C ar s means a l ot to me, it was the first movie I ever watched in the cinema , I was onl y 5 years old at the time. I ’ ve had a lifetime of re - watching t he mo vies to look back upon, so I’ d be thrilled if you were to hear out my pitch for w hat would be the best way to do a 4th cars movie The Pitch We need a 3 - act movie where all three acts tak e place at a different time in the cars universe ’ s history. With a central theme to tie all 3 acts together loosely enough so th ey can be watched sequ entially , but also satisfy long term fans by staying relev ant to where the characters should be at with their lives at each point in the timeline. The goal of this is to go full circle with the universe for a final send off and provide a n extremel y satisfy ing order to the timeline of the cars universe movies. Due to the unpopularity of Cars 2 a nd the fact that i t would be tonally different to the other 3 movies it s sins could be forgiven by the community as it will now be treated as a more light - hearted spi noff thriller that we know came somewhere right in the middle of the o vera rching cars main trilogy ’ s story With the main cars story now tied up satisfyingly, maybe we can look back on this movie with a kinder eye , because i t ’ s reall y not that bad a movie on it ’ s own ... Due to the movi e taking place over 3 acts at 3 distinct times in McQueen’s life I p rop ose a working title for the movie: “Cars - Before, Then and After” or just “ Cars : 4 ” for short. Elec tric Racecar “ Shelly ” Seen in 3 rd Act Act 1 ; Lightning ’ s birth, childhood and t eens ( 30 m i ns ) Act 1 takes place in Lightning’s teen years, we meet Lightnin g’s family and get to know them in depth (Mom, Dad maybe he has twin sisters as well just to spice it up) short scene with extended family at a gathering, lightning is a troubled teen all he wants t o be is a racer, he has slight anger issues so after some advice from his mother about positive self - talk ( she explicit ly tells him to repeat to himself “ speed , I am speed ” ) , lightning learns how to train like a professional and we get a karate kid style h ype scene , where lightn ing becomes the rookie we see at the start of the 1 st mo vie Act 2 ; Lightning reaches th e peak of his career ( 35 m i ns ) Fast forward to Act 2 which takes place 6 years after the events of the first movie (Cars1) The act starts in th e darkness of a trailer with a voice mockingly saying “ speed , I am speed ” which is then revealed to be the voice of an older and angrier Ch ick Hicks as his trailer door opens onto what is a big day for racing as we find out that both Lightn ing McQueen and Ch ick Hicks have both amassed 3 piston cups each , equalling Doc Hu dson as the greate s t racers of all time. ( T here are still other racers on the track as this is a regular piston cup race, as seen at the sta rt of cars 1. ) Doc c oaches Lightning again, an d Li ghtning wins the race Beat ing Ch ick Hicks in 2 nd place ( for real this time ) , and Lightning is cemented in history as the greatest circuit racer of all time with 4 piston cups to his name Lightning gets his moment, and he relishes in it. Foll owing the even ts of this race Lightning starts to have th oughts that he has reached the pinnacle of his career after amassin g more trophies than Doc Hudson and now is facing a mid - life crisis like that of T yson Fury after becoming the heavy weight box ing champion of th e world Lightning has reached the top of his career and doesn’t know what to do with himself anymore, lightning has a lot of regrets about racing and after a heavy dialogue scene with sally and h is close family (which we met in act1) McQueen decides to ta ke it easy for a few years and puts his focus on sally and we have a romantic scene where they get married which is uninterrupted and respected by mater, which we need! Act 3 ; C ars Universe solemnly ends ( 3 5 m i ns ) Fast forward to a ct 3 which takes place 6 years after the events of cars 3 Lightning is still coaching Cruz and we see how much their bond has strengthened in the years since the 3rd movie which helps to further cement the 3rd films arcs into the main universe, Old Smokey from the 3rd movie pass es away and we get a scene at his funeral where Lightning, Cruz and Sally are all sad and realise how short life can be, Mater providing comic relief to ease out of the sadness that will be felt during the scene. All this leads us ba ck to one final race sc ene which since it is the very last big race , it will go heavy on the fan service , with references to the serie s all o ver the place , to a huge extent This race is more of a montage for the fans, than a truly gripping race, it ’ s suppo sed to be fun and remi nd the fans of everything gr eat about all 5 previous big races in the series up to this point , Lightning coaches Cruz to what seem s like an easy victory until Cruz is pipped at the p ost by a previously unseen character ( only seen from behind as a lime gree n race car ) , Cruz is a bit unnerved until this mystery lime green car approaches her af ter the race and turns out to be a female electric , eco - friendly race car nam ed Shel ly admitting that it was an honour to race with her f e m a le idol Cruz which makes C ruz blush. Lightning makes the move to give a nod to Cruz as if to say” it’s your turn to become a coach now ” Cruz turns to Shelly and offers to become her coach upon Cruz ’ s retirement, to which Shelly accepts with over - whelming happiness. Ligh tning is proud of Cruz. Then we cut t o the final scene of the movie. Final Scene ( 5 mins ) I n the f inal scene of the movie Lightning, Cruz and a now elderly Doc are talking with Mat er in Radiator Springs about what is next for all of them. Surprise to everyone Sally tu rns up and reveals she’s pregnant which Lightning then reveals he already knew about and we get to say goodbye to the entire cast from the Cars 1,3 and this movie (big celebration party in radiator springs) everyone is there! (Except the characters of Cars 2) Roll credits... Credi ts/Ep ilo gue Starts with McQueen and S ally announcing to the town they are having twin boys ... “ oh boy ” T he rest of the credits are mostly some funny short clips of McQueen trying to be a dad as his kids say their fi rst words, & ma ke t heir first drive ( i.e. first steps ) , & do their first race ( i.e. riding a bike ) , a ll the while M ater being the cool endearing uncle to McQueen’s kids in the background. Some of the one of the short scenes in the credits are a shot s of Cruz getting spotte d in the coaching chair which calls back to the moment in the first movie where Doc is first sp otted coaching Lightning , as well as Shelly forfeiting a race in the same way lightning did to tell anoth er car “ it ’ s just an empty cup. ” “ Cars : 4 - Bef ore, Then & After ” Universe timeline Cars the main trilogy story: in order Even t Movie Lightning ’ s birth Cars 4 - Before Meeting Lightning ’ s famil y ( Mo m,Dad, Sisters ) Cars 4 - Before Famil y Gath ering - Grandpa ’ s birthday , ( Meet exten ded family ) Cars 4 - Before Ligh tni ng ’ s y outh on the track training to become a pro. Cars 4 - Before He loses focu s in training one day Cars 4 - Before Mom teaches lightning positive self talk to get more focused “ speed, I am speed ” Cars 4 - Before Sta rt of Cars ( 1 ) in trailer, “ Speed, I am speed. ” Op ening Ra ce Cars 1 Life is a Highway, Mac loses Lightning. Cars 1 Lightning finds Radiator Springs Destroys Road Cars 1 Li ghtning befriends Mater Cars 1 Lightning befriends Sall y Cars 1 Lightni ng fixes Road Cars 1 Li ghtning bef riends Doc Cars 1 Lightning be friends Town. Cars 1 Lightning is found by media, racing world catches up with him Cars 1 Cars 1 Finale Big Race Scene, Doc shows up to c oach Lightning. Cars 1 Lightning acts selfless ly due to lessons learned from new found fri ends. Cars 1 Celebratio n, Pos t Race, breakdown. Cars 1 *mocking - “ Speed, I am speed ” Oh No it ’ s Chick Hicks! Cars 4 - Then C ars ( 1 ) C ars 3 C ars 4 T hen C ars 4 After C ars 4 Before C ars 2 Cars 2 D oesn ’ t unlike the other films doesn ’ t have a fixed position in the timeline , just occurs somewhere in between 1 and 3. Awesome Tril ogy Watch Order Piston Cup Race Scene, Lightning and Chick Hicks have a competitive Race Cars 4 - Then Lightning wins definitively , and relishes in the moment as he is c rowned the G OAT. Cars 4 - Then Back in Radiator Springs Lightning starts to go crazy because he doesn ’ t know what to do with himself now he has achieved everything Cars 4 - Then Mater reminds Lightning that he needs to slow down every once in a while, like he taught him in the f irst movie. Cars 4 - Then Lightning and Sally decide to Get Married and tak e some time off racing , marr iage scene. Cars 4 - Then “ Speed , I am speed, did I really used to say that ” , Lightning in decline, Chick Hicks makes an appearance making fun of Lightning Cars 3 R ace where lightning crashes Jackson Storm is the ne w champio n. Car s 3 Ligh tning goes to Rust - eze centre to try to get career back on track. Cars 3 Lightning meets his trainer Cruz, they training in the training centre and at the bea c h. Lightning is ann oyed by Cru z. Cars 3 Cruz and Lightning Race at Thunder Hollow. Lightning learns to appreciate Cruz. Cars 3 Lightning goes to Thomasvi lle to meet with Smokey , and figure things out about D oc. Cars 3 Lightning does one final lap in prepara tio n for the ra ce Cars 3 Lightning Starts his final Race against Storm Cars 3 Cruz switche s in for lightning and wins the race. Cars 3 Celebration ’ s for Cruz ’ s vi c tory Cars 3 “ Speed, you are Spee d ” its Cruz, and she ’ s older now, Lightning and Sally are coaching her from the pits when they hear bad news about Smokey , Cruz forfeits the race and is sad with Lightning and Sall y Cars 4 - After Smokey ’ s Funeral. Cruz thinks about he r own parents who she hasn ’ t seen in a long time. Cars 4 - After Cru z goes to spend time with h er Mom and Dad , whilst Lightning drops back in on his parents which we get to see. Cars 4 - After Feeling ref reshed Cruz return s to one big final race , once again coached by Lightning , which is heavy on the fan service ( as it’s the very last race seen in the timeline ) Cars 4 - After Cruz beaten by her own fan Shelly the electric Car , after advice from Lightning, s he offers to be Shelly ’ s coach when Cruz retires. Cars 4 - After Finish in Radiat or Spring with a celebration as Lightning and Sally reveal they are having a baby Cars 4 - Final Scene Credits Sce nes of Ligh tning being a parent and Cruz being a coach. Cars 4 - Credits Cars 4 story. On it ’ s own Even t Movie Lightning ’ s birth Cars 4 - Before Meeting Lightning ’ s famil y ( Mo m,Dad, Sisters ) Cars 4 - Before Famil y Gath ering - Grandpa ’ s birthday , ( Meet exten ded family ) Cars 4 - Before Ligh tni ng ’ s y outh on the track training to become a pro. Cars 4 - Before He loses focu s in training one day Cars 4 - Before Mom teaches lightning positive self talk to get more focused “ speed, I am speed ” Cars 4 - Before *mocking - “ Speed, I am speed ” Oh No it ’ s Chick Hicks! Cars 4 - Then Piston Cup Race Scene, Lightning and Chick Hicks have a competitive Race Cars 4 - Then Lightning wins definitively , and relishes in the moment as he is c rowned the G OAT. Cars 4 - Then Back in Radiator Springs Lightning starts to go crazy because he doesn ’ t know what to do with himself now he has achieved everything Cars 4 - Then Mater reminds Lightning that he needs to slow down every once in a while, like he taught him in the f irst movie. Cars 4 - Then Lightning and Sally decide to Get Married and tak e some time off racing , marr iage scene. Cars 4 - Then “ Speed, you are Spee d ” its Cruz, and she ’ s older now, Lightning and Sally are coaching her from the pits when they hear bad news about Smokey , Cruz forfeits the race and is sad with Lightning and Sall y Cars 4 - After Smokey ’ s Funeral. Cruz thinks about he r own parents who she hasn ’ t seen in a long time. Cars 4 - After Cru z goes to spend time with h er Mom and Dad , whilst Lightning drops back in on his parents which we get to see. Cars 4 - After Feeling ref reshed Cruz return s to one big final race , once again coached by Lightning , which is heavy on the fan service ( as it’s the very last race seen in the timeline ) Cars 4 - After Cruz beaten by her own fan Shelly the electric Car , after advice from Lightning, s he offers to be Shelly ’ s coach when Cruz retires. Cars 4 - After Finish in Radiat or Spring with a celebration as Lightning and Sally reveal they are having a baby Cars 4 - Final Scene Credits Sce nes of Ligh tning being a parent and Cruz being a coach. Cars 4 - Credits Cars 4 circle of life - T hanks for your time Smokey Doc Hu dson Lightni ng McQueen Cruz Ramirez “ Shelly ” Green Elect ric Car coaches coaches coaches coaches