Cars Toon: Mater's Tall Tales [Blu-ray] [US Import] - Amazon UK

When McQueen inevitably questions the story's realism, Mater insists McQueen was there too, usually saying, "Don’t you remember? You was there, too!" .

The inaugural short set the tone perfectly. Mater claims he was once a fearless fire truck. In the flashback, he saves McQueen from a burning building, performs surgery (literally tightening a bolt on McQueen’s engine), and jumps over a canyon. The visual gags—such as the fire hydrants watching the surgery like a medical drama—showcased the level of detail Pixar put into these "mini-movies."

Mater's Tall Tales was more than just a marketing tool to sell more die-cast toys (though it certainly did that). It was a masterclass in character development. In the feature films, Mater is the comic relief. In the Tall Tales , he is the protagonist.

Interestingly, the success of directly influenced the plot of Cars 2 . Critics initially questioned why the sequel turned Mater into a secret agent (a "tall tale" come to life). However, fans of the shorts understood immediately. Cars 2 is essentially a feature-length Mater's Tall Tale . It operates on the logic that Mater could accidentally become a spy because, in his universe, he is the main character of an absurd action movie.