When we first met The Stig back in Top Gear’s very first episode in 2002, we weren’t exactly sure what to think. Was it a joke? No, but it sure was a humorous play on racecar drivers and their anonymity. So many years later, The Stig symbolizes more than that. He’s become a huge part of the show and the various racing car cultures that are current in today’s world. If you couldn’t think The Stig could be any cooler than he already is, just ask Disney.
Disney has decided to up the game; Top Gear has teamed up once again with the geniuses at Disney to turn The Stig into its own cartoon character. Nowadays, you can spot The Stig in a Disney promo as Canon and there’s no other cartoon that would be the most appropriate for The Stig other than in the Cars franchise.
In this video, we first see Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater, and Cruz Ramirez head over to the Top Gear test tracks. There they meet the Lego car verison of The Stig, and Lightning McQueen couldn’t help but express his admiration. The Lego Stig, or Canon, then proceeded to build various structures in and around the test track. Eventually, we see the other racecar characters, McQueen and Ramirez, join Canon in the test track in what looks like just another thrilling ride.
As mentioned previously, this isn’t the first time that Disney, or particularly Cars, is working with Top Gear. Jeremy Clarkson, one of the show’s creators, also happened to voice Lightning McQueen’s manager in Cars‘ British version. Cars is one of Disney’s most successful movies, and it has had a few movies come out after the original. The market for Cars characters is also quite large. You’ve got fans of Lightning McQueen, of course, and fans of his best friend Mater. The second movie only created more fans, and by the time the third Cars movie was out, the character Cruz Ramirez has become translated into so many different toys, etc.
It wouldn’t be a shock to know that a lot of people are hopeful for actual Stig/Canon paraphernalia after watching this video. Even though the Stig effect, as we call it, has been largely diminished since The Stig actually revealed himself, the effect is still there. The video shows us that The Stig has gone on to bigger and better things. Whether this means a role in the next Cars installment or maybe its own line of Legos, only time will tell. But for now, we can just enjoy the many possibilities that can only come out of a strong collaboration such as Top Gear and Disney. There’s so much to look forward to and if you’re as much of a fan as we are of racecars and cartoons, you’re probably just as excited as we are. After all, it was time that Jeremy Clarkson embraced another big project, and something about The Stig/Canon might actually be the next one.
Follow Us
