Mater Mondays: Monster Truck Mater

Hello & welcome back. Today, we once again continue Mater Mondays as I take a look at Monster Truck Mater.  Now this short, I'm not sure how I feel about it as it's not bad but I do feel that it isn't as strong as some of the previous shorts that I've cover during this retrospective.




The Plot


The plot here is perhaps my biggest issue as it almost feels too simple.   In it we see Mater as a monster truck wrestler going through different stages and fighting different class levels until he finally reaches the World Championship and takes on the reigning champ and  this is where I have a real big issue because in the past few shorts, we haven't had to deal with the whole McQueen getting hurt thing but not only does that return here but it is shown that the World Champ is a tag team match, which doesn't make sense within the context of this short as all of the other matches had been solo matches.   Maybe it's just me but I think that is a contrived way to get McQueen in on the  action.    Now just to get it out of the way, here are all of the opponents that Mater faces throughout his career as a wrestler.  And I'll give you their names right now right here,  I-Screamer,  Dr. Feel Bad,   Captain Collision,  Rasta Carian,  & Paddy O'Concrete

I will say that even though I don't care for this short all that much, I do like the varied look of Mater's opponents or excuse me, Tormentor as that is his wrestling name.   Also here is the Mia & Tia cameo for this short.    

Characters


Now I'll just be breaking this down into Main, & Rival.  



Main Characters



Tormentor (Mater) voiced by Larry The Cable Guy 

Now this is what Mater looks like in the beginning and it's nothing special but I must admit that I do like the different tricks that Mater uses on his opponents to win the matches.  Over time,  Mater's design gets more intense and fits more like one of those gimmicky wrestlers. Then again I get that feeling from all of his opponents.  

I think it's the tires that sell it for me.   There is just something about the tires that make it work. 

Frighting McMean (Lighting McQueen) voiced by Keith Ferguson 

Now as I said when talking about the plot, I feel like McQueen was forced into this short and while that is kinda of true for a lot of these shorts, it feels very true for this short.  Honestly, I feel that you can take him out of this short and you'd have the same story.  Granted, he does get one funny moment when Tormentor's biggest fan comes across Mater at Flo's and asks for his autograph and McQueen starts pestering him. Otherwise,  I felt no need for McQueen to be in this short. 

Rival

Frankewagon's Monster - Uncredited

This was Tormentor's final opponent and to be honest, there isn't much to say about him.  He's big and mean but Mater, excuse me Tormentor takes him down after McQueen has some trouble facing him.   I still think that idea is really contrived.  It's not bad and I do like the final fight but I do wish that we would've gotten to see more of him.  Although, I have to say that even though this joke is so old, I loved it when the Monster's creator came out and Mater thought it was going to be a piece of cake.

My Final Thoughts

This short is okay but not for me.  I'm sure other people would like it if they watched it because its' not bad but while I wasn't bored.  This short just didn't do anything for me.  It isn't bad and again like Tokyo Mater, I'd place this short somewhere in the middle in terms of quality.  It's a fun watch, don't get me wrong but at the end of the day, all I came away from with this short is that, it's there.   Join me next time as I take a look at...