A Car's Life: Sparky's Big Adventure is a low-budget All-CGI Cartoon by Spark Plug Entertainment released in 2006 (coinciding, presumably intentionally, with the release of another, more well-known CGI film involving anthropomorphic cars). It's the story of Sparky, a young car who's at the "rebellious" stage of his life. From speeding to deliberately driving over potholes and using them to launch himself in the air to getting "tricked out", his antics have his father Fender at his wit's end. Diesel, a female (though she certainly doesn't look like it) World War II-era Jeep, is a bad influence on Sparky, encouraging him to trick himself out and sneak out to the movies at night, despite being grounded. But it turns out Diesel has a sinister plot at hand...
In 2012, a sequel simply titled Car's Life 2 (featuring Sean Schemmel of all people as the role of Fender) was released. In 2013, Car's Life 3: The Royal Heist was released. Two years later, in 2015, a third sequel named Car's Life 4: Junkyard Blues was released.
See also The Little Cars in the Great Race, another Cars rip-off from Vídeo Brinquedo.
Tropes:
- Aerith and Bob: The movies have characters with names like "Sparky", "Fender", "Speedy", "Bumper", "Zipper", "Piston" and "Diesel", as well as ones named "Gracie", "Norbert", "Julia" and "Walter".
- Apologises a Lot: Speedy screeches a cluster of grating apologies after she gave a customer wrong tire(s).
- Art Evolution: Starting with the second movie, the characters have more cartoony designs and more expressive animation.
- Artistic License – Chemistry: Norbert is set on fire by Diesel's cigarrette. But despite Norbert being a literal gas pump, he does not explode.
- Artistic License – Physics: How did the ballistic missile Clutch shot at Diesel not explode?
- Big Bad: Diesel serves as the main antagonist in the first two films.
- Big Brother Worship: Gracie seems to adore her older brother quite a bit. Anytime he does something reckless, Gracie states how cool she thinks he is.
- Big Damn Heroes: Fender and Clutch (with a rocket launcher) save Sparky and Speedy just as they're done for, unfortunately.
- Big "NO!": Fender lets one loose after Gracie voices her dream to join the circus.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Diesel is this to Sparky. In every film, she finds ways to separate Sparky and his father. Just about every time, Sparky is too dense to realize that she's intentionally ruining his life.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Sparky constantly whines about not getting his way and constantly annoys his dad.
- Butt-Monkey: The Hummer that occasionally stops in for service. Be it getting blinded by having her windshield scrubbed down with oil or being overcharged for bad gas, she can never seem to catch a break.
- Circus of Fear: In Car's Life 2, Diesel turns the Greasy Springs Circus into one under her ownership. The main attractions include A: subjecting Sparky and Petoola to a treadmill of increasing speed until one of them runs out of gas, falls asleep or stalls and is ripped apart by the "Jaws of Doom", and B: forcing Bumper and Valve (customers who couldn't pay for the services of Diesel's gas station) to compete in "Dante's Demolition Derby".
- Creator Cameo: Director and writer Michael Schelp voices the Gas Leech Father in the first film.
- Disney Death: Speedy during the Igor scene.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Near the end, Diesel reveals that she killed Piston (Sparky's cousin) and she has her Dumb Muscle tow truck crony Igor smash Sparky's friend Speedy (though Speedy, unfortunately, gets better), yet she gets arrested for driving without a license?
- Happens again in the sequel: Diesel is not arrested for trying to destroy Fender's gas station, extorting everyone, poisoning Bumper's gas or even trying to kill Sparky and/or Petoola, but for driving with an expired registration. Even Diesel herself comments that it's ironic, but not dramatic.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Zipper is this to Speedy of all people.
- Evil Debt Collector: And evil debt creator. The whole premise of the sequel focuses on Diesel selling extremely pricey items and making her customers, and her employees, owe her money.
- Extra Eyes: Diesel's henchman Igor has an extra pair of eyes.
- Former Teen Rebel: Fender.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Diesel is never seen without a cigarette, which is pointed out as being bad. Then again, she was smoking next to a gas pump.
- Hates Baths: Sparky protests that his dad forcing him to get a car wash after he hasn't in a week is "child abuse" and after being washed happily proclaims, "I'm not gonna need a car wash for weeks!"
- Hell Is That Noise: Speedy's voice in the first film is like having a dental drill shoved in your ear.
- Heroic RRoD: The wear and tear that a car undergoes is treated like physical ailments and can debilitate a car if not treated. After several warnings from Fender about Sparky wearing out his shocks by doing too many stunts and jumps, Sparky ends up doing just that on his trip with Speedy and Diesel and he's left groaning in pain after even the slightest bump.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Fender and Norbert.
- Hood Hornament: Steer horns are one of the modifications Sparky adds when he tricks himself out.
- Hypocritical Humor: Speedy talks throughout the Lance Hotrod movie, but shushes Sparky when he tries to warn her about the gas leeches.
- Diesel calling her customers "Hillbilly clunkers" also counts for this since she has a slightly Southern accent in movie 2, onward, and is camo jeep, which about as "hillbilly" as you can get.
- "I Want" Song: Defied. Sparky attempts one in the beginning of the first film, but Fender stops him, exasperatingly telling him that this isn't a musical.
- Jump Physics: Sparky is able to effortlessly pull off backflips while driving off ramps.
- Lethally Stupid: Speedy, who doesn't realize that Diesel is trying to kill her and Sparky. She even gets mad at Sparky for trying to make her understand what's going on by saying that Diesel is "being nice to them".
- The Mockbuster: An obvious parody/ripoff of Cars, but with "kid-friendly" messages thrown in.
- In fact, one could even say that this would even be a ripoff of Tex Avery's One Cab's Family, with the whole "child car goes fast, disobeys father and nearly gets himself killed" motif, although this is a stretch.
- No Indoor Voice: Speedy shrieks her lungs out in every. Single. Line of dialogue. One YouTube commenter put it best, in that she sounds like an annoying version of Harley Quinn's voice actress.
- The sequel fixed that and gave her a tolerable voice, yet still a little screechy.
- In fact, the second sequel, The Royal Heist actually gave her a voice that’s actually normal!
- The sequel fixed that and gave her a tolerable voice, yet still a little screechy.
- Noodle Incident: Norbert claims that Speedy is the reason he only has one hose, but doesn't go into detail.
- Not Me This Time: In the third movie, someone steals the Queen's jewels and Diesel, the antagonist of the first two movies, is among the suspects. They were all framed by one of the queen's servants, who is the real thief.
- Obviously Evil: Diesel.
- Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: Zig-Zagged. Of the four movies, the second is the only one not to have a subtitle.
- Officer O'Hara: Clutch becomes one in the sequel.
- Only Sane Man: Fender and maybe Norbert. They're the only characters that the viewers may be able to like.
- Overly Long Gag: The motor oil on windshield scene. The car is just spinning in circles while Speedy tells her to calm down and other characters look over the scene.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Speedy and Zipper.
- Diesel's gas-pump and Norbert later.
- Police Are Useless: Officer Clutch is one of the most incompetent cops in all of fiction. Throughout the sequel, he's absent for it and he doesn't have anyone else working in the office. It turns out to be a contrived coincidence as Diesel shows up and starts causing trouble. When he does return midway through, it's to arrest Fender on his sabotaged gas.
- Record Needle Scratch: When Fender cuts Sparky's attempt at an "I Want" Song short.
- Smug Snake: Diesel is a Big Bad version.
- The Sociopath: Diesel. However, in the sequel, everyone is so oblivious to her past crimes, and they continue to let her get away with blackmail, stealing, manipulation and outright murder. Yet, when she is finally stopped, she's only arrested for simple felonies (driving with a revoked license, having an expired registration). It doesn't really help that only one person is responsible for all the scripts.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The gentle, upbeat piano music that plays when Diesel sets Norbert the gas pump on fire.
- Straw Nihilist: Diesel says:"You've got to live dangerously (or die trying).""Life is short and cruel, Sparky! Who cares what the other cars think? Live for today!"
- Too Dumb to Live: Sparky in the sequel. He should know that Diesel is bad news for him, and yet, he listens to what she says and even works for her throughout the film.
- Tyop on the Cover: The British DVD cover lacks the apostrophe in "Car's" in the title.
- Vocal Dissonance: Diesel sounds like a Femme Fatale, despite being a tough-looking jeep.
