Mike’s New Car

Roger L. Gould

Gale Gortney

Pete Docter

**Story:**

Jeff Pidgeon

Roger Gould

Rob Gibbs

Walt Disney Pictures

***Mike's New Car*** is a 2002 Pixar animated short, starring the two main characters from *Monsters, Inc.*, Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan. Directed by Pete Docter and Roger Gould, it is the first Pixar short to utilize vocal performances and the first to take characters and situations from a previously established work.

It received an Academy Award nomination (Best Animated Short Film in 2002) and was included in the 2002 VHS and DVD releases of *Monsters, Inc*.

Plot

Mike is obsessed with his new six-wheel drive car, and insists on showing it off to his pal Sulley. Unfortunately for Mike, everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Sulley plays with the ultra-adjustable seats until an annoyed Mike asks him to stop. Mike starts the engine and the seatbelt reminder tone sounds. He finds his seatbelt stuck and accidentally locks himself out of the car while trying to unstick it.

Sulley, trying to be helpful but confused by the massive amount of buttons on the dashboard, pops the hood open. When he closes it, he ends up trapping Mike in the engine compartment. Mike manages to escape, re-enters the car, and is exasperated by the continuous seatbelt reminder tone. Sulley reaches for another button on the dash, as when Mike managed to put his seat-belt on, he turned the windshield wipers on by accident. Mike shouts, "Don't touch anything!" and pushes a button that launches the entire car into chaotic malfunction, such as conga music playing loudly. A monster takes notice of the commotion, then runs away in fear.

Mike finally ends the chaos by pulling the key out of the ignition, and Sulley adds insult to injury when, in an attempt to realign the rearview mirror, he accidentally breaks it off. Mike, then snaps and orders Sulley out of the car, and speeds away, wrecking the car completely. Sulley mutters, "Huh, that's weird, the airbag didn't go off." Right on cue, the airbag inflates, and its force sends Mike flying back up the street. Sulley catches Mike, who mourns for his old car before agreeing to walk to work while the credits roll.

Cast

* John Goodman as James P. Sullivan
* Billy Crystal as Mike Wazowski

Trivia

* There is a visible button that reads: "Do not touch." This is presumably the one Sulley used to pop open the hood.
* The short was originally planned to be a scene in *Monsters, Inc.*, the film it was based on, presumably the original version of the scene where Mike surprises Sulley with Boo's door being almost rebuilt due to Mike unveiling the car in a similar manner to the above mentioned scene. The Pixar crew decided to cut the scene out and release the scene on the VHS and DVD of the film as "Mike's New Car" and replace it with the scene where Mike surprises Sulley with Boo's door rebuilt instead of the car.
* Mike's car appears as a vehicle in *LEGO The Incredibles*. It is unlocked when a player collects all 10 minikits in the level "Elastigirl on the Case".
* This is Pixar's first direct-to-video short film and the first of a series of short that are based on the film it was released on home video with.