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CARS 3: Catching Up with Cruz Part 2

November 13, 2017 By: Nanette

Don’t miss the first part of the interview with Cristela Alonzo, the voice talent behind CARS 3’s Cruz Ramirez. Hear what she has to say about CARS 3 in her own words.

Lessons from Cars 3 Cruz Ramirez

Is this the end of the story for Cruz or just the beginning?

It’s the end of that obstacle. I always the end ’cause you never know. I’m very safe. I’m very practical. I haven’t been told about anything else but I’m pretty sure they’ll probably. I’m expecting it.

She’s a lot like Lightning McQueen, she has become the new one that the kids are going to follow.

Yeah.

Lighting has not finished his story because

He’s in a different phase. That thing where we all have to learn to adjust in what we’re doing. Sometimes you realize that what you’re the best at, you get to that moment where you stop being the best at that and you evolve into being the best at something else. That doesn’t mean that you’re not the best, you’re good at something different. And I think that’s a lesson, I think that’s why I like CARS 3 so much. I think this story is great for kids and adults ’cause kids get to see, hey if I want to do something I can do it, and adults can see that and say, I shouldn’t give up. What makes me feel that if you get to a certain point in your life you’re done. You’re not done. You know. So, I, I think it’s perfect, I think everybody can get a lesson out of the movie.

My thing is that um, in this business, I always say the only power you have in this business is to say no. And I say no a lot to a lot of projects. I only say yes to things that really mean a lot to me or that I think have a purpose. Ah, because at the end of the day I want to make sure that uh. I want to make sure that my family’s uh, proud of what I do and that everything has a, everything has a reason. So for me, I can talk about CARS 3, I can talk about it all day because it really means a lot to me. For me, right now, we’re at this point where uh, Latinos are finally starting to get more recognition in Hollywood and I thought this story was important because I image little, little kids like me, boys and girls growing up in like their own Rio Grande Valley, growing up in their own little towns. And sometimes seeing ourselves or hearing ourselves on screen has so much of an impact that we don’t realize that I realized after Cars 3 came out that adults really felt so inspired by having Cruz as a character. And these are adults that didn’t realize how important it was to have themselves represented. They did a screening before the movie came out in Arizona, and it bugged me yet it was very cool, they told me that after the screening girls couldn’t believe the ending of the movie. And they had to ask their parents if it, if they had understood it right and it was because they were so used to girls being girls, liking girl things or you know, they couldn’t understand that there was a girl in this “boys world” you know? And I didn’t realize when the movie came out, the toys, the Cruz Ramirez toys sold really, really well because they were, there were families whose kids were so excited about Cruz ’cause they had never seen a Cruz before so. It’s amazing!

When the CARS 3 Tour came to Houston, we went and everybody wanted to go take a picture with Cruz, I actually felt kinda bad for Lightning there.

Well you know, it’s funny cause they also, Pixar does a really good job. When people ask me to do the voice of Cruz they don’t understand that it’s my voice. So I like, it’s me. Like, here you go. I think Pixar did a great job, I think they drew her in such a cute like perky little way, that I think she’s just loveable.

You’re like that though. You’re very much like that I see.

I’m very much like her. We are the same person/car.

Ok, so then what was y’all’s favorite part in the movie then? What was your favorite part to do?

You know, I um, my favorite part of doing, my favorite part was actually um, it was a part in that, in the sad scene in the movie where she actually asks Lightning McQueen how did you know you could do it? And Lightning McQueen says, I never thought I couldn’t. I remember reading that line in the booth, not knowing, because they don’t give you the lines beforehand. Because Pixar, everybody wants, they leak, they want to protect their stuff you know? So I went in the booth and I read that line and it’s like, it just hit me that I Cristela have never felt like that. I’ve never felt like Lightning McQueen where he says I never thought I couldn’t. You know, it’s I am, I always think I can’t. You know, and I think a lot of it comes from coming from a very practical family but it’s that thing where I couldn’t when I read that line it just kinda hit me because it taught me so much about myself and how I doubt myself so much. And it’s weird but it’s weird, and it’s weird to be in that moment and think this character Lightning McQueen has been created where he doesn’t question himself and things work out. And I realized I’ve never known what it’s like to have that kind of confidence. And that for me, that was my favorite part. It wasn’t even like a laugh out loud anything. It was that moment that I realized that I was learning so much about myself from, from an animated movie you know. And that’s when I realized that we had something different and special.

I think you definitely did. I think a lot of people if not everybody can relate to Cruz and that’s why she became such a big part of the whole merchandising and everything. Because everybody can relate to the way you feel, we all feel like that.

Absolutely! And you know that’s the thing Pixar and I were talking about, how it’s important for people to know, it’s important for people to know that it’s ok to have doubts. We all have doubts. There’s moments when we don’t believe in ourselves and it’s important to show that because it’s important to, it’s important for people to see that it’s, it’s not a rare problem and that were not all alone in it. A lot of us can agree and can see that and that’s something. I’m latina. I’m Mexican/American but the doubts are universal. They can happen to everybody you know. So for me, I think it’s really important to show that you know, we’re all a lot alike. Regardless of what we look like or what we are, we have a lot of the same issues.

What’s your favorite Pixar movie, Disney/Pixar movies, I’ll let you do both?

Ooh, that’s such a good question. I mean, I like UP a lot because it reminds me, I know it seems weird but like the relationship between the older couple in a weird way reminds me of my relationship with my mom. It was very nurturing and very so, and I think I uh I connect with that story in trying to keep the legacy alive and trying to keep the memory alive. I think I completely connect with that. When it comes to Disney though I have to say I really love the Little Mermaid. For me like, the Little Mermaid has always been such a great movie for me cause it’s such a, there’s so much joy, Ursula’s such a great villain. It’s got everything in it. You know, it’s just the musical numbers are fantastic and also I think that one was the first movie I remember seeing as a kid that I thought the music was different. You know the Disney fairytales are like “aaaahhhhh” you know and like and then you see Little Mermaid and it’s like that Calypso. Tropical, I don’t know.

You must have tons of Disney memorabilia, do you have one that really sticks out to you that’s your favorite?

There is one that I love that I didn’t know existed and I have it now. Somebody gave it to me at a stand up show. It’s a, it’s a plush Cruz that you actually can um, it changes into, uh I want to say it changes from like regular Cruz to like Dinoco Cruz so you flip over and it kind of gets dressed up. I love that. I love it so much, when I love things I don’t touch them or use them ’cause I don’t want to, I don’t want them getting like tarnished. So it’s like right there, it’s in my house and I look at it all the time. It’s weird though because I didn’t realize that they give you so much stuff of your character. And now I have yellow cars EVERYWHERE in my apartment. And I always feel if people come over to visit me they think I’m so obnoxious ’cause I’m like yeah, this is me. I’m just everywhere around the apartment.

My daughter wants to do voice acting when she gets older. What advice would you give her?

. . . It’s a hard job, and if you really want to do it you can totally do it just understand that it takes a while. And that’s the thing with everything. People, I can’t stand, I almost want to say that I hate when people will give themselves deadlines and they always say, I’m going to give myself five years. If it doesn’t happen in five years then it wasn’t meant to be. No! I always say a lifelong dream, it’s called a lifelong dream because sometimes it takes a lifetime but if you really love it, you should enjoy the ride along the way. It’s gonna have setbacks but the good the moments should equal the joy that made you want to try to do it you know? That’s why for me, especially for voice acting focus on being, focus on having volume, focus on clearing up your voice and making it sound completely different from everybody else.

CARS 3: Catching up with Cruz

November 13, 2017 By: Nanette

We are BIG Disney and Pixar fans in our house. And now that you can watch CARS 3 at home digitally in HD, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray you can bet we have. Now, my favorite character in Cars 3 is that little yellow car/trainer Cruz Ramirez. She’s got some real spunk to her doesn’t she? So, I was so excited to meet Cristela Alonzo, the voice talent behind Cruz and get a chance to chat a bit about her character.

Cristela to Cruz The Journey

Being that we are both from the same area in South Texas we began by discussing life in the valley, The Rio Grande Valley that is. I wanted to get a little background glimpse into what the driving force behind her was that took her from small town to the big time. To be totally honest with you, I was completely inspired by her words and want to share them all with you and every child who needs to hear them.

The Driving Force

“When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. I didn’t know better and I think not knowing made me want to do so much, you know? So it was really interesting but I wanted to do it. I thought that if I could pull this off my family would be elevated to the next level. That’s kind of what I wanted to do. I wanted to make sure that, I always approach things as I want to leave things better than I saw them. And for me, it’s like me getting to live out my dream was kind of a representation of what my family was capable of doing. So I always feel like by me living out my dream, it’s kind of like I helped my mom live her dream by coming here to this country I continue her legacy.

I’m such a kid, I buy toys all the time. I brought my Nintendo switch with me. I’m gonna play Mario you know. It’s weird because I forget I’m at that age where people have kids you know what I mean? It’s weird because I love toys and everything. Sometimes I’ll go on facebook and look at people that I went to high school with and they have like, families and it freaks me out ’cause I forget. It’s so weird.

My sister has three kids, they’re all in their 20’s. I helped raise them. It was the premise of my show, it was actually based on real life. I moved in with her and helped her raise the kids so I went through raising kids already. They weren’t mine but they were mine so I already know what it’s like.”

The Pixar Connection

Cars came out as a kids movie. Before you were involved with Cars 3 had you already seen the other ones?

Oh yeah, I’m a big fan of Pixar. I think that Pixar does a great job of telling, honestly, I think Pixar does a great job of telling real stories that I wish more movies could do. Because what Pixar does which is so hard and I don’t know why it’s hard, they let you be sad just like life is. Every Pixar movie has that moment when it’s reality and when people see that movie, that part it doesn’t depress them because they understand they are going through this journey, you know. And I love that. That’s why I remember years ago with kids, my sister’s kids we watched A Bug’s Life. We were really big into A Bug’s Life and stuff. I remember years later, a friend of mine, Paul, he’s a comic in Dallas and he’s so not the emotional guy and whatever. He calls and he’s like, hey, you gotta see UP. It’s going to kill you. Like you gotta see UP it’s so good. And I was like, yeah, yeah I’ll see. And he bugged me for honestly two weeks and that’s weird cause he doesn’t do that. Then he’s like “hey, yo you gotta see UP. And I’m like, the fact that this guy is like recommending UP every day and I watched it and he’s like “watch it and call me when you start crying let me know how long it takes you” and then like five minutes into the movie, it’s like Oh My God! But it hooked me in because again it’s like in order to tell a good story you have to be able to be funny and sad if the story requires it because that’s what life is. I think we need to be sad at times to appreciate how happy we are when we are happy.

From Small Town to Big Time

One thing you always hear about Cars 3 when they are describing it is how much of a heartfelt movie it is. Is that what drew you to Cars 3?

You know, actually, the story changed with me in it. When I started the role, when I got the role of Cruz Ramirez I worked on the movie for two years. So the whole movie took six, seven years to make from the idea to what we have of it now. When I got Cruz Ramirez she was going to be a small side-kick and the story changed. I want to say oh four or five times. I can’t even remember earlier versions. What started happening though is that, they would fly me up to Pixar in northern state California. And I would hang out and we’d have lunch and I would talk to them about the valley. I started telling them about how in the valley, my mom she’d come from Mexico and didn’t know English. I would tell them about how hard it was. And how hard it is for a lot of people in places like the valley to have dreams as kids and be nurtured and be motivated to chase after them. You know and I always tell everybody there’s a line in the movie, there’s a line in CARS 3 that comes from my real life that says, my mom use to tell me dream small. She would always say, ‘Mija, dream small. And she would always say that. She’s like, don’t have big dreams because the big dreams are for people with money. You know, it’s not for us, dream small. And it’s weird because she, she said it because she wanted to protect me. She didn’t want my heart broken. I get that. I understand that but it always bugged me that she never understood the big journey she took like to come from Mexico to the United States. She took a bigger journey than what I wanted to do and that was her dream and she didn’t think it was big. So it’s weird, I remember and I’ll say it all the time in the valley growing up nobody told me I could do it because everybody that was around me were all too busy trying to survive. You know, when you try to get by, when you’re trying to survive priorities are different. And you know and I don’t mean anything negative to anybody it’s just how life is you know. So it’s that thing where I, I don’t what it was but I wanted to do this since I was a little kid. And when people told me I couldn’t do it, I would always tell them they were wrong because I always asked why. Why can’t I do it? If you can give me a good reason, why I can’t do it then I won’t do it. No one could ever give me a good reason then I’m like, I’m going to try to do it. You know? And I remember the last time I left home my brother who had never said anything like that, I was really afraid to go to L.A., he said, “Cris just go” he’s like “just go. We don’t lock up the town when you leave. You can always come back. Go”. And that was the first time he, anyone in my family said anything like that to me. I left and I never came back. It was that thing where I realized, I’ve been living in L.A. for years, God I don’t even know thirteen, fourteen years. I’ve lost track but it’s, it’s funny ’cause I remember my brother telling me that when I left. And that just show you just how the smallest words of encouragement can go a long ways, stick with people. You know?

How much of you is Cruz?

The story with Cruz, the story evolved. Pixar found it fascinating how life was for me in the valley and how I ended up working with Pixar. So they started getting my life story and writing it into Cruz’s story and that’s why I think it has heart, because it comes from a real place. I don’t think they were expecting, well I actually know for a fact, they weren’t expecting Cruz to become such a big character in the movie. But, they saw, it’s weird, Cruz and I were the same, we’re the same person in a way. It’s so weird to say that ’cause she’s a car, but um, Pixar saw something in me that I didn’t know I had which was hope and ambition ’cause you take it for granted ’cause it’s you. And the way, and the way that they portrayed Cruz, I realized that they were seeing things in me that I never saw in me. And what I like about Cars 3 is that she gets to have the ending of her story in the movie. And it’s a positive one. And it gives me hope that my story will have the same effect, you know in my life.

Is it really the end of the story for Cruz?

What was Cristela’s favorite part of CARS 3?

What’s Cristela’s favorite Disney/Pixar film and memorabilia?

Want to know the answers? Read part 2 of my interview with Cristela Alonzo the voice talent behind CARS 3′ Cruz Ramirez.

Disney Pixar Shorts = Big Lessons

October 26, 2017 By: Nanette

As I was going through my daughter’s lunch bag I noticed a pink piece of paper folded up, curious as I am I opened it. Wouldn’t you have done the same? I’m glad I did ’cause when I read it, it was about Disney Pixar Shorts. It made me smile for more than one reason. This is what it said.

Tick Tock Tale
Piper

Any of my Disney loving friends recognize those? I’m sure you do. They are the names of two Pixar movie shorts.

Each section had a fill in the blank format like this: The __________ by _____________ is about ________________ and reveals _________________.

I love Disney Pixar shorts. I have my favorites just like I’m sure you do. Obviously, my daughter does too and this tells me why.

Here is what she wrote:

Tick Tock Tale: The Pixar Short by Pixar is about COURAGE and reveals that no matter how small things are, they matter.

Piper: The Pixar Short by Pixar is about DETERMINATION and reveals that one must keep trying in order to reach their goals.

It’s nice to know that the things I share with her have found their way into her heart. The wisdom in these Disney Pixar shorts can really give you something to hang on to, something to remember, something to think about when you need courage, love, acceptance or determination.

Even though I may have felt a little guilty for looking at the paper without asking first, I’m glad I did. It kinda gave me a little peek into how she sees things. I must say, I’m pretty proud of her. She sees the good, the beauty, the happy, the love in life. I hope she always does.

I asked her today about the pink piece of paper and she told me it was a school assignment. EARs off to her teacher for knowing how to use Disney Pixar in this way.