Fillmore

### Friends

Sarge, Lightning McQueen, Mater, Sally Carrera, Doc Hudson, Luigi, Guido, Ramone, Flo, Sheriff, Lizzie, Red, Mack, Finn McMissile, Holley Shiftwell, Cruz Ramirez, Smokey

### Enemies

Chick Hicks, Miles Axlerod, Professor Z, Acer, Grem, Lemons, Jackson Storm, Sterling

## Series Information

### Performer

George Carlin (2006-2008)Lloyd Sherr (2011-present)Brian George (Cars Mater-National Championship)Mark Silverman (Cars Race-O-Rama)

*"Respect the classics, man! It's Hendrix!"*
—**Fillmore** after Sarge complains about his music being too loud, *Cars*
**Fillmore** is Radiator Springs' local fuel salesman, and Sarge's frenemy. Fillmore made his debut in *Cars*, and since then, he has made many major appearances in the *Cars* series. He was voiced by George Carlin until his death in 2008, where Lloyd Sherr soon took over. Despite their constant bickering, Fillmore's best friend is Sarge, although they don't often show it.

## Backgroundedit | edit source

### Official Description

*"Fillmore is Radiator Springs' resident hippie. A believer in individuality and all things natural, he brews his own organic fuel and preaches its many benefits. Visitors can try Fillmore's special flavors in the tasting room behind his love-bead and tie-dye-covered geodesic dome. His many conspiracy theories and "naturally" unkempt yard drive his neighbor Sarge absolutely crazy."*

### Voice

In the first film, Fillmore was voiced by the late George Carlin. Two years after the release of the first film, Carlin died of heart failure on June 22, 2008 after spending a history of heart failure. When the second film was in production, Lloyd Sherr was cast to voice Fillmore and continued to voice the character from then on.

### Physical Appearance

Fillmore is a 1960 Volkswagen Type 2 Bus, to support the fact that he is an older car. Fillmore is painted light green, with *Peace*, *Groovy*, and *Love* painted on either sides of his doors, as well as various swirl and flower designs. On his front, he has the VW logo, as well as chrome headlights. He has light green rims, surrounded of course by black tire treads. He has a license plate on his front.

### Personality

Fillmore has a calm nature, sporting the mood of peace and love. Fillmore's smooth personality often clashed with Sarge's strict nature, leading the two butt into each other and argue. However, despite the two being polar opposites, Fillmore and Sarge are good friends and find things that they both agree on and enjoy doing together.

Fillmore loves organic fuel and believes in conspiracies happening between oil companies and the government. He also believes that organic fuel is a way to bring peace and relaxation to the mind.

## Appearances

### *Cars*

Fillmore is seen with Sarge at Flo's V8 Cafe, watching the stoplight's amber light blink as Fillmore says that every blink is getting slower. When racecar Lightning McQueen suddenly crashes into Radiator Springs, Fillmore asks if he's not the only one witnessing this and manages to move out of the way when McQueen drives out of control through Flo's. Fillmore, Sarge, Ramone, and Flo then watch as McQueen accidentally destroys Radiator Springs' road by dragging the statute of the town's founder Stanley along with him. When McQueen causes the statute of Stanley to fly off, Fillmore says "Fly away, Stanley! Be free!", as Stanley's statue was landing back to its proper place.

When McQueen is put on trial the next day, Fillmore goes to court where he angrily glares at McQueen for causing so much destruction. Fillmore then watches Doc Hudson enter the courtroom where he orders McQueen to leave town and then Fillmore greets Sally Carrera when she arrives to court. As Sally makes a speech on the history of Radiator Springs where travelers come and go, Sarge questions what travelers as there haven't been any, but Fillmore exclaims that everybody ignores him and supports Sally's decision to have McQueen fix the town's road.

Fillmore with Sarge and Sheriff watches McQueen pull Bessie to fix the road. When two cars arrive in Radiator Springs, Fillmore goes to his shop and tries to the cars some of his organic fuel, only to be told by one of them that it doesn't do well for his tank and Fillmore sadly watches the cars drive off. When McQueen tries to speed up his progress where he makes the road bumpy, Fillmore watches Doc challenge McQueen to a race where he witnesses fall into a cactus pit after failing to make a turn on the dirt track. After that, Fillmore watches McQueen scrape off the bumpy road and offers to give him some organic fuel, only to be told by McQueen that he'll pass.

When McQueen finishes half of the road, Fillmore joins his friends in having fun and driving on the road. The next morning, Fillmore plays Jim Hendrix's music, disrupting Sarge's salute to the American flag while "Star Spangled Banner" plays. Sarge yells at Fillmore to turn his music off, calling it "disrespectful junk" where Fillmore counters back by saying "Respect the classics, man! It's Hendrix!" At Flo's, Fillmore gets into another disagreement with Sarge when he suggests that he try some yoga. When McQueen suddenly comes in and asks if anyone knew Doc was a famous racecar, Fillmore bursts into laughter and does not believe him. Fillmore then watches Sally fill up McQueen's gas tank where McQueen decides to not run off and instead goes with Sally on a drive. Later, Fillmore witnesses Mater arrive with a herd of tractors behind, possibly because he went out tractor tipping. Fillmore is chased by some tractors until Mater is able to round up all of the tractors

The next morning, Fillmore interrupts Sarge's "Star Spangled Banner" salute again by playing Hendrix where they get into a brief argument until they noticed that McQueen had finished fixing the road. Fillmore becomes disappointed when he believes McQueen has left, but becomes happy when he sees McQueen hasn't left and laughs when Mater finally realizes McQueen is still here. Fillmore watches McQueen get new tires at Luigi's Casa Della Tires before Fillmore serves McQueen some of his organic fuel. When McQueen starts wondering why he hasn't heard of this type of fuel before, Fillmore states his belief on a conspiracy happening where the government has its hand on the oil companies before McQueen decides to buy a case of organic fuel, much to Fillmore's satisfaction. Fillmore and the others present McQueen's new look to Sally before the town's fixed neon lights turn on where Fillmore and the others party and have fun. However, the celebration is cut short when the press arrives (due to Doc calling them) and takes McQueen away where Fillmore becomes sad to see him before woefully heading into his shop and turning off his lights.

Doc, regretting his decision, tells everyone of his past of being a racecar and grabs a handful of Radiator Springs residents, Fillmore included, to the Piston Cup race in California to support McQueen and be his pit crew. Fillmore and the others arrive, just in time, to cheer for McQueen and give him encouragement where Fillmore gives McQueen some fuel during a brief pit stop before he continues his race. Fillmore watches McQueen catch up to the King and Chick Hicks, only to get a flat tire after Chick pushes into him. Fillmore witnesses Guido change McQueen so quickly, allowing McQueen to keep his position in the race and Fillmore cheers for Guido for making an excellent pit stop. Fillmore continues to watch the race and sees McQueen forfeit his chance to win the Piston Cup by helping an injured King cross the finish line. Fillmore remarks to Sarge that there's a lot of love due McQueen's selflessness, but Sarge tells him not to embarrass him. Fillmore congratulates McQueen and laughs at Dusty and Rusty Rust-eze's jokes.

In the end, McQueen sets his racing headquarters in Radiator Springs, putting the town back on the map thanks to McQueen setting up his racing headquarters there and Fillmore continues to sell his organic fuel while spending time with his friends.

### *Cars 2*

Radiator Springs’ resident hippie Fillmore is an easy-going, peace-loving 1960s Volkswagen van. And as his friend and neighbor Sarge likes to say, “once a hippie, always a hippie.” At his popular shop Fillmore's Taste-In, Fillmore brews his own fuel, which he sells with Bohemian accessories like tie-dyed mud flaps. But when he learns that the World Grand Prix will be run exclusively on the alternative fuel Allinol, Fillmore closes up his shop temporarily and signs on as the fuel expert for Team Lightning McQueen.

### *Cars 3*

Fillmore attends most of the Piston Cup races as a member of Lightning's pit crew. Later, he says goodbye, along with the rest of the Radiator Springs gang, to Lightning before his trip to the Rust-eze Racing Center. He and Sarge also take turns running Luigi's Casa Della Tires in Luigi and Guido's absences. At the Florida 500, he helps in getting Cruz Ramirez ready to enter the race and attends the race between Lightning and Cruz at Willy's Butte.

## Disney Parks

Fillmore appears with Sarge at Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land, parked at Flo's V8 Cafe. They often make comments on the guests passing by.

At Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy, when Chick depletes Lightning's gas, Fillmore appears with some organic fuel to refill his tank, though while unaware of there being a race.

## Trivia

* Fillmore is a 1960 Volkswagen Transporter bus with psychedelic symbols and liberal/environmental bumper stickers on his body (he's a hippie).
* One of Fillmore's bumper stickers reads "Save 2D Animation." Another reads, "I brake for Jackalopes," a reference to *Boundin'*.
* Fillmore was originally going to be named **Waldmire**, after Route 66 resident Robert "Bob" Waldmire, but Waldmire, a vegan, didn't want his name to be used because Fillmore toys would be featured in Happy Meals at McDonald's.
* Ironically, George Carlin was a veteran of the US Air Force.
* George Carlin also based the voice of Fillmore on his stand-up character, Al Sleet the Hippy Dippy Weather Man.[*citation needed*]
* As revealed in the video games, Fillmore is both a pacifist and a Pisces.
* Despite being a pacifist, he can be seen with weapons in *Cars 2: The Video Game*.
* Fillmore and Fred are the only two characters in *Cars* who have front license plates. Of the two, only Fillmore has another plate on the back. Since Fred does not appear in *Cars 2*, Fillmore may be the only character in the film with a front license plate.
* Fillmore's license plate is 51237, George Carlin's birthday (May 12, 1937).
* Fillmore is a 1960 Volkswagen Transporter bus. This type of car, often called a "Hippie Bus", was a popular mode of transportation among hippies and people who shared a culture like Fillmore's. In fact, the buses were often painted and decorated to reflect the values of the hippies, similar to the designs painted on Fillmore.
* Fillmore has a broken rearview mirror on his right side and a bent mirror on his left.
* Fillmore is the name of an auditorium in San Francisco, California, in which many popular musicians performed in the counterculture era of the sixties and seventies. Fillmore represents a popular vehicle amongst "hippies", a subculture of the American counterculture.
* Fillmore is a fan of Jimmy Hendrix, and plays his version of the Star Spangled Banner every morning, much to the frustration of his neighbor Sarge, but despite their differences and frequent arguing, they appear to be close friends.