Western Animation / CarGo

Four wheels, zero brains.

CarGo is a low-budget All-CGI Cartoon produced by The Asylum and Toolvox Productions released in 2017, coinciding (on purpose) with the release of a better known CGI movie about cars, so no change there, then. Set in the (obviously) fictional town of Cargo, North Dakota, Danny Carbunkle is a teenage sports car who's persuaded by his "friend" Vin to ditch school and participate in underground racing. Later, Danny's father Art finds out and grounds Danny, but then gets into a nasty accident and is declared totaled. Now it's up to Danny and his other friend Cabigail to save Art from getting scrapped on the dreaded Clunker Island.

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Tropes:

• The Alleged Car: The Clunkers on Clunker Island certainly qualify, with them claiming that they've cannibalized other cars' parts.
• Animated Musical: This film contains quite a few original (yet poorly-written) songs, despite its competition never falling under this trope.
• Biting-the-Hand Humor: At one point, Art sees a poster for Carnado and thoroughly criticizes it. Mind you, both this movie and Sharknado were produced by the same company.
• CamelCase: The title is written this way.
• Covers Always Lie:
  • For starters, the Monster Truck is hilariously diminutive.
  • Second, Art is colored red instead of teal.
  • Finally, Cargo is shown to be a much bigger city than shown in the film.
• Crapsack World: Clunker Island, which is populated with rusty, beat-up cars who steal parts from each other and new arrivals and sentence two cars to death by compactor each morning.
• Creator Cameo: Director James Cullen Bressack does the voice of Don Carleone.
• Dirty Coward: Vin is pretty much this, as he tends to bail out when he and Danny get into trouble.
• A Dog Named "Dog": The Monster Truck.
• The Don: Don Carleone is a Don Corleone homage square and true.
• Dull Surprise: Happens frequently due to the film's low-budget animation.
• "I Am" Song:
  • "Teenage Car", sung by Danny, about how he's, well, a teenage car and that no one understands him, though it also explains how someday he'll grow up and truly enjoy himself.
  • "Clunkers", sung by the Clunker Island vehicles, about how their horrid little lives and what they do for a living.
• "I Want" Song:
  • "I Wanna Go'', sung by Cabigail, about how she always wants to be by Danny's side, even behind bars.
  • "Where the Autos Are", sung by Carlotta, about how she wants to leave Clunker Island and live her own life.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Danny desires to be "something cool, like a race car".
• Implausible Deniability: Each instance of Danny and/or Cabigail saying they're not a couple.
• Ironic Echo:
  • "Sometimes, we have to do the right thing, no matter the cost." First said by Art during his argument with Danny, and later by Danny when he promises to find Art's numerous parts stolen by the clunkers.
  • "It's in your/our oil." First said by Art when he tells Danny he'd make a good mechanic, and later by Danny near the end when he accepts this career.
• List Song: "What Do You Do", sung by Art, is pretty much this, as it lists off the various things he's had to do to ensure his son lives a safe, practical life.
• The Mockbuster: Verily, having been produced by The Asylum and timed to cash in on Cars 3.
• Only a Flesh Wound: At the hospital, a severely damaged car drives in saying he just needs an oil change. Cue said car being towed away to Clunker Island against his wishes.
• Pain to the Ass: During the demolition derby, Danny rams into the Monster Truck's tailgate.
  Danny: I thought you deserved a good spanking!
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Lampshaded. Danny and Cabigail borrow some costumes from a thespian theater and dirty themselves up so they can look old enough to get into a demolition derby. The bouncer is not convinced and points out that they're simply wearing disguises.
• Playing Sick: Vin convinces Danny to do this to get out of taking a "surprise quiz" he didn't study for.
• Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Played for Laughs. Danny quotes a movie called The Carshank Redemption, which neither Cabigail nor Vin seem to have heard of. Immediately after, however, Vin reveals his plan for escaping juvenile detention garage: through a large hole in the wall hidden behind a poster of Rita Carworth.
  Danny: Wait, if you haven't seen The Carshank Redemption, where did you get the idea for this?
  Vin: Alright, get this - I saw it in a movie once.
  Danny: That movie was Carshank Redemption!
  Vin: Nope. Never seen that one.
  Danny: Oh, come on!
• Punny Name: Cabigail. You know, like "Cab" fused with "Abigail"?
  • Additionally, quite a few characters have the word "car" incorporated into their names.
• Puppy Love: Danny and Cabigail are two classmates who slowly grow more attracted to each other throughout the movie. By the end, the two are more-or-less a couple.
• Right Behind Me: Danny has this reaction after he says that Art would kill him if he knew he was illegally racing and Vin starts panicking a little.
  Danny: He's right behind me, isn't he?
  Vin: Later, Danny! (drives off)
• Running Gag: Throughout the film, Danny and Cabigail deny any ideas that they're a couple, despite both obviously crushing on each other.
• Sentient Vehicle: This movie is stuffed to the gills with living cars that look more like toys than anything.
• Setting Introduction Song: The movie opens with "Cargo", performed by the citizens of Cargo, which is about life in their peaceful and friendly city.
• Shout-Out:
  • The Godfather is frequently referenced in scenes regarding Don Carleone and his son Rudy. Danny even says that Don made him "an offer he couldn't refuse".
    Don Carleone: "An offer you couldn't refuse". I like that. Has a nice ring to it. Can I use it?
    Danny: It's all yours!
  • There's also the aforementioned references to The Shawshank Redemption.
  • Not to mention this film's take on Romeo and Juliet - Chromeo and Tooliet.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Speedy Fireball, who constantly brags about his speed and how he's never lost a race.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Vin persuades Danny to play sick to get out of taking a test and take part in illegal street racing (twice).
• Triumphant Reprise: The citizens of Cargo all sing an epic (so to speak) reprise of the opening number, "Cargo", just before the end credits.
• Villain Song: "Monster Truck", sung by, well, the Monster Truck, about his intent to get even with Danny.
  • "Clunkers" also qualifies, since it's about the residents of Clunker Island intending to take away Danny and Cabigail's parts.
• Vocal Dissonance: Art sounds absurdly old to be simply Danny's father; a consequence of being voiced by Ed Asner.
  • To a lesser extent, there's also Rudy Carleone, a male sports car about Danny's age... voiced by Jessica DiCicco. The results are... about what you'd expect.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Danny pukes oil in front of the class and the teacher. He's Playing Sick, but still.
• Where the Hell Is Springfield?: The "Welcome to Cargo" sign seen at the beginning of the movie claims that Cargo is in North Dakota. However, Clunker Island is a bit of a mystery. Danny and Cabigail have to take a ferry to get there, implying that Clunker Island is somewhere in the ocean, despite North Dakota being a landlocked state. Though North Dakota does have some rather large lakes, it seems unlikely that Clunker Island could exist in any of them.
• You Are Grounded!: Art says this to Danny after finding out that he lied to his father and took part in underground racing.

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