Larry The Cable Guy On Bringing Mater To Life For Cars On The Road – Exclusive Interview

I watched “Cars on the Road,” and the episodes are more like vignettes, with my favorite being the spooky one that mixes Haunted Mansion with “The Shining.” That one was great!

Thank you. We had a blast. I remember taping it, and that’s one of the ones that we had to stop several times because we were laughing.

You’ve been voicing Mater for 16 years now…

Since 1895. [Laughs.]

What does he mean to you?

It’s changed my life. As a stand-up comedian, you do certain things, but this has given me a project that is universal, that can go anywhere. Anybody can watch it. When you’re a standup, you’ve got certain crowds [and] a fan base, but this is something that crosses all generational ages, and it’s an iconic character — and it’s for an iconic company. It’s indescribable how cool it is that I’m a part of it. I would’ve never dreamed, but I thank God for it. I’m blessed to be a part of it.

Speaking of your stand-up act … it’s a little less kid-friendly, so to speak, than the humor in “Cars on the Road.” What does doing an animated kids series allow you to do as a comedian that you may not be able to do otherwise?

Let me put it this way: When I started having kids, my act started getting completely different. When you don’t have kids, you don’t really think about stuff like that. You’re single, and you’re living life, but when you get married and have kids, a lot of your priorities start to change.

“Cars” was an answer to a prayer because I wanted to do something that my kids could watch. It’d be cool for them to be like, “Wow, that’s neat.” My boy was born in 2006, and I got the part [around] 2003, a couple years before it came out. It was really cool. It came along at a time when I was changing things around and prioritizing things differently. That’s why it was so exciting. It gave me something that when my kids are older and they have kids, they’ll be like, “Wow, that was my dad.”

Believe me, I still love my stand-up, but as times go on, things change, and I love it. This is a whole different thing,  and it couldn’t have come at a better time — when you have kids and you grow up a little bit.