waaaaayyyyy too much thread space. So know it’s your turn. What are your experiences with the movie, and if it did, how did it touch you? And don’t forget to wish Cars a happy third birthday!
. I remember the day when 
I saw it six months after it came out, because back then I wasn’t really into cars and when I had seen the previews and stuff, I had actually begun to doubt Pixar’s everlasting magic anyway… oh, I’m so ashamed!
The majority of my Cars fangirling lasted about a year. I still love the film now, but I’ve watched it too many times to be too taken in by it anymore. It’s mainly the characters who I find intriguing in this particular Pixar.
It was also the first time that I geeked out over a Pixar film, changed my whole perception of the studio and its past and future movies, and made me choose to become an artist/writer as my career.