- “Oh yeah, you wanted the forecast?, I’ll give you the forecast. A hundred percent chance of THUNDER!! KACHICKA!! KACHICKA!! Say it with me!”
- ―Chick Hicks booing fans.
- “It's nice to be out there before the other competitors”
- ―Chick being interviewed on radio
Chick Hicks (also known as Thunder, or simply Chick) is the former main antagonist of the 2006 Disney/Pixar animated film Cars and a minor character in its 2017 third film. He is a racer who likes cheating. After winning the Piston Cup, Chick presumably lost his racing career, when his fans turned on him for causing The King to crash.
Background[]
Official Descriptions[]
"Chick Hicks is a racing veteran with a chip on his shoulder, a ruthless competitor who has cheated his way into more second-place finishes than any other car. He's been counting down the seasons to the King's retirement so that he can take over the coveted Dinoco sponsorship, but he never expected such fierce competition from hotshot rookie Lightning McQueen."[1]
"In Lightning McQueen's worst nightmares not only does Chick Hicks win the Piston Cup, but he wins over Dinoco as well."[1]
Personality[]
Even to his own minions, Chick is extremely rude, arrogant, and self-centered, and loves winning like Lightning McQueen was at the start of the film; however, these traits are more exaggerated in Chick and often make him more ridiculous or obnoxious. Chick always brags about winning, and he's also sarcastic and intimidating. Having lived all his career in the shadow of the King has made him bitter and devoid of any sense of fair-play which makes him resort to cheating his way into winning by knocking other racers out of the race. He even intentionally bumped into and caused the King to crash, despite the fact that he was going to retire and get expelled anyway.
Chick largely serves as a parallel to McQueen. They are both racers who dream of getting at Dinoco, which represents the peak of success. McQueen, however, learned to accept that helping others is more important than fame and fortune after choosing to concede the Piston Cup to Chick so he can help the King finish his last race. Chick, on the other hand (despite having won his first Piston Cup by cheating), never learned from the lesson that helping others is more important than fame and fortune and let his selfishness, anger and arrogance be his downfall. Chick serves as an example of what McQueen would have become if the latter had gotten too caught up in his selfishness and arrogance.
During the events of the third film, despite being a reporter, Chick Hicks still remains an unpleasant and selfish bully. He mocks McQueen for being no match to Jackson Storm and once again shows that he lets his anger and arrogance control his actions. He even brags to the audience about the Piston Cup he won and presents his trophy next to him, which also shows that he is still rude, even proclaiming himself as a Piston Cup winner and "Champion for all ages".
Physical appearance[]
Chick is a 1979 Shyster Cremlin, a non-existing car, which is based on and designed after a 1986 Buick Regal GNX. Chick is painted green, with the number 86 painted on his doors, and has yellow rims. He also has a grille, which serves as a mustache. According to the 2009 Cars Die-Cast Collectors Guide, Chick has a total of over 334 stickers. On his hood, sides, rear and right headlight, he has a logo of his sponsor HTB. In McQueen's nightmare, he gets a Dinoco sponsorship, is repainted blue, has his HtB logos replaced with Dinoco ones, and has less stickers.
After his retirement and gets fired, he becomes an RSN presenter, and his HtB logos are replaced with RSN stickers; "Chick Hicks 86" is now written on his hood instead of HtB, some contingency stickers are removed, and a "PRESS" sticker appears near the "Piston Cup" one. In Cars 3, the Lightyear logo on his tires were also replaced by his own name with yellow lettering, Chick Hicks. Also on the bottom of his doors in Cars 3, there is text saying "Former and Forever Piston Cup Champion".
Powers and Abilities[]
Chick is an incredibly fast race car that often does quite well in Piston Cup races (only due to him cheating), though he was inferior to The King's skills prior to his retirement in 2006, despite having around the same top speed as him (as evidenced by the 3-way tie where he was right next to The King at the finish line). Between the events of Cars: Race-O-Rama and Cars 3, Chick retired, and his sponsor did not return in Cars 3. Along with Lightning McQueen and The King, his top speed is in the area of 200 MPH. He has a small spoiler on his rear deck lid for aerodynamics.
Acomplisments[]
- Veteran racer and rival to The King, falling 2nd place behind him
- Piston Cup Champion, though got booed by fans after crashing The King
- RSN announcer and host of Chick's Picks
Appearances[]
Cars[]
Hicks is in a three-way tie with the King and Lightning McQueen and is attempting to win the Piston Cup. His nickname is "The Runner-Up", as he seems to always lose to the King. He also has the reputation of not racing fairly:
Chick's primary sponsor is the Hostile Takeover Bank (HTB) and his number is 86.
Chick ties with the King and Lightning in the Piston Cup championship, forcing the three racers to compete in a tiebreaker race. Chick later mocks McQueen on winning the Piston Cup and sponsorship of Dinoco. Lightning retaliates by nicknaming Chick "Thunder" due to that thunder always comes after lightning, much to Chick's intense annoyance. However, he later shows off with this new nickname after Lightning disappears in Radiator Springs, wooing his fans and stealing Lightning's catchphrase.
Chick makes numerous attempts to force Lightning out of the final race, such as mocking him, only to be outrun by him in spite it. Frustrated and angered being on second place, Chick then intentionally sideswipes the King with the PIT Maneuver during the final lap, causing him to spin out of control, go airborne, and be sent into a roll for nearly 50 yards on the track's infield grass, even though it was the King's final race anyway. When Lightning sees what has happened to the King on the jumbotron of the track, he stops before crossing the finish line and goes back to help the King across the line. Although this allows Chick to win first place and his first Piston Cup title (though for what he did to the King with his illegal move, he didn't deserve it), nobody cheers him on once he does because they're sick of his dirty tricks, and instead cheer on Lightning for helping the King as respect, though some fans including Albert Hinkey cry and express emotion when they witness McQueen forego his chances of winning.
As Chick gets on stage to collect his trophy and celebrate his victory, he expects them to celebrate with him, he also attempted to take all the credit for his victory. They fire confetti at him rather than using it as a celebration, boo him off the stage, and throw things at him, forcing him to make a quick getaway with his trophy and making him realize the "Chick era" was over before it even started.
It is unknown what happens to Chick afterward, but it appears that he has been denied the sponsorship by Dinoco as Tex instead tries to offer it to Lightning for his good sportsmanship.
Cars 3[]
Chick Hicks returned in the third film with a minor role, being voiced by Bob Peterson since Kroll was unable to reprise the role (possibly due to him being busy with Spider-Man: Homecoming). In the film, Chick has retired from racing and is the host for the show Chick's Picks with Chick Hicks. He gives boisterous commentary for recent Piston Cup results and often shares the stage with statistical analyst Natalie Certain. He also brings up his one Piston Cup win when he gets the chance and proudly features his trophy next to him. He also cracks jokes at McQueen's losses when next-gen racers including Jackson Storm take over the racing sport. When Storm wins the Gears and Glory 450 at the Heartland Motor Speedway, Chick accompanies him on the winners' podium so he can interview him. Additionally, McQueen (after having an argument with Cruz Ramirez) is watching Chick on Mack's television, where Chick is giving a report on McQueen's experience at the Thunder Hollow Speedway and the possibility of McQueen's retirement, resulting the former to turn off the TV out of shame before contacting Mater for help. Unlike the first film, he isn't seen again throughout the rest of the movie.
Video games[]
Cars: The Video Game[]
In Cars: The Video Game, Chick hired a gang of punk cars to steal Lightning's racing gear out of Mack's trailer during the 2006 season. Lightning confronted Chick at the fourth race, but Chick claimed to know nothing about it. He was later beaten out by McQueen and lost the season. Chick returned to Radiator Springs to train for the next season, and once again made some new friends who he used to taunt McQueen. Lightning beat Chick at the final race, and he fled back to his hometown.
Cars: Radiator Springs Adventures[]
In Cars: Radiator Springs Adventures, Chick is one of the speeders in Speed Trap. After you win the event, you unlock the Legends Race secret for Chick.
Cars Race-O-Rama[]
In Cars Race-O-Rama, Chick Hicks returns as the main antagonist. He plans to beat Lightning in the Race-O-Rama series to shut down the Doc Hudson Racing Academy and bring in more cars to come to his racing academy where they will probably learn to cheat. He also plans to take over Radiator Springs and send Lightning packing. Along the way, Chick introduces Lightning to his proteges: Candice, El Machismo, and Stinger. However, McQueen, having some modifications, is able to beat all of them. Before the final race, Chick decides to get himself modified and reveals to Lightning that he was only using Candice, El Machismo, and Stinger to learn how to beat Lightning. However, Lightning still wins the race and Chick drives away, vowing his revenge.
The World of Cars Online[]
In The World of Cars Online, Chick could be seen hiding in Big Heartland Speedway. It was rumored that he was the one who sabotaged the track. As seen in The Lexi Lowdown, Chick drove a lot of players crazy. He also appeared as an opponent during races at the Petroleum City Super Speedway and Los Angeles International Speedway.
Cars 2: The Video Game[]
In Cars 2: The Video Game, Chick appears as a downloadable playable character, available only in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game. He can be purchased either separately for $0.99, or in the Radiator Springs Character Bundle with Ramone, Flo, and Sheriff for $2.99. He is a medium weight racer that is focused more on speed than power.
Disney Infinity[]
In Disney Infinity, Chick is the main antagonist of the Cars Play Set. After the "Calibrate GPS" mission is completed, Chick comes into Radiator Springs and stops at Flo's V8 Cafe. He then asks if this is Radiator Springs before Flo asks if she can get anything for him. Chick asks to start with some jumper cables, and that the town is putting him to sleep. He later leaves after Flo suggests to keep rolling if he won't order anything. He then challenges the player to race against him. After the player wins, he says that he wants a rematch.
He later competes as a random opponent in the races. Before the start of the Radiator Springs International Race Invitation held by Luigi, Chick says to the other racers that he is plotting to win the race and that it will be the "last time you'll be seeing my grill." Francesco Bernoulli, however, states to the King that he almost likes Chick and that he would have said it better. Finn McMissile then states that something suspicious has happened since Chick arrived, saying that Fillmore's fuel has gone missing right before the big race. Chick then replies saying, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. We gonna get this race started or what?" After the player wins the race, Chick appears with smoke coming out of him. When he asks if he had won, Finn says to him that he's through and will be sent to the impound lot. Ramone, however, explains that he has been looking for a perfect wreck to fix up for "Detail My Dents", and that Chick is "the worst looking car I've ever seen." Flo then agrees with Ramone to paint Chick red with lightning bolts, before they both drag him away. Shocked at being painted like McQueen, Chick asks them to take him to the impound instead.
When the Cars vault is opened by having all four characters interact with it, a toy of Chick can be unlocked for use in the toy box worlds.
Cars 3: Driven to Win[]
Chick Hicks serves as the central antagonist of the game and is voiced by Jude Hillary. At some point before the game, he invited Lightning McQueen to his talk show to discuss the continuation of his racing career, which Chick considered "ill-advised". When Lightning, Jackson Storm and Cruz Ramirez set up a competition, he dubs it "Lightning Storm Cruise" and gives them access to the studio's racing simulator. At one point, he challenges McQueen to a race in a simulation, which he, despite cheating in it by creating multiple clones of himself, loses. Despite being sure that Jackson will defeat Lightning, he is proved wrong when the latter wins instead and is forced to admit that Lightning isn't done with racing. He is last seen watching Storm get chased by Miss Fritter at the Thunder Hollow Speedway.
He can be unlocked as a playable character by winning the Chick Hicks Takedown event. Chick Hicks also gives commentary after races, even continuing to give out insulting remarks on McQueen as well.
Disney Parks[]
In Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Chick hacks into Lightning McQueen's racing simulator presentation to humiliate him and challenge him to a virtual race to settle their score (presumably renewing their rivalry). He is once again voiced by Bob Peterson and serves as the main antagonist for the attraction.
Customizations[]
From Cars
From Lightning McQueen's nightmares
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Chick makes his team wear "mustaches" grilles to represent him.
- According to the 2009 Die-cast Collectors Guide, Chick Hicks has 334 decals on him.
- Chick Hicks wants to end up in first place and hates ending up in second place, which is similar to Randall Boggs from Monsters Inc.
- Chick actually was an example to Lightning about what he would've become if he had let his anger and arrogance to consume him. This is noted that if McQueen would've won rather than helped The King, it would truly show that McQueen never learned anything from his past behavior and that he only cared about winning.
- Chick is a 1979 Shyster Cremlin, a car that does not exist. It is designed after a 1987 Buick Grand National.
- 86, Chick's number, is based on the year Pixar was founded. It also symbolizes his racing style, as "86" is a slang term for getting rid of something.
- Chick should've been disqualified before the events of the movie but for the convenience of the plot, he is kept a racer despite violating race rules. Because of this, it could be implied that race officials allow Chick to play dirty just because he's in contention of winning the Piston Cup.
- Chick Hicks is one of the first few Pixar villains to actually win, though his win is regarded as a pyrrhic victory due to his actions on the track.
- Despite Chick winning his first Piston Cup title, it is unknown if it really was his first official win, as it was mentioned that he has always been in second-place to The King. In fact, despite being called "The Runner Up", it is also never revealed if Chick Hicks won races by cheating prior to the events of Cars.
- Though he is the main antagonist, Chick only has a little screen time as the film focuses on McQueen getting lost at Radiator Springs along with his character development, learning that there are more things in life than winning. As a result. Chick only appears in the beginning, in two bad dreams Lightning has, on television in Mack's trailer, and at the end of the film. His voice is still heard on a radio broadcast when McQueen fixes the road.
- When McQueen thinks about Chick Hicks after he finds out that Chick got to California first, the nightmare sequence is basically the same as McQueen's daydream, with Chick hanging with Tex and Team DINOCO, winning the tiebreaker race after overtaking Strip, taking photos for a photoshoot, being on the media magazines, and going to the Hollywood Chinese Theater with Mia and Tia as the new celebrity, even having his own superhero movie called "Chick Magnet" though the fictionalized car-ified plot wasn't shown. The only exception is that when he is in his penthouse, he doesn't get bling bling wheels and attracts Mia and Tia with his magnetic paint job before taunting McQueen in his own thoughts to "eat his heart out".
- Even though Chick didn't appear in Cars 2, players can download him for Cars 2: The Video Game. It was also unknown why he didn't appear in the second film, as it never revealed what really happened with him following his pyrrhic victory in the first film.
- On his right door, there is a picture of the Marshy-Marshmallows logo. This is mostly the same company that was seen in A Bug's Life under the name of "Joel's Marshy Marshmallows."
- In the Polish version, his name is Marek Marucha. Ma rucha means "He has speed."
- A 1:55 scale die-cast of Chick Hicks, along with Lightning McQueen and Brush Curber, appears in one of the exhibit elements at The Science Behind Pixar.
- Michael Keaton voiced Chick in Cars and later returned to Pixar to voice Ken in Toy Story 3. However, by unknown reasons, he was replaced by Pixar animator Bob Peterson in Cars 3.[2] The exact reason is still unknown, but it could be possible that Keaton was not available to record any lines for Chick due to the filming of Spider-Man: Homecoming.
- Due to the voice change, this makes Chick's voice sound different from his original self in the first film, making him sound like characters Bob Peterson voiced from other movies such as Mr. Ray from Finding Nemo and its sequel, Finding Dory.
- Before voicing Chick Hicks, Michael Keaton previously portrayed Ray Peyton, Sr., owner of Team Peyton and the father of the protagonist Maggie Peyton in Herbie: Fully Loaded, another racing movie which was released in 2005 while Cars was still in production.
- In the Latin Spanish version of Cars 3, Chick jokes after supposing that McQueen will retire that instead of "Ku-chau!" (the Latin Spanish translation to "Ka-chow!"), this time will be "Chau-Chau!" (as Chau is a Latin Spanish term to say goodbye to people), making the joke most funny to Latin Spanish spectators.
- His Crew Chief’s name is Ian Roadhazard.
- In the Rioplatenese version of Cars 3, he is voiced by Marcos Di Palma, an Argentinian race car driver known for his brash attitude.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Car Finder" (supplementary material on Blu-ray Disc release of Cars). 2007. Blu-ray Disc. Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 2007.
- ↑ ‘Cars 3’ Drops New Poster; Announces Voice Cast at Rotoscopers
External links[]
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es:Chick Hicks fr:Chick Hicks nl:Chick Hicks pl:Marek Marucha pt:Chick Hicks pt-br:Chick Hicks ru:Чико Хикс uk:Шик Гикс