40 Fun Facts About Cars 2

Which green food does Mater mistake for pistachio ice cream at a party in Cars 2?

Wasabi makes Mater cause a scene on stage at a World Grand Prix event, embarrassing Lightning McQueen.

Which open-wheeled race car taunts Lightning McQueen into entering the World Grand Prix in Cars 2?

Francesco Bernoulli is painted in the colours of the Italian flag, and his surname comes from a principle of fluid dynamics.

Which Cars character is absent from Cars 2 after the death of his voice actor, Paul Newman?

Doc Hudson was not recast; the film implies he has died, and Lightning McQueen's latest Piston Cup win honours his late mentor.

Lightning McQueen and his team travel to which city for the first World Grand Prix race in Cars 2?

Tokyo hosts the first of three races, and Lightning finishes second there after a miscommunication with Mater.

What does Mater receive at the end of Cars 2 for unmasking the villain?

A knighthood from the Queen is Mater's reward for exposing the mastermind, who gives himself away by switching off a bomb.

Which British Formula One champion voices a car version of himself in Cars 2?

Lewis Hamilton's car is a black and yellow racer based on a McLaren, and its emblem pairs the Union Jack with the flag of Grenada, where his father's family comes from.

The World Grand Prix in Cars 2 is staged to promote which new alternative fuel?

Allinol turns out to be ordinary gasoline, engineered to ignite when it is hit by an electromagnetic pulse.

In Cars 2, what threatens to crush Mater, Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell while they are tied up in London?

Giant clock gears inside Big Bentley, the film's version of Big Ben, threaten the tied-up trio, and it is there that Mater admits he is not really a spy.

Which stand-up comedian voices Mater, the tow truck mistaken for a spy in Cars 2?

Larry the Cable Guy won the part after the director watched the Blue Collar Comedy Tour and found his performance hilarious.

Which car creates the World Grand Prix in Cars 2 and is later unmasked as the villain behind it?

Sir Miles Axlerod wants the world to turn against alternative fuel so that he can profit from the vast oil reserves he owns.

Which actor returns as the voice of Lightning McQueen, the red race car, in Cars 2?

Owen Wilson was first cast after Pixar's director and his children enjoyed Shanghai Noon, his film with Jackie Chan.

Which British film star voices Finn McMissile, the secret agent in Cars 2?

Michael Caine voiced the spy only in the film; a different actor took over the part in all other media.

Which 2013 animated film brought back Brent Mustangburger, the sportscaster car from Cars 2?

Planes was produced by Disneytoon Studios rather than Pixar, and its hero is a crop duster named Dusty Crophopper.

Cars 2's director reviewed work on his commute using a custom app on which Apple device?

The iPad app let him record voice memos for every department, and he said one hour on it equalled three in the studio.

Cars 2 opens with Finn McMissile sneaking onto what kind of structure in the Pacific Ocean?

An oil rig run by the lemons is where Finn finds that fellow agent Leland Turbo is dead, then fakes his own death to escape.

Which Toy Story director came up with Cars 2's story while promoting the first Cars film abroad?

John Lasseter pictured Mater driving on the wrong side of the road in Britain and dodging motor scooters in Italy.

Which Radiator Springs resident secretly swaps Lightning McQueen's fuel before Cars 2's final race?

Sarge switched it for Fillmore's organic biofuel, which is why the lemons' weapon could not ignite Lightning's engine.

In Cars 2, the lemons disguise their electromagnetic pulse weapon as which piece of equipment?

A TV camera hides the emitter that makes the racers' new fuel ignite, wrecking engines in each of the first two races.

Lightning McQueen gains which working feature in Cars 2, having had only stickers in the first film?

Headlights were just stickers on the original Lightning; for the sequel Pixar also added flames so he would stand out.

Cars 2 was the first Pixar feature film to receive no nominations at which annual ceremony?

The Academy Awards had nominated every earlier Pixar feature for something, and Cars 2 was also the first to miss the Best Animated Feature list.

Which Italian town hosts the second race of the World Grand Prix in Cars 2?

Porto Corsa is fictional: the director loved so many real Italian towns that Pixar invented a new one people would want to visit.

In Cars 2, the lemons hide a time bomb on which part of Mater?

His air filter holds the bomb, which the lemons had first claimed was planted in Lightning McQueen's pit.

Finn McMissile, the British spy in Cars 2, is partly modelled on which classic sports car?

Aston Martin DB5 styling suits a character inspired by James Bond, while his small tail fins came from a 1958 British car, the Peerless.

Carla Veloso, a Le Mans prototype racer in the World Grand Prix in Cars 2, represents which country?

Brazil's flag colours, green and blue, cover her bodywork, and the country's own release gives her lines voiced by singer Claudia Leitte.

Which actress voices Holley Shiftwell, the British spy-in-training who recruits Mater in Cars 2?

Emily Mortimer's character is a Pixar in-house design, though her look borrows from a TVR sports car, the Tuscan Mark II.

Which short film starring Woody and Buzz Lightyear played in cinemas before Cars 2?

Hawaiian Vacation sees Bonnie's toys recreate Hawaii for Ken and Barbie, who stowed away in a backpack that never left the bedroom.

What is the name of the British spy jet that flies Finn McMissile and Mater to safety in Cars 2?

Siddeley is a twin-engine spy jet whose name nods to the British aerospace group Hawker Siddeley.

Which composer of the music for Up and The Incredibles wrote the score for Cars 2?

Michael Giacchino built the score around surf music to suit a 1960s-style British spy, taking over from Randy Newman.

Which stage and screen star voices both the Queen and Mama Topolino in Cars 2?

Vanessa Redgrave keeps the royal role in the Italian dub too, where a local star takes over as Mama Topolino.

Which rock band covered You Might Think, a hit for the band The Cars, on the Cars 2 soundtrack?

Weezer had history with the song's writer, Ric Ocasek, who produced three of the band's albums.

Which country singer duets with Robbie Williams on Collision of Worlds for the Cars 2 soundtrack?

Brad Paisley co-wrote the duet with Williams and also wrote and sings a second song on the album, Nobody's Fool.

Cars 2 lost the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature to which film?

The Adventures of Tintin, directed by Steven Spielberg, won a category whose very first recipient, five years earlier, had been the original Cars.

Which American spy plants a device on Mater during a bathroom fight with the lemons in Cars 2?

Rod Redline, nicknamed Torque, is a blue muscle car voiced by Bruce Campbell, his design recalling the Dodge Challenger and Ford Mustang.

Which three-wheeled black-market parts dealer is Finn McMissile's underground informant in Cars 2?

Tomber is modelled on the Reliant Regal three-wheeler, and the spies call on Finn's old friend to gather intelligence.

Professor Z's two main henchmen in Cars 2 are a Gremlin and which other 1970s American car?

An AMC Pacer in lime green is Acer, while Grem is an orange Gremlin, and both look badly worn.

In Spain's release of Cars 2, which racing driver replaces Jeff Gorvette in his dialogue scenes?

Fernando Alonso is one of several local stars swapped in abroad: Russia's release uses Vitaly Petrov and Latin America's Memo Rojas.

Which Italian film legend voices Mama Topolino in the Italian-language dub of Cars 2?

Sophia Loren stars opposite Franco Nero, who voices Uncle Topolino in both the English and Italian versions.

Which Alfred Hitchcock thriller did Cars 2's director cite as an inspiration for Mater's story?

North by Northwest and Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much both feature an innocent caught up in a conspiracy, just like Mater.

Which Deadliest Catch captain voices Crabby, a boat modelled on his own vessel, in Cars 2?

Sig Hansen captains and co-owns the Northwestern, the real fishing vessel that Crabby was modelled on.

What job does Mater take on Lightning McQueen's team for the World Grand Prix in Cars 2?

Crew chief is the role in which Mater costs Lightning the opening race, thanks to a mix-up while he is dodging henchmen.