Professor Otto Wolfgang Zündapp, better known as Professor Z, is the secondary antagonist of the 2011 Disney/Pixar animated film, Cars 2. He was promoted to be the leader of the Lemons, but it is eventually revealed that he is actually Sir Miles Axlerod's second-in-command. He is voiced by Thomas Kretschmann.
Personality[]
Professor Z is considered by others to be evil, greedy, ruthless, devious, intelligent, and mad. Occasionally, he speaks German, such as "Wunderbar", meaning "marvelous", "terrific" or "wonderful"; and "Guten Tag", meaning "Good day." He is also notably somewhat of a genius, as he fully knows about what the lemons' electromagnetic pulse generator can do. Like the other lemons, Z is deemed evil for trying to make the world turn against clean energy, as well as aiming to kill anyone who knows about - or unknowingly does something against - the lemons' plot. He is also very intelligent as he not only knew Allinol weakness but when Rod Torque was being questioned who the second agent was, Professor Z caught a finch in his eye when Mater was shown. Once he knew Mater was given the device, Professor Z ordered the lemons to find and kill Mater, despite him being a civilian tow truck and not posing a threat to his plans.
Physical appearance[]
Professor Z
Professor Z is painted both dark and light green. The dark green shade covers the middle of his sides, beneath his windows, and goes down to his bumper at the front. The light green shade covers the rest of his body, including beneath the dark green shade on his sides. He has gray eyes and wears a monocle over his left eye. He also has a broken roof rack, which represents a comb-over. He is modeled after a 1957 Zündapp Janus, which is a very small car that has passengers in the back seats facing the opposite direction. His license plate reads "BAD GA 58", which includes most of the letters spelling "bad guy"; and the year 1958, which is the second and final year when the Zündapp Janus was built. German license plate rules state that the first 1-3-letter abbreviation represents the city where the car registered. "BAD" is assigned to his hometown, Baden-Baden.
Trivia[]
- He is portrayed by a 1957 Zündapp Janus, a German microcar known for the detail of having two doors one on the front one on the rear, with four seats in couples oriented one (the driver's) to the front and one to the rear, both couples reclinable on the central engine to sleep.
- Although he is the secondary villain, he is more evil than Miles Axlerod because he was willing to sabotage the World Grand Prix not just by making the world turn against alternative fuel and rely on oil, but also as well as murdering Rod Redline. Additionally, he was also completely willing to kill Mater, Lightning McQueen, and Finn McMissile in order to keep his plan in full swing. Furthermore, he and Miles Axlerod show no known care for each other - and no known care for anyone but themselves. Z also is the one who drives the plot and is far more dangerous than Miles Axlerod. This makes Professor Z one of the darkest Pixar villains.
- His license plate is BAD GA 58, which appears to be a pun on "bad guy". The 58 is one of the years the Zündapp Janus was made (1957-1958). Per the German license plate rules, the first 1-3-letter abbreviation represents the city where the car was registered. "BAD" is assigned to Professor Z's hometown, Baden-Baden.