Sterling

"AND THE NAME IS NOT Sterling!!"
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Sterling Dunn
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“	I'm sorry. Your racing days are coming to an end.''	„
	~ Sterling

Sterling Dunn is the overarching antagonist of Pixar's 18th full-length animated feature film Cars 3.

He is the owner of the Rust-eze Racing Center, an elite training facility with the latest technology. It appears that he also intended to run Rust-eze out of a personal office at the Racing Center. Sterling made his fortune as the "mudflap king" of the eastern seaboard. While Lightning Mcqueen didn't know of him, Tow Mater did, stating that he does "make a quality mudflap at an affordable price.

Personality[]

Sterling is mean, arrogant, angry, greedy and strict. He also has no real loyalty toward those who race for him, and cares only that they can win and if he feels they are too slow and or past their prime he will refuse to race them unlike Tex and Rusty and Dusty who actually care about their racers.

Nathan Fillion described him as a character who does not try to get people to think he is "charming": "Anytime you say something about a quality of a character that's 'charming,' I think a lot of people make the mistake and think of skeevy, but charming is someone who admires you, can disarm you, and gain your trust. He's not being interesting, he's being interested. He's not, 'Hey there, I'm great,' which is not charming. He's 'Hey there, you're great.'"

Appearance[]

Sterling is painted silver, and has blue eyes. According to Brian Fee, Sterling's design was inspired by European cars from the 1960s, as he quoted: "They're incredibly stylish, with almost a dainty quality. Small, kind of sporty, extremely confident."

Biography[]

Cars 3[]

Sterling first appears in the Rust-eze Racing Center, talking about Lightning McQueen's retirement from his racing career, and introduces McQueen to an area with merchandise based on him and his trainer, Cruz Ramirez.

He tries to talk Lightning out of racing by saying that his racing days are numbered, but Lightning refuses. Then he offers him a deal: if Lightning cannot win the Florida 500, then he would be forced to retire but if Lightning wins, he decides when he's done racing. By the time the Florida 500 came, Sterling was offended that Cruz was not only present, but was insisted by McQueen to take his racing spot as long as she wore the same "95" number.

By the time she won, Sterling persuaded Cruz to be a racer that would represent him, but realized that Rust-eze was already bought by Tex Dinoco.

Creation and development[]

According to director Brian Fee, Sterling's design drew inspiration from European cars of the 1960s, which he described as "incredibly stylish, with almost a dainty quality. Small, kind of sporty, extremely confident". Further refining Sterling's appearance, Ford's former design chief, J Mays, contributed to his look. The design team aimed for a timeless aesthetic, incorporating elements reminiscent of classic 1970s BMWs and the tailored style of characters from shows like Mad Men.

Sterling embodies the intersection of tradition and innovation in the racing industry. While he doesn't undergo a dramatic transformation, his actions and decisions significantly impact the trajectories of other characters, emphasizing the importance of personal choice and the evolving nature of legacy. Some of Fillion's mannerisms were actually incorporated into the car. He tends to talk out of the right side of his mouth, and so does Sterling — something he didn't notice until he saw the movie. "I said, 'Hey, that's totally what I do!', so it's actually honest."

In one of his concept arts, he was supposed to be a mix of Mercedes-Benz AMG GT and a BMW, while his model is a bit similar to Pope Pinion IV's model, it should be said that his model is very similar to the 1971 BMW 2002 Turbo.

Sterling is originally going to be the overarching protagonist of Cars 3 as McQueen's mentor and trainer in the movie (with Jackson Storm as the main antagonist), according to the film's promos. When the film is released, Sterling is revealed to be the film's true main antagonist, making Storm the overarching antagonist instead.

Trivia[]

Sterling has a picture of what looks like Miles Axlerod, the main antagonist of Cars 2, in his office, although it was never confirmed if Sterling and Axelrod are connected in some way.
He was voiced by Nathan Fillion, who previously voiced Johnny Worthington III in Monsters University.

External Links[]

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