Cars Toons is the Pixar short-film series featuring Mater and Lightning McQueen.
Cars Toons, also known as Mater’s Tall Tales, is a series of animated shorts centered mainly on Mater’s exaggerated stories. Lightning McQueen commonly appears as Mater’s listener, while the episodes place the characters in comic versions of different occupations, adventures, and genres.
The first short, “Mater the Greater,” premiered in 2008. The series later included episodes such as “Rescue Squad Mater,” “Tokyo Mater,” and “Air Mater.” The shorts were produced for television and home-video distribution rather than released as theatrical feature films.
The title can be confusing because “Mater’s Tall Tales” is used as an alternate title for the series and for its collected releases. Cars Toons is the official series name commonly used in Pixar and Disney listings. It is also distinct from later Cars television projects, including Cars on the Road, which premiered on Disney+ in 2022.