Jack "Cannonball" Taylor

Jack "Cannonball" Taylor is a superstar racecar driver for Royalton Industries. He appears as one of the two secondary antagonists alongside Cruncher Block in the movie and as a playable character in the videogame.

Background[]

Jack "Cannonball" Taylor is considered one of the greatest drivers in the WRL. He is the two-time Grand Prix winner and five-time WRL world champion. His car, The GRX, is one of the most technologically advanced cars ever built.

He is first seen in a luxurious restaurant inside the Royalton Industries' headquarters. Spritle and Chim Chim are shocked to see him. Arnold Royalton then introduces Jack to Speed Racer, gives him his background, and says that Jack is a future hall-of-famer. Speed is honored to meet Jack and they shake hands. Jack tells Speed that he saw a replay of Speed's performance at Thunderhead and says it is a "nice piece of work." Speed thanks him and Jack says, "It was a rumor you might be visiting." Speed replies with, "It's pretty impressive." Jack then mentions that the only thing he cares about was a wall of trophies on one side of the restaurant and says that is what sold him and tells Speed he is "talking to the right guy" if he wants to win in this league. Afterwards, Speed, his family, and Royalton leave on the cart, and Jack is seen glancing menacingly at Speed.

Following this, Jack is not seen again until later in the film at the Grand Prix where he shows up in a 2006 Faralli & Mazzanti Antas V8 GT.

Jack is then seen discussing with Royalton about the latter's goal of having Speed being taken out during the race. Royalton states that the driver who succeeds in this will earn $1,000,000. Jack states that Speed will not even get out of the blocks, causing Royalton to reply that he would prefer Speed to not even make it out of the locker room. Jack is also seen in his racing outfit in the locker room, and the film switches back to his conversation with Royalton who says that they are installing a spear hook in the GRX. Jack is angered and says he does not need one to beat Speed, but Royalton states it is a precaution and leaves. Jack is then seen at the Grand Prix in the GRX and later during the race, he takes out Prince Kabala.

After Speed, driving the Mach 6, drives down 'The Big Drop' section of the track, he then drafts Jack and challenges him to a duel. After a long fight across the track, Jack screams in rage and hits the Mach 6 from the side and uses the spear hook against Speed despite what he said earlier. When the two reach a section of the track with cameras, Speed notices them and uses his jump jacks to show the spear hook to the cameras, automatically disqualifying Jack. The spear hook then detaches from the Mach Six and the GRX is seen tumbling in the next section of the track which is shaped like a funnel. Jack is last seen screaming while being encased in a Kwik-Save ball which goes through a hole in the center of the funnel. Jack is not seen again and Ben Burns states that using the spear hook can cost Jack the Hall of Fame and his fellow commentator says, "Not to mention what it might do to Royalton Industries." to which Burns remarks, "Shame on them."

Speed Racer: The Videogame[]

Jack reappears as a playable character in Speed Racer The Videogame where he is voiced by James Arnold Taylor. He is available by default on the Wii and PS2 versions and is unlockable in the DS version. His ally is Nitro Venderhoss while his rival is Speed Racer.

Quotes from the Videogame[]

A big Cannonball win! (When winning a race)
Anyone get the number of that truck?
No-one can stop me now!
Where did he come from?
Bet you can’t handle like I can.
Boss ain’t gonna like this.
I’m right on your tail?
I’ll get you next time, you bank on it!
I ain't called Cannonball for my looks.
Cannonball on a streak!
Remember me. I’ll get revenge.
Told you I’d smash you.
Cannonball on a run!
Nooooo!
Eat trail!
Pedal to the metal.
How did they do that?
That’s the last I’ll see of you.
Can’t hold me back!
Fuse lit and ready to fire!
In your slipstream, killing your moves.

Trivia[]

He was created for the film and never appeared in the original series.
In the game, Jack talks a lot about his boss, despite the fact that Royalton was locked up at the end of the film. This could mean that Jack has found work elsewhere, or possibly, that Royalton Industries is operating under new management. It might also be an oversight by the developers.
In the game, he looks younger than how he looks in the film.