Mike's New Car is a 2002 animated short film (4 minutes) directed by Pete Docter and Roger L. Gould. It is one of the Pixar Shorts, a follow-up to the feature Monsters, Inc., and was originally released as an extra on the Monsters, Inc. DVD.
In this short, Mike shows Sulley a new six wheeled car he bought. Unfortunately for Mike, he is not very familiar with the various features of his new car. A series of comic hijinks ensue, as Mike winds up locking himself out, Sulley accidentally closes the hood on Mike's fingers, Mike gets trapped in the engine compartment, the windshield wipers malfunction, and the whole situation goes from bad to worse.
Especially notable for the DVD Commentary on the short, which is done by the young children of the creators.
Tropes:
- The Alleged Car: Sulley asks Mike at the beginning what was wrong with it. According to Mike at the end, clanging and banging noises from the engine.
- Billions of Buttons: On the dashboard of Mike's car. All unlabeled, of course. Chaos ensues.
- Book Ends: Sulley asks Mike at the beginning what was wrong with his old car. At the end, Mike laments that he misses his old car.
- Butt-Monkey: Mike suffers from a ridiculous amount of abuse throughout the short.
- Cool, but Inefficient: The car. It looks cool and has 6-wheel drive, but it has so many buttons and knobs on its control panel that getting it to move is a pain. Not to mention that once Mike finally gets the car to start, it crashes almost immediately.
- Cool Car: The new car, at least on the surface, has a sleek design with multiple spoilers and 6-wheel drive, and a control panel with a huge variety of features. Unfortunately, Mike can't figure out how to operate it for most of the short, and when he finally starts it up it immediately crashes.
- Delayed Safety Feature: The airbag only goes off a few seconds after Mike crashes, which Sulley Lampshades."Hmm, that's weird... the airbag didn't go off."
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The car's automatic seat recliners start malfunctioning. Outside, a pedestrian nervously runs away from the visibly shaking car.
- Downer Ending: Played for Laughs. Mike crashes his new car and completely destroys it, leaving him beaten and distraught.
- Face Palm: Mike facepalms himself after the windshield wipers went off when he put his seatbelt on.
- Fingore: Sulley accidentally closing the hood on Mike's hand.
- Free Wheel: All six wheels when Mike finally crashes the car, five of them bouncing, the last gently rolling.
- Get Out!: Mike orders this to Sulley after the latter accidentally breaks his car's mirror.
- Hammerspace: Mike's car, considering Sulley could lower the passenger seat to the point only his head is visible.
- Iris Out: How the short ends, directly onto Mike's round body.
- Jump Scare: A rare comical example. As Sulley plays with the adjustable seat Mike looks angry for a while until he suddenly shouts "WILL YOU CUT IT OUT?!"
- Offscreen Crash: Mike orders Sulley to get out of the car. The camera stays focused on Sulley while Mike begins to drive away, but immediately loses control. A large crash is heard, followed by six hubcaps (six-wheel drive) and Sulley catching Mike as if he was a shooting star.
- "No Peeking!" Request: Mike also does it at the beginning of the short when he's about to show off his new car to Sulley.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "Don't! Touch! Anything! I'll do it."
- Rage Breaking Point: After spending the entire short suffering hilarious injuries as a result of the car, it's Sulley accidentally breaking the mirror off that gets Mike to force him out and attempt to make the drive himself.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: "I miss my old car."
- Tempting Fate:
- "Don't! Touch! Anything! I'll do it." One button sends the car into chaos until he eventually stops it by pulling the key out of the ignition.
- Sulley tries to readjust the car's mirror after it was earlier knocked by his head. He ends up accidentally breaking it off.
- "Hmm... that's weird. The airbag didn't go off." Cue the airbag exploding.
- Wiper Start: The series of disasters starts when Mike accidentally turns the windshield wipers on.
