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I watched this Disney-style cartoon on TV between 1997-98 but it was probably much older than that since the car in question appears to be, if memory serves me right, a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible which was probably a popular luxury car at the making of the animation.

The majority of the movie or episode was centered around this toy red hand-wound car and the small hero trying to tinker with it and dangerously drive it under normal-sized cars in traffic until it was somehow destroyed and he was thrown on a tiny deserted island.

The little guy really loved this toy car and was pretty broken up about it but since he was stuck he tried all sorts of tricks and gadgets to get off the island.

The little hero might have been a small robot like Gyro Gearloose's little helper. I just don't remember for sure.

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  • 1
    This does not appear to be science fiction.
    – Stormblessed
    Commented Dec 1, 2019 at 18:51
  • 5
    Not Stuart Little?
    – Anthony X
    Commented Dec 1, 2019 at 19:07
  • Oh it was as science fiction as it gets for the time.
    – PracticalEffects
    Commented Dec 1, 2019 at 19:22
  • The little hero might have been a robot like Gyro Gearloose's little helper. I just don't remember for sure.
    – PracticalEffects
    Commented Dec 1, 2019 at 19:33
  • 4
    Something tiny enough to drive a toy car sounds on-topic to me.
    – FuzzyBoots
    Commented Dec 1, 2019 at 23:05

2 Answers 2

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Partial match: The 1963 short cartoon Krtek a autíčko (the mole and the little car) has what looks similar to a Chevy Bel Air convertible (I think; I actually know nothing about cars).

toy red hand-wound car: Check, the mole uses a wind-up key to to wind the car (the wind-up key is kind of a stand-in for ignition keys).

mole winds up a toy convertible

the small hero trying to tinker with it: Partial check. First, the mole tinkers with a human-sized car, then finds the broken toy and has it repaired by a futuristic automated "auto service" station.

and dangerously drive it under normal-sized cars in traffic: Check.

until it was somehow destroyed: Does not check. The mole drives it only after it had previously been destroyed.

and he was thrown on a tiny deserted island: Does not check. However, in the next episode, the mole flies a rocket to a tiny island where the rocket gets destroyed. Maybe OP is mixing up the two episodes?

The little guy really loved this toy car and was pretty broken up about it but since he was stuck he tried all sorts of tricks and gadgets to get off the island: Does not check. However, in the next episode, the mole is very sad about his broken rocket, and with help from beach and sea creatures, fixes his rocket to get off the island.

The little hero might have been a small robot like Gyro Gearloose's little helper. Does not check. The hero is a mole. However, there is another episode which has mole "clones", which are wind up toy robots.

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-1

I think what I may have been originally thinking of was Mouse and the Motorcycle.

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    We'd be grateful if you'd edit this answer to explain how The Mouse and the Motorcycle matches the description given in the question. It'd help other users decide how likely this is to be the correct answer.
    – LogicDictates
    Commented Jun 13 at 4:20
  • I believe that, in the film, Ralph only drives the motorcycle and an ambulance, and entirely in the confines of the hospital.
    – FuzzyBoots
    Commented Jun 13 at 11:35
  • Much like in the book, Ralph does get a red car in the third installment, Ralph S. Mouse, but it's not until the end, it's an XL-7, and there's no island scene. youtube.com/watch?v=Twm6uSALXnw
    – FuzzyBoots
    Commented Jun 13 at 11:48

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