With Cars 2 coming out this weekend, I am reminded of a unique piece of artwork created by Jake Parker a few years ago – a cross-section of Lightning McQueen.

If you’ve never seen this illustration before, I’m happy to bring it to your attention. Because Jake’s illustration addresses something that fundamentally unsettles me about the Cars universe – how does a talking car… y’know… work?

Jake’s drawing is a mesh of organic and mechanical that actually makes a fair bit of sense. Although, when you go back and watch the movie and notice that all of the characters side and back windows are tinted, it makes things kind of creepy to think that their brains are behind that glass.

I know it’s a kids movie and I know you’re not supposed to ask these questions. But the level of detail that Pixar infused into these characters begs the question.

Incidentally, I’d also like to know how these characters built the buildings they inhabit with no opposable thumbs, but maybe that’s an issue for another day.