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Cars is an animated feature film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 9, 2006.

Directed by John Lasseter (Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2), the film features the voices of Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Paul Newman, Cheech Marin, Tony Shalhoub, John Ratzenberger, George Carlin, Larry the Cable Guy, Richard Petty, and Darrell Waltrip. The film was rated G by the MPAA.

The film premiered on May 26, 2006 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, with 30,000 tickets sold.

Plot

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En route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California, Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, finds himself unexpectedly detoured. He ends up in the largely-abandoned town of Radiator Springs on Route 66, which parallels the real-life town of Amboy, California. McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters, who help him realize that there are more important things than trophies, fame, and sponsorship. McQueen discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line.

It all starts with the final Piston Cup race of the year. Lightning McQueen (a hotshot rookie), The King (a respected veteran), and Chick Hicks (a ruthless cheater, similarity to Earnhardt Sr.) are all tied for the series championship. A photo-finish tie between the three competitors leads to a final tie-breaker race scheduled one week later in California.

After the race, Lightning and his transport truck, Mack, begin an all-night journey across the country towards California. With Lightning sleeping in the trailer, four custom racers play a prank on Mack, causing the sleepy truck to doze off and Lightning to slip off the back onto the interstate highway. Lightning tries deperately to race after Mack but finds himself lost and alone in the middle of the night on rural Route 66. Lightning tries to make it back to the interstate but finds it difficult without any headlights. This speeding car with no headlights soon catches the eye of a small town sheriff. A wild police pursuit ensues, resulting in Lightning tearing up the pavement of the main street in a forgotten little desert town named Radiator Springs. Lightning is caught, impounded, taken to court, and sentenced to repair the street which he destroyed.

At first Lightning McQueen remains arrogant and self-centered, obsessed with nothing else but leaving Radiator Springs and getting to the race in California. After an escape attempt and sloppy road repair, Doc Hudson, the elderly local judge challenges Lightning to a race in the desert. If Lightning wins the race he gets to leave town. If Doc wins the race, Lightning has to complete his sentence and do the work Doc's way. Lightning laughs off this challenge as easy and races to a huge lead while Doc remains at the starting line. Lightning tries to take a tight turn in the dirt and flies off a bluff, getting stuck in a cactus patch just as Doc knew he would. Doc wins the race.

Over the next several days Lightning gradually learns more about the town and its residents. He becomes friends with a dim-witted but loyal tow truck named Mater and with a beautiful Porsche named Sally. Sally shows Lightning why she loves Radiator Springs. She also tells Lightning the story of how Radiator Springs once thrived on Route 66's bustling tourist industry that vanished after the interstate highway was built.

Lightning begins to like Radiator Springs but he remains obsessed with making that sharp dirt turn in the desert. Doc offers his advice but Lightning dismisses the old man's ridiculous notions. Then Lightning discovers that Doc Hudson used to be a great racecar, a three-time Piston Cup champion in the 1950s until a bad wreck ended his career prematurely. Once Lightning discovers Doc's secret, Doc tips off the media as to where Lightning McQueen has been all week and Lightning is quickly wisked away to California in a public frenzy.

Racing for the championship in California, Lightning can't focus as his mind keeps wandering back to Sally and Radiator Springs. He begins the race poorly but becomes revitalized after he discovers that many of his friends from Radiator Springs have come to the race to help him as his pit crew, with Doc Hudson (painted as his old #51 "Fabulous" Hudson Hornet) as his crew chief. Lightning races back into contention and pulls into the lead on the final lap thanks to finally understanding Doc's advice about making that sharp turn back in the desert.

With the championship in sight for Lightning, Chick Hicks intentionally causes The King to spin into a horrific wreck. Lightning, remembering how Doc's accident ended his career, slams on his brakes just before the finish line and goes back to help The King. Chick Hicks wins the Piston Cup, but he is booed by the audience and Lightning McQueen wins the admiration of the fans after pushing the retiring The King across the finish line, allowing him to complete his final race.

Lightning decides to move to Radiator Springs, along with all of his racing operations. Thanks to Lightning's endorsement, Radiator Springs sees a huge boost in tourism and the town is saved. Template:Endspoiler

Critical reaction

Initial critical reaction was generally positive. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars (out of a possible four) and said, "The movie is great to look at and a lot of fun, but somehow lacks the extra push of the other Pixar films." Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post called the film "great fun" and gave it four stars (out of a possible four). However, Manohla Dargis of The New York Times reviewed the film unfavorably criticizing its emphasis on mechanical characters and landscape and lack of living creatures. It is currently seen as the least critically successful of the Pixar films, but still boasts a "certified fresh" 77% rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Voice cast

The voice actors who portray the main characters are:

Crew

• Directed by John Lasseter
• Co-Directed by Joe Ranft
• Screenplay by Dan Fogelman, John Lasseter, Phil Loren & Kiel Murray with additional screenplay material by Robert L. Baird and Dan Gerson
• Story by John Lasseter, Jorgen Klubien and Joe Ranft
• Produced by Darla K. Anderson
• Music by Randy Newman
• Edited by Ken Schretzmann

Soundtrack

Eleven cuts on the twenty track set are scores by Randy Newman. The soundtrack was released on June 6, 2006, and it's already available from various vendors, including iTunes.

Track listing

1. "Real Gone" - Sheryl Crow
2. "Route 66" - Chuck Berry
3. "Life Is a Highway" - Rascal Flatts
4. "Behind the Clouds" - Brad Paisley
5. "Our Town" - James Taylor
6. "Sh-Boom" - The Chords
7. "Route 66" - John Mayer
8. "Find Yourself" - Brad Paisley
9. "Opening Race" - (score)
10. "McQueen's Lost" - (score)
11. "My Heart Would Know" - Hank Williams
12. "Bessie" - (score)
13. "Dirt Is Different" - (score)
14. "New Road" - (score)
15. "Tractor Tipping" - (score)
16. "McQueen and Sally" - (score)
17. "Goodbye" - (score)
18. "Pre-Race Pageantry" - (score)
19. "The Piston Cup" - (score)
20. "The Big Race" - (score)

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Trivia

• The movie's working title in 2001 was Route 66 (after U.S. Route 66), but in 2002, the title was changed to prevent people from thinking it was related to the 1960 television show with the same name. Another working title was The Cars.
• The name of the main character, Lightning McQueen, is a tribute to Glenn McQueen, a Pixar animator who died in 2002. Also, actor Steve McQueen made many car movies. Finding Nemo was dedicated to Glenn's honor.
• Sally, the lawyer Porsche, is a nod to the character Portia in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, who is also a lawyer.
• The landscape in the distance behind Radiator Springs is made up of rock formations intentionally reminiscent of Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas.
• The character Mater at different points in the movie says "Git R Done" and "I don't care who you are, that's funny", both catchphrases of Larry the Cable Guy, who voices the characters.
• The film was originally going to be released on November 4, 2005, but soon after the trailer's release in late 2004, the movie's release date was changed to June 9, 2006, so it could receive a summer release, and so the DVD would be sold just in time for the holidays of 2006. Chicken Little was instead released on November 4.
• Many of the sponsors on the sides of the cars seen in the trailer are references to past Pixar films (as well as puns on real life automotive related companies). For example, "2319" is visible on a car. "23-19" was the code of the Child Detection Agency in Monsters, Inc. when a monster came into physical contact with a human child-in this case a sock gets stuck on the monster. Lightning McQueen's own number (95) besides being a typical race car number, is a reference to 1995, the year that Toy Story was released. Lightning McQueen is equipped with Lightyear Buzzard tires, a parody of Goodyear Eagle Tires, and a reference to Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. And The King's sponsor is Dinoco, the gas station from Toy Story, which itself is a pun on Sunoco.
• Lightning McQueen's original number was to be 57, after director John Lasseter's birth year, 1957. It was later changed to 95 to represent the year that Toy Story was released.
• The Flo's V8 Cafe logo is similar to that used by the '32 Ford V8, the first V8 for mass marketed cars. This retro logo also appears on late model Ford Explorers, and owners of other Ford trucks who get the part and put it on their vehicles. Flathead also refers to this Ford V8, and was popular with hot rods
• The King is Richard Petty's #43 "Petty Blue" Plymouth Superbird, built to beat Ford and bring Petty back. The goalpost wing and shark nose were so fast they were banned, and started a trend of slowing cars down from 200 MPH. Petty was known as the King on the NASCAR Winston Cup Circuit.
• Cars is the last film made by the late Joe Ranft.
• The number on the character Chick Hicks is 86, a reference to Luxo Jr., the first Pixar short, released in 1986.
• During the scene when Lightning is going to his trailer after the first race, the Apple logo is seen on one of the trailers in the back.
• Fillmore, the VW Minibus voiced by George Carlin, has license plate '51237'. This is Carlin's birth date: May 12, 1937. His license plate dangles below his front bumper, forming a goatee which typical of a 1960s hippie which the car represents.
• Fillmore's character is an imitation of Tommy Chong of the Cheech and Chong comedy record duo. Cheech Marin has been quoted that he will not get back together with Chong. Had Chong been cast, Cars would have an Asian American voice.
• Other license plates are less obscure--for instance, Doc Hudson's plate is "51HHMD", which simply stands for "1951 Hudson Hornet, M.D."
• When Mack is driving by the truck stop without stopping, one of the trucks reads "i, Inc." This is a reference to The Incredibles (the 'i' is Mr. Incredible's monogram.)
• The United States Department of Transportation has used scenes from the movie in a commercial regarding the Click It or Ticket campaign.
• The name and voice for the character Darrell Cartrip, a retired racecar who now does race commentary, is a pun on, and is provided by Darrell Waltrip, a retired NASCAR driver who now does race commentary for the FOX network.
• The name of the racing series, The Piston Cup, is a spoof of the Winston Cup, the premiere series in NASCAR (now known as the Nextel Cup).
• The railway train's number which almost crashed into Lightning McQueen when he was on his way to Radiator Springs is A113, a recurring inside joke in several animated shows and films. Mater's license plate number has the same number.
• The role of the sheriff is voiced by Michael Wallis, renowned author of The Mother Road series of books about historic Route 66.
• The track that the opening race takes place on is actually an enlarged version of Bristol Motor Speedway.
• The Character of Chick closely resembles the Quaker State Buick Regal that Ricky Rudd drove in the 80's.
• Darrel Waltrip's character is a mid-70's Chevy Monte Carlo, not a Chrysler Cordoba. Also, it sports the number 17, which was on Darrel's Tide and Western Auto Cup cars, and they were chevy's.
• Cars features mostly American cars from the 50s and 60s, but also some Japanese tuner and American muscle cars from the 70s, K's from the 80s and minvans and Miatas from the 90s.
• Although there are VWs cast as bugs, Herbie, Disney's most famous VW does not make a cameo.

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• During the end credits, scenes from previous Pixar films are re-enacted with cars. There is a scene from "Toy Car Story" featuring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, one from "A Bug's Life" featuring Dave Foley, and one from "Monster Trucks, Inc." featuring John Goodman and Billy Crystal. John Ratzenberger is also featured in all three scenes and his Cars character Mack comments on the recurrence.
• At the end Mrs Minivan asks why they don't ask for directions.
• The birds from the Pixar short For the Birds can be seen on the "Life is a Highway" sequence.
• The big company sponsoring the Piston Cup is Dinoco, which was the name of the gas station company from Toy Story where the "YOU ARE A TOY" line was said by Woody.
• The Pizza Planet Truck from Toy Story with a rocket on the roof can be seen at the entrance to the stadium in the the final race sequence.

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See also

• Cars (video game)

Notes

1. Cars review by Roger Ebert at rogerebert.com
2. Washington Post review
3. "'Cars' Is a Drive Down a Lonely Highway" by Manohla Dargis, The New York Times June 9, 2006
4. RottenTomatoes Cars rating

External links

• Official Cars website
• Official Pixar webpage for Cars
• Official Disney webpage for Cars
• Cars at IMDb
• Cars at Rottentomatoes.com

Template:Pixar films

• 2006 films
• Pixar feature films
• Anthropomorphic films
• Comedy films
• NASCAR media