History WesternAnimation / Cars3

* DarkerAndEdgier: The 50 second long teaser trailer, featuring Lightning being brutally damaged in a horrible crash, implied that Creator/{{Pixar}} was taking a step back into a more serious direction. Though this becomes ultimately averted, seeing as the comedic premises remain in the movie.

* ContinuityCameo: Terrence aka the Pizza Planet Truck appears as one of the participants at the demolition derby.

** Finn [=McMissile=], Holley Shiftwell and the other agents from ''Cars 2'' are not seen or mentioned in this movie. It is also never mentioned whether or not Mater and Holley became a couple after the implications at the end of that film.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: Not literal death, but following the arrival of Jackson Storm, Cal Weathers decides to retire upon following what his uncle told him when it was time, which disappoints Lightning. The other veterans either retired or got fired by their sponsors so the next-gens can take their places.

* RapidFireNo: Lightning utters one, in the form of several {{Little No}}s, as he struggles to catch up to Jackson, seconds before his iconic fateful crash. He screams another during the Crazy 8 when he is about to crash into the water truck.

** When Lightning puts on his old paint-job, Ramone says he looks like "the Art/SistineChapel on wheels," referencing the frescoes of human perfection Creator/{{Michelangelo}} painted on the Chapel ceiling. "Sistine Chapel on Wheels" is also a song on the soundtrack.

* TheCameo: Terrence aka the Pizza Planet Truck appears as one of the participants at the demolition derby.

** Lightning's tire brand is Lightyear, a BlandNameProduct version of Goodyear tires [[spoiler: and an homage to [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory Buzz Lightyear]]]].

** Cruz's [[spoiler:final flip over Jackson in the climax]] closely parallels the same climax in ''Film/HerbieFullyLoaded''.
** The scene where Lightning looks at the array of merchandise and later the newspapers of Doc in Smokey's garage is similar to ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'' when Woody sees the ''Woody's Roundup'' merchandise in Al's apartment.

* TheStinger: [[spoiler: Right after the credits end, we get a long shot of Mater in his junkyard. He tries calling Lightning on his phone like he did via Videochat before, only to destroy the reception antenna and lose the connection, much to his chagrin.]]

* NiceHat: Mater sports one of these at every race he sees Lightning partipate in. It's a RunningGag.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome/{{Pixar}} See here]].

* SkunkStripe: Jackson and some of the next-gens each sport a yellow double stripe on their back bumpers, a tradition in NASCAR given to racers in their rookie seasons. They disappear by the Florida 500. [[spoiler: Cruz eventually gets one herself when she becomes a racer at the end of the movie.]]

** Junior Moon is voiced by the late Junior Johnson, the NASCAR Hall-of-Famer. Other [[RetiredBadass Retired Badasses]] Lightning meets in Thomasville were based on NASCAR legends too.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: After his crash, Lightning is in a grey primer, and finally exits Doc’s garage after four months of isolation to answer Rusty and Dusty’s phone call. Prior to being repainted, Ramone quips that Lightning can’t race in primer; viewers would assume going outside in primer would be the car equivalent of running in the nude.

* OnlyTheLeadsGetAHappyEnding: As with BittersweetEnding, [[spoiler: both Lightning and Cruz share the victory, Lightning gets to keep his job, and they become temporary teammates; but all the veteran racers, specifically Bobby and Brick, have all retired or fired and replaced, and it's likely we'll never see the, again.]]

A short named “Miss Fritter’s Racing Skoool” is to be included with home video releases. Two sneak peeks were given in October.

* StopHelpingMe: Lightning's initial reaction to Cruz's training methods.

* V8EngineNoises: [[InvertedTrope All]] [[PlayedStraight over]] [[ZigZaggingTrope the]] [[IncrediblyLamePun track.]] An official poster for Jackson Storm states that he is equipped with a V8 motor that pushes 850 horses (roughly what 2014 NASCAR spec motors had), and it is implied that the other Next-Gens have the same equipment. However, during up-close shots, their engines sound more in line with V6's, complete with the signature transmission whine of most racing cars, specifically GT and touring racers. What makes it even weirder is the fact that in the Los Angeles and Florida 500's, when flying by in packs the Next-Gens go from sounding like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k56N7NWI7Qo NASCAR stock cars in some shots]] to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj8fgMQZieI V6 cars in others.]]

''Cars 3'' is a 2017 Creator/{{Pixar}} movie, and the third entry in the ''Franchise/{{Cars}}'' franchise. The movie focuses on Lightning [=McQueen=] (Creator/OwenWilson) dealing with a new generation of Piston Cup Racing and seeking the help of a young racing technician, Cruz Ramirez, as he hopes to get back into the game. As opposed to ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars 2}}'', this installment of the franchise makes a return to Radiator Springs, and it features the return of Creator/LarryTheCableGuy, Bonnie Hunt, and Cheech Marin as Mater, Sally, and Ramone respectively, as well as Cristela Alonzo and Creator/ArmieHammer as new characters Cruz Ramirez and Jackson Storm.

* RealityEnsues: [[RealityEnsues/{{Pixar}} See here]].

* CulturalTranslation: Several background elements and text were modified if the film is watched in a region other than the US:

** While in Sterling's office and Lightning is looking at the array of various himself merchandise, the "Ka-chow Mix" was changed to "Vroom Mix" and the "Ka-chow" on the mud flaps was edited out.