Hot Wheels: World Race (film)

Description[]

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Hot Wheels: World Race is a computer-animated film and storyline created by Starlight Runner Entertainment and Mainframe Entertainment in partnership with Mattel Entertainment under the Highway 35 anniversary label. The film premiered on Cartoon Network from 12 July 2003 to 2 August 2003 split into five episodes (Ring of Fire, The Greatest Challenge, Desert Heat, Frozen Fire, Wheel of Power), and was available for VHS and DVD purchase on 2 December 2003.

Plot[]

The events of World Race happened a number of years after the events of the Hot Wheels television series, following Jack “Rabbit” Wheeler’s sixteen-year-old grandson, Josef “Vert” Wheeler, as he navigates through a thirty-five competitor race against multiple teams for several million dollars.

Characters[]

Wave Rippers[]

The Wave Rippers were a team of drivers led by Josef “Vert” Wheeler. Vehicles of this team were equipped with jump jets and other specialised abilities that gave drivers an advantage when surfing on and navigating oceanic terrain.

Josef “Vert” Wheeler	Alec “Hud” Wood	Finn Serpa	Lani Tam	Felix Sharkey	Fluke	Mark Wylde
Deora II	Switchback	Backdraft	Classic Nomad	Power Pipes	Chrysler Thunderbolt	Corvette Stingray

Street Breed[]

The Street Breed were a team of drivers led by Kurt “Zed 36” Wylde (later Dan Dresden). Vehicles of this team were equipped with sky cameras and other specialised abilities that gave drivers an advantage when navigating city streets.

Kurt “Zed 36”Wylde	Dan Dresden	Toño	Ricky Bell	Bart “Shrimp” Scampi	San Jay Khan	Maximo
Slingshot	Side Draft	Pontiac Rageous	24/Seven	Road Rocket	Aeroflash	Pontiac Firebird

Road Beasts[]

The Road Beasts were a team of drivers led by Banjee Castillo. Vehicles of this team were equipped with cutter arms and other specialised abilities that gave drivers an advantage when navigating swamp and jungle terrain.

Banjee Castillo	Ric Handy	Pete Karris	Jerry Boylan	Skeet	Yucatan	Esmeralda Sanchez
Ballistik	Zotic	Twin Mill	Moto-Crossed	Vulture	Power Rocket	Power Pistons

Dune Ratz[]

The Dune Ratz were a team of drivers led by Brian “Zone” Kadeem. Vehicles of this team were equipped with tire spikes and other specialised abilities that gave drivers an advantage when navigating desert sand dunes and off-road terrain.

Brian “Zone” Kadeem	Mojave	Toni Berry	Chuvo	Charlie Raffa	Heralda	Rekkas
Krazy 8s	Wild Thing	Toyota RSC	'97 Ford F-150	Sweet 16 II	'69 El Camino	Mega-Duty

Scorchers[]

The Scorchers were a team of drivers led by Taro Kitano. Vehicles of this team were equipped with lava plows and other specialised abilities that gave drivers an advantage when navigating volcanoes and mountainous terrain.

Taro Kitano	Vesuvius	Harrison Lau	Everest	Wayne Casper	Jet Blaney	Krakatoa
'70 Plymouth Road Runner	1/4 Mile Coupe	Red Baron	'57 Thunderbird	Dodge Charger R/T	'63 Corvette	Muscle Tone

Other[]

Dr. Peter Tezla, biological son and benefactor of Nikola Tesla, founder of the SCRIM Corporation
Gig, floating robotic helper of Dr. Tezla
Major Jack Wheeler Jr, biological son of Jack “Rabbit” Wheeler and father of Vert Wheeler
Gelorum, leader of the CLYP Drones and ZED-36

Summary[]

Ring of Fire[]

The film opened with Dr. Peter Tezla, biological son of Nikola Tesla and founder of the SCRIM Corporation, struggling to reach the end of a track built in another dimension called Highway 35 after multiple implied attempts. After crashing an unmanned dummy vehicle, Tezla’s robotic helper, Gig, suggested building a team of new drivers.

Josef “Vert” Wheeler was introduced at a skate park on his sixteenth birthday during a competition with his friend, Alec “Hud” Wood. After outlasting him, Vert proceeded home to find his father, Major Jack Wheeler, preparing to ship out on a mission with his squadron. Vert guilted his father into dropping him off at the driver’s license center, where he scored perfectly on both the written and driving portions. Once more, Vert skateboarded home to find a Deora II in his driveway. Inside, a video from Dr. Tezla instructed Vert and multiple other drivers using GPS to meet him at a secluded location in the desert to participate in a contest called the World Race. The building is located in what is assumed to be the salt flats around Utah shown in a future movie series. After further introduction, Tezla explains the cars and their unique abilities from the 5 teams. Wave Rippers cars use jump jets to fly into the air and hover above the ground like riding the waves. Scorchers have lava tires and plows to drive through lava. Road Beasts have a saw blade to cut through things, Dune Ratz have spiked sand tires that can gain traction in deep sands. Lastly, it’s not shown until later, but Street Breed cars can launch a radar system into the air that can show drivers how to navigate through a maze. All cars also have a grappling hook to save them from a fall, lift objects off the ground, and pull objects while driving in reverse.

Every car has Nitrox 2 boosters to make them go faster at opportune moments. Drivers would use this to go 300 mph to open a portal leading to another dimension with a race track built eons ago by Accelerons, gain speed for long jumps, catch up to other drivers on straightaways, and to open the portal on the way back to earth. At the beginning of a race, notice who is shown using Nitrox first or second to get an idea of what characters an episode is focused around. Vert will have screen time during all of the episodes as he is the main character, but the focus will also revolve around the leaders of all 5 teams that correspond to the amount of episodes there are in the movie. There are different legs of the race that also fit with the theme of the team leader that an episode is focused around.

Before the first race, Vert’s mindset is that he doesn’t need a team saying “I’m a team of one”. He rejects his friend Alec’s offer to join an amateur skateboard team to get sponsored, gets upset when his dad didn’t let him drive the car after he got his license when his dad has to leave to help his squadron, and also rejects Lani’s offer to join up as Wave Rippers. He gets into a beef with Scorchers leader Taro Kitano after he uses his grappling hook by accident making them both spin out. This rivalry continues into the 1st leg of the race which takes place on an orange Hot Wheels track with yellow arrows. The setting is a world with dark rocks that lead to a loop and a volcano with smoke billowing from its chimney behind it.

While Vert is busy site seeing, a driver named Kurt Wylde takes the lead after knocking him into Kadeem making them wipe out establishing that the cars in the movie are highly advanced to the point of being indestructible. Banjee eventually passes Kurt and fails to complete the loop, deploying his parachute to land safely on the track. Kurt and Taro don’t have enough speed to complete a jump after the loop and failure to make it to the other side would mean falling into a river of lava, but Vert does a half pipe skateboarding trick to get through the loop before barely making the jump.

Upset at what just happened, Taro later catches up to Vert and they bump each other off the road after going through a twisting track and this causes the other drivers to pass them on the way inside the volcano. A mysterious driver named Zed-36 sets off an explosion with a bottle of nitrox that Banjee and Kadeem narrowly avoid. Lava erupts from the volcano as Vert uses his jump jets to get through ahead of the lava like he’s riding a wave. Taro uses his lava tires and plow to get through the lava that had fallen onto the track, but Lani can’t get through on her attempt and needs to be saved by Taro and Vert.

The drivers use their grappling hook to try and lift the boulder she is standing on out of the lava, but it’s too heavy, so she holds onto Vert’s grappling hook while he uses his jump jets to send Lani flying upward and onto the track to safety. The problems and differences between Vert and Taro have been worked out and they share playful jabs at each other. Kurt Wydle wins the world race to find out that this wasn’t the end of the world race and gets covered in mud when Kadeem comes out of the portal to earth. The drivers find out in Tezla’s 2nd headquarters that they would race as teams with Kurt Wylde, Brian Kadeem, Banjee Castillo, Taro Kitano and Vert Wheeler being the team leaders. At the end of the episode, Vert decides that maybe having a team would be necessary and that he’d do anything to win the race gaining the respect from Taro.

The Greatest Challenge[]

While the 1st episode focused around Taro, this one focuses on Banjee Castillo, Esmeralda Sanchez, and Skeet of the Road Beasts. After taking a shortcut through a jungle in the 2nd leg of the world race, the Road Beasts and Wave Rippers run into a rotating wheel that they don’t know how to traverse which Banjee dubs as the greatest challenge. They can’t turn back because Zed-36 destroyed a bridge they had crossed on the way. Luckily, Lani Tam does some calculations and figures out that the drivers have to go 163 mph within a certain timeframe to get through. Everything is going smoothly until Mark Wylde, Kurt’s younger brother, doesn't reach the correct speed making him come into contact with the wheel which causes a nitrox bottle to pop loose from his car that explodes as he barely makes it to the other side. What is it with Kurt, Mark Wylde and nitrox bottles?

The wheel starts rotating uncontrollably and can no longer be timed by Lani to tell Banjee and Vert when to start, so they take a gamble and go at it at full speed. The tops of their cars knock into the wheel one last time as they go through causing it to spin too fast for it to handle and it explodes. Taro and Kadeem finish 1st in a tie staying on the main road to complete the race. Kurt’s little brother Mark Wylde snuck into the race inside the trunk of Kurt’s car at the beginning of the first episode and took his car before getting confronted. He asks Kurt to join his team, but it’s full leaving him to join the Wave Rippers and showing off his inexperience at many points during the episode. He blames Banjee for putting the Road Beasts and Wave Rippers in last place, but Vert stops him and he agrees with Banjee that the next time they race, it will happen on the real track. This shows that skirting the rules like Banjee did when going back to the 1st leg or going on the shortcut may actually take them down a path that makes things take longer.

Whenever Kurt Wylde goes ahead of other drivers during a race, and with his car only showing aesthetic color changes from purple to black, it is clear that he is Zed-36 (and that this movie is made by Canadians). The story uses dramatic irony to let the viewer know who this driver is when the characters in the story do not know yet. Because the movie is for 5 year olds, it’s very intentional about it, so it’s very easy to make this connection. After the teams chosen by the drivers learn about the Wheel of Power at the end of Highway 35, Zed-36 tells the main villain Gelorum about it and is told that Telza isn’t to be trusted. He makes several attempts to sabotage the drivers, but ultimately decides against it when Marky starts to attempt the greatest challenge. He can’t talk about his brother to Gelorum in person as it might put him out of a job, and is told to win the race at all costs, even if it meant hurting the other drivers in the process.

That same night, after recapping how the second race ended, Tezla tells all drivers more information about the Wheel of Power and that they may find it at the end of the next track. Later, as Vert is maintaining his car, Brian has a vision of an old man who tells him about a great danger ahead of him.

Desert Heat[]

The next day, the third leg of the race starts. The third leg of the race takes place in a sandy desert. As all the drivers leave the portal, they come across a huge sand dune in their path. While the others are stuck, the Dune Ratz use their sand wheels to drive through the sand while the Wave Rippers use their jets to fly above it. After Brian makes it back on the track, he comes across a huge statue shaped like a t-rex. While two members of his team fail to make it across a chasm, Brian uses his Nitrox 2 boosters to make it. Eventually, the other drivers approach the statue and make their way through it. During this, Zed 36 returns, makes one driver crash and makes his way out of the cave.

Soon, Brian comes across pyramids and spots what appears to be the Wheel of Power. After Brian picks up the wheel and ties it to his car's spoiler, Zed 36 spots the "Wheel" and chases after Brian. After shooting an energy ball at him, Zed 36 chases after Brian and shakes the "Wheel" off his car. As both drivers chase after it, they almost crash into the other teams. Upon noticing that Taro and Banjee aren't chasing the artifact, Vert comes to the conclusion that it's not the Wheel of Power. Eventually, the wheel stops rolling and Brian gets out of his car to pick it up, but Zed 36 stops him. After knocking his helmet off, Brian discovers that Kurt is Zed 36. After pushing Kurt off the track and down a pyramid, Brian puts the wheel back on his car and continues on. Meanwhile, Taro, Banjee and everyone else makes it to the end of the track. As Brian passes through the portal, the wheel he found disintegrates. Upon finding the artifact gone, he too realizes it was a fake.

Later, as Brian sits outside thinking about the fake wheel, Vert joins him and asks about his home. Brian tells Vert that he comes from a place where food and water are scarce, hence why he's participating in the race. Meanwhile, Kurt, who had been disqualified for what he had been up to, is seen driving along the shoreline when Gelorum picks him up with her helicopter. Although Kurt no longer wants anything to do with her, Gelorum decides to keep him longer and plan their next move. Meanwhile, Brian sees the same old man from before giving him more advice just before the sun rises.

Soon, all drivers and their cars are at the starting line. Vert, Alec and Mark think now they won't have anymore trouble now that Kurt has been disqualified. But little do they know that he's still after the Wheel of Power. Kurt insists on going alone, but Gelorum assigns two CLYP drivers with cars similar to HW Prototype 12. Back at the starting line, Dr. Tezla, suspecting this leg to be the final one, wishes all the drivers good luck. Just as the yellow light turns on, Kurt and the CLYP drivers get a head start and all other drivers follow just before the light turns green. Eventually, as soon as all cars reach 300 mph, the portal opens and everyone enters. Unfortunately for driver 10, he doesn't make it as his car is out of nitro.

Frozen Fire[]

The fourth leg takes place in an arctic setting. After Kurt and the CLYP drivers exit the portal, the CLYP drivers make their moves on stopping the other drivers from reaching the Wheel of Power. First, they drop spike balls on the track, but the Scorchers clear them with their plows. Then, after turning their cars into planes, one of them drops a bomb on an ice arch. Once the bomb explodes, the track is blocked. Everyone does what they can to help clear it, but Mark uses his jets to jump over the ice.

As Mark goes ahead of his team, the CLYP drivers drop mines on the track, much to Kurt's concern. Worried about his brother running into them, he tells the CLYP drivers to detonate the mines before the other racers reach them to avoid anyone getting hurt. But the CLYP drivers do not listen. Kurt instead switches his car's paint job to purple and tries to tell Mark to stop. Thinking that Kurt is trying to stop him from winning, he ignores his warnings. Eventually, Mark finds out the hard way about the danger that lies ahead of him and he sets off one of the mines. Just before he can make it out and across the bridge, the mines blow up the bridge. Mark then uses his grapple hook to stop himself from falling. Unfortunately, he is knocked unconscious.

Meanwhile, the other drivers have successfully cleared the track. As Vert tries contacting Mark, he gets no response. Meanwhile, Kurt arrives at the blast site to help Mark. As this is going on, the other drivers reach the area where the mines were set off. Knowing it would take forever to clear this road block, everyone instead takes a detour through an icy canyon. And with the help of Dan Dresden using a drone, everyone figures how to get through the maze. During this, the Dune Ratz use their spikes to get a better grip on the ice.

Back at the blast site, while one CLYP driver goes off to find the other racers, the other stays with Kurt and tells him to get back in his car. Although Kurt does, he still doesn't want to leave his brother stranded, so he reverses his car into the flying car. As Kurt gets out to help, the CLYP driver gets out of his car, revealing himself to be a robot. During this confrontation, Mark comes to and sees Kurt being attacked by the robot, who now threatens to take Kurt's life with an ice chunk. Fortunately, Mark starts his car and attacks the robot, pushing him off the cliff. After a word with Kurt, Mark leaves the scene.

After Mark's car slips on a patch of ice, Kurt passes him again. Soon, all the other drivers make it out of the maze and back on the track. This prompts the other drone racer to attack. He tries flipping Vert off the track with his wing, but Vert uses his rockets to get back on track. The drone then uses another bomb to block the track. Vert, Kurt and Dan make it past, but Brian, Banjee, Taro and everyone else is stranded and left to clear the track again. Eventually, Vert makes the drone racer crash, but Kurt is still determined to keep him from winning. After Dan is knocked off the track, Vert and Kurt are the only ones left. As each try different moves to pass each other, Kurt finally crashes into an ice block. And with that, Vert is in first place.

Wheel of Power[]

After driving along a long bridge across the sea, Vert comes across a city filled with sky bridges. And at its center is the actual Wheel of Power. As soon as Vert comes across it, he sees one of the CLYP robots has caught up with him, still determined to keep him from reaching it. After driving up a ramp, Vert reaches out of his car window and grabs the Wheel of Power. Soon, he's transported back to his dimension, along with all other drivers.

That night, Vert and his team are declared the winners of the World Race. As a reward, they are given checks for $5,000,000. When Banjee suggests participating in another race, all the other drivers agree to this, except for Brian, who decides to go home. Taro then says that while they can race, they can't do it on Highway 35. This is because, as Tezla's robot Gig states, the portal will no longer open without the Wheel of Power. Upset by this news, Vert goes to talk with Dr. Tezla. Fortunately, Taro uses his Road Runner's plow to open the door to his lab. Once inside, Vert explains the dilemma and tells Tezla they want to race on Highway 35 again.

Meanwhile, Kurt comes across Gelorum and tells her that the race is over and that Tezla has the Wheel. Displeased by his failure, Gelorum fires Kurt and goes after the Wheel herself along with her drones.

Back at headquarters, Tezla talks about the powers and abilities of the Wheel of Power, such as clean, renewable, unlimited energy for the whole country. Unfortunately, the Wheel proves to be too powerful and a blackout occurs. As a result of power overload, Gig is also shorted out. Tezla then realizes how dangerous it would be to handle the amount of power provided by the Wheel. After Tezla restores power to the complex, Gelorum and her drones approach. Gelorum then tells Tezla he has three minutes to surrender the Wheel or let the drones destroy the place. Fortunately, Tezla figures out that an inscription on the wheel says to return it. Vert agrees to take it back himself with a little help from every driver from every team.

Once time is up, before all the CLYP drivers can attack the base, all Highway 35 drivers attack first. During the chaos, Gelorum makes her move and tries to take the Wheel from Vert. Fortunately, with swift thinking and expert driving, the other drivers trick the drones into crashing into Gelorum's helicopter. After that, once Vert reaches 300mph, the Wheel makes the portal open up, and all drivers enter it. Gelorum gets out of her helicopter and tells her drones to get the wheel, even if it means killing the drivers. At that moment, Kurt arrives and tells Gelorum to order the robots to not hurt the drivers. Gelorum, saying that Kurt doesn't understand, reveals that she is a robot herself, much to Kurt's surprise. Kurt then goes into the portal himself.

All drivers exit the portal and enter the city from earlier to return the Wheel of Power. However, they must also deal with the robots pursuing them. Even though the robots are determined to stop the drivers, they prove to be very poor drivers themselves as they're always crashing into walls, tracks or even each other trying to stop our heroes. At one point, after Vert is pushed off the track, he has trouble starting his car. Fortunately, Kurt comes to the rescue and stops a drone from attacking. After throwing the robot into a wall, Kurt reveals he's had a change of heart and gives Vert a push, helping start his car. Soon, Vert locates the tower where he found the wheel. Unfortunately, Gelorum catches up and cuts the ramp with a laser beam. Vert goes up it anyway, but he's not going fast enough, so he goes back down to try again. Once he realizes his nitro tanks are almost empty, he uses them one more time to pick up speed. Gelorum attacks again, threatening to cut the Deora II in half. Fortunately, Kurt comes to the rescue again and knocks Gelorum's plane out of the sky. After using his nitro one more time and his rocket boosters, Vert flies above the tower and puts the wheel back in its place. Once the wheel is put back, power is restored to the city. Defeated, Gelorum and her two remaining drones leave.

As the sun rises, all the drivers take the time to admire the whole city. As Brian is about to leave, Vert gives him his winning check, having decided that Brian and his people need it more. Brian is touched by this act of generosity. As Vert is about to leave himself, the other drivers ask Vert to come back anytime for another race.

Packaging Variations[]

VHS

DVD