I hadn't thought of it originally, but since I have had to watch at least part of this film nearly every few days (to appease my two year old son), it eventually dawned on me how perfectly Jungian it was.
The move is Pixar's
Cars. It's very decidedly a kid's movie . . . much more so than recent animated films like
The Incredibles or
Shrek (both of which are also great films, although not very "Jungian"). Thus, my two year old loves it even if he can't really follow much. But if one looks deeper than the kidification of the film, one will see a very nice individuation story.
There are even a number of wonderful, very subtle symbols along the way. When the ego-hero character, Lightning McQueen has to do community service for destroying the main road in the forgotten Route 66 town of Radiator Springs, he is harnessed to a large road paving machine ("Bessie") that splatters a bit of black tar on his "lucky (lightning bolt) sticker", which remains there throughout the rest of his indenture (blotting out his identity . . . which means nothing to anyone in this little town, no matter how famous he might be in the "real" world).
The main road through Radiator Springs that Lightning ruins (and must repave) w/ Cozy Cone Motel on left:
Lightning first finds meaning in being in Radiator Springs (even if he is a prisoner) when he surprisingly loses a race to the old car, Doc Hudson, because he wasn't able to make a turn on a dirt track. After this, he feels compelled to figure out how to make this turn without skidding off the track). Later Doc tells him that "If you're going hard enough left, you'll find yourself turning right." The trick that Lightning has to learn (and finally does, employing it in his final big race) is to be able go left and turn right (while sliding) simultaneously in order to stay on the track. Not a bad metaphor for working
with the instinctual unconscious instead of against it (working with instinct is like going with the skid).
The petulant Lightning replies to Doc's advice: "Oh, right. That makes perfect sense. Turn right to go left. Yes, thank you! Or should I say, no thank you. Because in Opposite World, maybe that really means thank you."
Doc demonstrating:
In another scene, the female "love-interest" car, Sally (an anima figure who is like a more evolved/enlightened version of Lightning McQueen) asks Lightning if he would like to stay in the hotel she runs called the Cozy Cone. He replies (roughly), "Yeah, it's like a clever twist on caution cones, which, of course, cars usually try to avoid. But now we're staying in them."
Sally nicknames Lightning, "Stickers", because he (as a race car) has no headlights (because he lives in a place where "the track is always lit"). His inability to see in the dark is what gets him lost and arrested accidentally in Radiator Springs.
Mater, an old tow truck who becomes Lightning's new best friend, teaches Lightning how to drive backwards (also employed in Lightning's final race) . . . which Lightning originally says "freaks him out". Mater explains the value of "rear-view mirrors".
After Lightning has loosened up a bit and started falling in love with Sally, they go on a drive together where she shows him the true beauty of this forgotten land and tells him how the town used to thrive until it was bypassed by a new interstate that only saved 10 minutes of driving time.
Sally: Forty years ago, that interstate down there didn't exist.
Lightning McQueen: Really?
Sally: Yeah. Back then, cars came across the country a whole different way.
Lightning McQueen: How do you mean?
Sally: Well, the road didn't cut through the land like that interstate. It moved with the land, it rose, it fell, it curved. Cars didn't drive on it to make great time. They drove on it to have a great time.
Ornament Valley, home to radiator Springs:
This scene takes place across from an abandoned Route 66 motel called the "Wheel Well" that Sally explains used to be the most popular stop on the "Mother Road" (the nickname for Route 66). In this scene, the three fuel pumps that once stood in front of the entrance to the Wheel Well are ripped out (leaving only rusted foundations behind). After Lightning learns how to value Radiator Springs (or his unconscious) and sacrifices a victory in his final race to help a wrecked car cross the finish line, he decides to make radiator Springs his home base, reinvigorating the town, putting it back on the map. The Wheel Well is shown again with its three fuel pumps restored.
Throughout the movie there are many more symbols and Jungian themes.
I didn't think much about it at first, but I started to realize that I was having a very strong, unconscious emotional reaction to the movie that only grew stronger after repeated viewings. Then it dawned on me that the story resonates very powerfully with my own symbol system.
You may or may not have noticed that I have a book of poems called
What the Road Can Afford. The Road plays a huge role in my personal mythology (as I relate this Road to a devotion to the Work). A film about a hero who destroys and must rebuild a road is about as close as one can come to this personal symbol of mine. The entire film,
Cars, is about a process of re-valuating something that has been neglected, forgotten, or disposed of (not a "heroic" conquering) . . . and I frequently refer to the Work as a "re-valuation process" (rather than an enlightenment or "attainment" of higher consciousness).
Recently I had a dream in which an old BMW I used to own that burst into flames in my driveway one day (and I previously dreamed about as a symbol of Jungian psychology) was fixed after I installed a new spark plug and rolled it over (it was upside down). When I started it up, it roared to life, sounding just like Lightning McQueen. It was at this point that I really understood how profoundly this movie had affected me. In essence, I learned to re-value it (something I had originally dismissed as nothing but a little kid's movie fetishizing cars).
So, basically, I give it my highest recommendation. See it. If you've already seen it, see it again. And think Jungian while you watch. This film is amazingly rich while also being very succinct (symbolically). It is a wonderful portrayal of an individuation (perhaps as good as that in any film I've seen).
-Matt