Cars (film)

Cars
File:Cars High-Rez Final Poster.jpg Promotional poster for Cars
Directed by	John Lasseter Joe Ranft (co-director)
Written by	John Lasseter (story) (screenplay) Joe Ranft (story) (screenplay) Jorgen Klubien (story) (screenplay) Dan Fogelman (screenplay), Kiel Murray (screenplay) Phil Lorin
Produced by	Darla K. Anderson
Starring	Owen Wilson Paul Newman Bonnie Hunt Larry the Cable Guy John Ratzenberger Joe Ranft Michael Keaton Richard Petty
Cinematography	Jeremy Lasky Jean Claude Kalache
Edited by	Ken Schretzmann
Music by	Randy Newman
Distributed by	Walt Disney Pictures
Release dates	June 9, 2006 (USA) July 28, 2006 (UK) November 7, 2006 (USA DVD)
Running time	1 hr. 56 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$120 million

Cars is an Academy Award, Kid's Choice Award, BAFTA, and Saturn -nominated, Golden Globe-winning animated feature film produced by Pixar Animation Studios, presented by Walt Disney Pictures, and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. Its release date was June 9, 2006 in the US, and July 28,2006 in the UK. This movie is the seventh Disney/Pixar feature film, and the final film under a contract with Disney created prior to the purchase of Pixar by Disney.

Directed by John Lasseter, who had previously directed other Pixar movies such as Toy Story and A Bug's Life, the film is set in a world populated entirely by anthropomorphic cars and other vehicles. It features the voices of Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Paul Newman, Cheech Marin, Tony Shalhoub, John Ratzenberger, George Carlin, and Larry the Cable Guy. Many of the voices of the racecars are real race car drivers. They include Richard Petty, Mario Andretti, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Michael Schumacher. Notable cameos also included sports broadcaster Bob Costas as "Bob Cutlass," NASCAR broadcaster and former Winston Cup champion Darrell Waltrip as "Darrell Cartrip," Jay Leno as "Jay Limo", and Tom and Ray Magliozzi (hosts of NPR's weekly Car Talk) as Rusty and Dusty Rust-Eze. The film was rated G by the MPAA; in the UK, it was rated PG by the British Board of Film Classification for some mild peril, brief language and crude humor.

The film premiered on May 26, 2006 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

Plot

File:Cars image 2.JPG

From left to right: Chick Hicks, Lightning McQueen, and The King.

Lightning McQueen is an arrogant rookie race car, living life in the fast lane, who has dreamed all his life of winning the Piston Cup Championship which brings massive amounts of fame, fortune, and a new sponsorship in Dinoco. Going into the final race of the season, there is a three-way tie in the point standings between himself, series veteran and legend Strip "The King" Weathers, and Weathers' chief rival, the aggressive Chick Hicks. McQueen has an enormous lead in the final lap of the final race, and is about to become the first rookie to win the championship, until his rear tires burst. McQueen barely finishes the race and ends up in a three-way tie with both Chick and The King.

A tie-breaker race is organized to take place in Los Angeles, California. McQueen and his transport truck Mack begin a journey across the country to California on Interstate 40. At McQueen's insistence, Mack drives all night so they will be the first to arrive at the Los Angeles Motor Speedway. In the middle of the night, four street racers have fun with the increasingly drowsy truck. As the they throw Mack around, the trailer's rear door opens, and sleeping McQueen rolls onto the busy highway. After waking up, McQueen narrowly avoids several road collisions, and soon becomes hopelessly lost on Route 66 after mistaking a truck leaving the interstate for Mack. He speeds past the Sheriff of Radiator Springs, mistaking the Sheriff's backfiring for gunshots and speeds in a panic through the darkness, tearing up the main street of Radiator Springs until he is trapped in telephone wires.

The next morning, McQueen awakens to find himself impounded. After a brief conversation with Mater, a rusty, old tow truck, and the Sheriff, he is taken to traffic court. Local Judge and Doctor of Internal Combustion Doc Hudson initially orders the race car exiled from town immediately, but Town Attorney Sally Carrera soon arrives and convinces Doc that McQueen should stay and repair the road. McQueen is hooked up to Bessie, an asphalt machine, and told that he must repave the road, and it should take him about five days to finish it.

McQueen remains interested only in leaving the town to make it to his race. After a failed escape attempt the moment he was released, due to his tank being syphened during the night, he works at road repair duty. He tries to rush it and as a result creates an unusable road. Tired of the racecar's complaining, Doc Hudson challenges McQueen to a desert race, saying McQueen can leave if he wins. At the track, Doc is left in McQueen's dust as the racer roars off. Doc remains at the starting line, unconcerned. Moments later, McQueen gets loose and overshoots a tight turn and winds up over a cliff in a cactus patch. Doc, clearly expecting this result, is declared the winner as Mater fishes McQueen out of the patch. McQueen scrapes off his botched attempt at the road and is forced to start over again.

File:Mcqueenandhudson.jpg

Doc Hudson (left) and Lightning McQueen (right) before their "race" at Willy's Butte.

The next day the townsfolk discover that McQueen has finished repaving a section of the road and are amazed at the perfection of its paved smoothness. Since McQueen ran out of asphalt in the middle of the night, Sheriff allowed him to try to make the turn at Willy's Butte again under his supervision, but McQueen continues to fail. Doc suggests Lightning uses opposite lock steering, but McQueen angrily ignores him. He eventually decides to try Doc's cryptic clue of "Turn right to go left", out of curiosity. The technique ends up landing him another trip to the cactus patch. That night, Mater is instructed to watch Lightning, so Mater decides to take him "tractor tipping" (a play on cow tipping, as the tractors in Cars are depicted akin to cows).

The next morning, while waiting for the Sheriff to give him his daily gas ration, McQueen sneaks into Doc's garage and finds out that Doc was a famous Piston Cup racer, the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, and the winner of three consecutive Piston Cups.

File:Wheel Well.JPG

Sally and Lightning talk with each other after arriving at the Wheel Well.

Sally decides to take McQueen for a drive through Tailfin Pass, on the outskirts of Radiator Springs ending at the Wheel Well Motel, an old hotel located at the top of a bluff overlooking the entire town and valley. At the top, McQueen learns that the town once thrived, before being bypassed after the construction of Interstate 40 forty years earlier. After that, McQueen comes to understand the town's troubles.

When he returns to town, McQueen sees Doc at Willy's Butte making the turn that McQueen couldn't by drifting. When Doc sees him, he dashes back to his garage, with McQueen following him. Angrily, Doc orders him out, but McQueen persists, demanding to to know why he would quit at the top of his game. Doc shows McQueen a newspaper article about his devastating crash in 1954, and that his backers had quit on him for another car while he was being repaired. McQueen says he's not like them, but Doc challenges him to name a time he acted selflessly, which he can't do. Doc orders McQueen to leave as soon as he finishes the road.

The next day the townsfolk discover that McQueen has finished the road while they were sleeping. Instead of leaving, McQueen sets about patroning all the townsfolk's businesses and they hold a "cruise" (slow-driving) party that night. Suddenly he is surrounded by a crowd of reporters and news cars, and whisked away by Mack to the race. Sally is shocked to discover it was Doc who tipped them off, and the whole town is saddened.

At the race in California, Lightning is distracted by thoughts of Sally and Radiator Springs. Lagging behind, McQueen is revitalized after most of the Radiator Springs townsfolk arrive to become his pit crew, with Doc as his crew chief. Not only does this lift McQueen's spirits, but the crew draws some attention as well, thanks to the re-emergence of the Fabulous Hudson Hornet (in full racing colors) and Guido's incredibly swift solo tire changing, which is faster than entire pit crews. This encouragement enables McQueen to catch up to the leaders and gain first place. On the last lap, Chick Hicks makes a desperate effort to finally finish ahead of the King and side-swipes him, sending The King into a horrific crash. McQueen, remembering how Doc's crash ended his career, hits his brakes, stopping just short of the finishing line. He stays until Chick passes, and goes back and pushes The King to the finish line to end Strip's career with dignity. Chick wins the Piston Cup, but is booed as a despicable cheater. Lightning is offered his dream Dinoco sponsorship, but Lightning has a change of heart, opting to stay with his current sponsor Rust-eze, as they were the sponsor that gave him his big break.

After the race, McQueen then moves to Radiator Springs and makes it his racing headquarters, along with a Racing Museum (with a section dedicated to Doc). Thanks to McQueen, Radiator Springs receives a boost of tourism, revitalizing the town, and the once abandoned Route 66 becomes a major traffic roadway again, been reclassified as "Historic Route 66". Template:Endspoiler

Production

Like all Pixar productions, the animation is computer generated. This is a work-in-progress screenshot.

Unlike most anthropomorphic cars, the eyes of the cars in this film were placed on the windshield (which resembles the Tonka Talking Trucks, as well as the characters from Tex Avery's One Cab's Family short and Disney's own Susie the Little Blue Coupe), rather than within the headlights. According to production designer Bob Pauley, "From the very beginning of this project, John Lasseter had it in his mind to have the eyes be in the windshield. For one thing, it separates our characters from the more common approach where you have little cartoon eyes in the headlights. For another, he thought that having the eyes down near the mouth at the front end of the car made the character feel more like a snake. With the eyes set in the windshield, the point of view is more human-like, and made it feel like the whole car could be involved in the animation of the character." The characters also use their tires as hands, the exceptions being the various tow truck characters who sometimes uses their tow hooks, and the various forklift characters, who use their forks.

The original script (called Yellow Car, about an electric car living in a gas-guzzling world) and some of the original drawings and characters were produced in 1998 and the producers agreed that Cars would be the next movie after A Bug's Life, and would be released in early 1999, particularly around June 4. However, that movie was eventually scrapped in favour of Toy Story 2. Later, production resumed with major script changes.

The race sequence in the teaser trailer was likely made before the other sequences, as the Piston Cup cars sport different body styles and paint jobs. The style of the race (aka Piston Cup) and some of the drivers and characters seem to be dated.

In 2001, the movie's working title 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. Also, Lightning McQueen's number was originally going to be 57 (Lasseter's birth year), but was changed to 95 (the year Toy Story was released), the number seen in the movie today.

Cars was originally going to be released on November 4, 2005, but soon after the trailer's release in January 2005, the movie's release date was changed to June 9, 2006. The delay could be considered a good thing, because one of the most complex shots in the movie, where Sally drives in front of the waterfall, crashed Pixar's render farm.

Cars is the last film worked on by Joe Ranft, who died in a car crash in 2005. The film was the second to be dedicated to his memory after Corpse Bride.

Vehicles and voice cast

Main article: List of Cars characters.

Characters	Image	Vehicle Likeness	Voice actor
Lightning McQueen	File:Lightning McQueen.jpg	LA Times: "[A] mix of a stock car and a more curvaceous Le Mans endurance Auto racing". According to IMCDb, he's a NASCAR Dodge Charger.	Owen Wilson
Doc Hudson	File:Doc Hudson.jpg	1951 Hudson Hornet, later revealed to be the Fabulous Hudson Hornet	Paul Newman
Mater	File:MaterA113.JPG	mid-1950s Chevrolet One-Ton Wrecker Tow Truck	Larry the Cable Guy
Sally Carrera	File:Sally Carrera.jpg	2002 Porsche 911 Carrera	Bonnie Hunt
Chick Hicks	File:Chick Hicks.jpg	Pixar: "a generic 1980s stock car." Strongly resembles a mid-1980s Buick Regal.	Michael Keaton
The King	File:Strip Weathers.jpg	Richard Petty's 1970 Plymouth Superbird	Richard Petty
Ramone	File:RamoneLOWNSLO.JPG	1959 Chevy Impala lowrider	Cheech Marin
Fillmore	File:Fillmore51237.JPG	1960 VW Bus	George Carlin
Sarge	File:Sarge41WW2.JPG	A Willys model jeep, in the style used by the US Military.	Paul Dooley
Flo	File:FloSHOGIRL.JPG	1957 Motorama show car	Jenifer Lewis
Luigi	File:LuigiIDNTNO.jpg	1959 Fiat 500	Tony Shalhoub
Guido	File:GuidoRS.jpg	Custom forklift, possibly an Isetta model	Guido Quaroni
Sheriff	File:Sheriff001.JPG	1949 Mercury Club Coupe (police package)	Michael Wallis
Mack	File:Cars mack.jpg	1985 Mack Superliner	John Ratzenberger
Lizzie	File:Lizzie cars.png	1923 Ford Model T	Katherine Helmond
Red	File:Red (Cars).JPG	1960s style fire truck (most closely resembles a mid-1960s Pirsch pumper but also resembles American LaFrance models)	Joe Ranft

Reaction

Cars opened on June 9, 2006 to generally positive reviews. William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer praised the film as "one of Pixar's most imaginative and thoroughly appealing movies ever." [1] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly called the film "a work of American art as classic as it is modern." [2] Most critics agreed that the film was good, but not quite up to the level of past Pixar productions, especially after the nearly unanimous praise and success The Incredibles received in 2004. "The movie is great to look at and a lot of fun," wrote critic Roger Ebert, "but somehow lacks the extra push of the other Pixar films." [3] Laura Clifford of website Reeling Reviews wrote that the film's "only real drawback is its failure to inspire awe with its visuals and to thoroughly transport with its storytelling." [4]

Rotten Tomatoes named Cars the best reviewed animated film of 2006 and animated category winner in their Golden Tomato Awards and received a certified fresh 75%.[5]

In its opening weekend, Cars grossed $60.1 million and held onto the #1 spot for two weeks before being defeated by Click and then by Superman Returns the following weekend. However, Cars opening weekend and final gross was considerably higher than either of those two films, and was the second-highest-grossing domestic film of 2006 behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and ahead of Night at the Museum.[6] The film also outgrossed fellow animated films that year, such as Happy Feet, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Flushed Away, Open Season, Everyone's Hero, The Ant Bully, Barnyard, Monster House, and Over the Hedge. However, the film sits as the fifth highest-grossing Pixar film to date. Cars is generally regarded as a successful, if unspectacular, hit for Pixar.

Awards

Cars had a highly successful run during the 2006 awards season. Many Film Critic Associations such as the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review named it the best Animated Feature Film of 2006. Cars also received the title of Best Reviewed Animated Feature of 2006 from Rotten Tomatoes. Randy Newman and James Taylor received a Grammy Award for the song "Our Town," which later went on to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song (an award it lost to "I Need to Wake Up" from An Inconvenient Truth). Cars was also selected as the Best Family Movie at the 2006 People's Choice Awards. Perhaps the most prestigious award that Cars received was the inaugural Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Cars also won the highest award for animation in 2006, the Best Animated Feature Annie Award.

However, Cars did not receive the inaugural British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for Best Animated Feature or the 2006 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Both of these awards went to Happy Feet. Cars' defeat at the Academy marked the first time since the award's inception that the winner of the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature did not go on to win the Academy Award, a big upset for Pixar, which was expected by most to win.

DVD

Cars was released on DVD in Australia and New Zealand on October 25 2006, in the United States and Canada on November 7 and in the United Kingdom on November 27, and is available in both Widescreen and Fullscreen editions. It contains the short film Mater and the Ghostlight, One Man Band (another Pixar short which showed before the film in theaters), and Inspiration for Cars, a 16 minute long documentary about the film featuring John Lasseter.

Unlike previous Pixar DVD releases, there is only a one-disc version, with no plans laid out for a future two-disc release as of November 2006. According to Sara Maher, DVD Production Manager at Pixar, this is because of John Lasseter and Pixar being busy with upcoming productions like Ratatouille, although additional extras not seen on the disc have been released on the Official DVD Website.

In the US and Canada, there were bonus discs available with the purchase of Cars at either Wal-Mart or Target. Wal-Mart featured a Geared-Up Bonus DVD Disc that focused on the music of the film, including the "Life Is A Highway" video, The Making of "Life Is A Highway", Cars: The Making of the Music and Under The Hood, a special that originally aired on the ABC Family cable channel. Target's bonus was a Rev'd Up DVD Disc that featured material that was mostly already released as part of the official Cars podcast and focused on the inspirations for and production of the movie.

Australian retailer EzyDVD was taking pre-orders for a two-disc edition of the DVD to be released at the same time as the one-disc version; however, these are no longer available due to overwhelming popularity. The second disc includes short featurettes covering the music, real cars, Route 66, and other inspirations for the movie, but very little about the animation. It is not known whether this second disc will contain the same features as a future Region 1 two-disc edition. Also, the DVD release included a 1:55 scale die-cast Lightning McQueen.

There is a hidden Easter Egg on the DVD. On the main screen, after the third image of the Piston Cup flashes in front of Lightning McQueen, a Dinoco 400 logo appears in the bottom right hand corner. Upon selecting it, a short film featuring Lightning, Mater and Guido that parodies the Pixar short Boundin' will play.

According to the Walt Disney Company, 5 million copies of the DVD were sold in the first two days it was available.

Merchandising

The Mattel-produced die-cast cars were some of the most popular toys of the 2006 Summer Season. Several stores had trouble keeping the toys in stock, and some models are still difficult to find because of being shipped in lower numbers than other characters. Some online Disney enthusiasts are comparing it to the same shortage that Mattel faced with its Toy Story line in 1995. Because of these shortages, some of the die-cast cars are only readily available on eBay.

Main article: Cars Diecast Line

On June 22, 2006 Disney Consumer Products announced that Cars merchandise broke records for retail sales based on a Disney-Pixar product, recording 10-to-1 more volume than Finding Nemo. DCP reports that product expansion will take place in the fall alongside the DVD release of the film.

Estimates from the New York Daily News indicate that sales of Cars merchandise two weeks out from the release of the film amassed to $600 million USD. Estimates put out in November by the Walt Disney Company peg total sales for the brand at around $1 billion.

Kelley Blue Book, the de facto resource for appraising values of vehicles, has humorously "appraised" four of the cars, Lightning McQueen, Mater, Sally Carrera, and Doc Hudson according to their make/model and personalities. [7]

The United States Department of Transportation has used scenes from the movie in a commercial regarding the Click It or Ticket campaign.

In conjunction with the film's release, a chocolate ice cream on a stick resembling a car tire was released in Australia. These ice creams were called 'Burnouts'. The naming of the particular product sparked controversy as the name 'Burnouts' was believed to have encouraged street racing and committing burnouts. These acts are illegal and heavy fines and convictions are issued to those committing these acts in Australia. It is unknown as to whether the products have been discontinued or not.

In Norway, the candy company Nidar produced candy with the characters on the outer packaging and pictures of the characters on the packaging of the assorted candy on the inside. These bags also came with Cars themed tatoos.

In the US, an animated Wal-Mart truck can be seen on a Wal-Mart ad and Wal-Mart TV commercial for Cars. In the Wal-Mart TV commercial the Wal-Mart truck was talking to Mater.

In South Africa, Italy and several other countries where Opel is present (or with Opel models under Chevrolet and Vauxhall brand), GM has a campaign featuring an Astra, a Meriva and a Zafira as characters in the world of Cars, including TV ads made by Pixar, with the Opel models interacting with Lightning McQueen, Mater and Ramone. The first ad involved the Opels coming to Radiator Springs as tourists. The second involved their failed attempts at auditoning for Mater. In the end the Opels lost the part to the real Mater.

In July 2006, greeting card giant Hallmark unveiled its line of 2006 Keepsake Christmas ornaments. Among the collection was an ornament featuring Lightning McQueen and Mater.

There is also a Cars clothing line, which produces various t-shirts and shorts; however, these are generally only found in children's sizes.

Cultural diversity

Some cars are cast by their owners, others by their nation of manufacture.

The character Mater at different points in the movie says "Git R Done" and "I don't care who you are, that's funny right there," both catchphrases of Larry the Cable Guy, who voices the character in the stereotypical drawl of an American Hillbilly. Mater is named after Douglas Keever, whom John Lasseter met at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Although Flo is listed as a Motorama show car, she appears to be inspired by three early- to mid-fifties show cars: the 1951 Buick LeSabre (front-end lines, the basic hood shape, lights mounted near the corners, and front-quarter trim), the 1951 Buick XP-300 (side trim), and the 1956/57 Chrysler Dart (cockpit, deck lid, and tailfins). Flo is played by Jenifer Lewis who is often cast as an African-American mother figure.

Fillmore is a 1960 Volkswagen Type 2, voiced by comedian George Carlin. Carlin was one of the first comics to be embraced by the flower children of the 1960s, and the VW van is usually associated with the hippie culture. In the 1990s, Carlin narrated several episodes of the children's TV show Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. This show also featured anthropomorphic vehicles, although most of them were trains. Throughout the film, Fillmore is shown with half-closed, unfocused eyes, and he speaks in slow, sleepy speech peppered with the word "man". This is also reminiscent of Tommy Chong, one half of the famous "pothead" duo Cheech and Chong.

Ramone is voiced by Cheech Marin. He is a Chevrolet Impala lowrider; a creation popular among Latinos. He is Pixar's first Latino character.

Luigi is a Fiat 500 with an Italian accent provided by Tony Shalhoub. By coincidence, the Fiat 500 is the same kind of car used by Lupin III, the protagonist of the Lupin III series and movies. Hayao Miyazaki, a good friend of John Lasseter, worked on two of the Lupin TV series and directed the Lupin III movie The Castle of Cagliostro. Lasseter said in an interview he did not intend for the reference to be there, although Cagliostro is still one of his favorite films.

It was noted by some that European cars were few and far between with most cars being either American or US market Japanese. The European cars in the film were: Sally Carrera, Fillmore (both German), Luigi, several Maserati Quattroportes (Italian), seven-time Formula1 champion Michael Schumacher (Italian; although he is German, he drove for Ferrari, and the car he voiced is a Ferrari F430). British motoring journalist Jeremy Clarkson was the voice of Harv in the film's UK edition. In Clarkson's book, Clarkson on Cars, he described himself as a 1979 Ford Granada Ghia so it could be implied that Harv was (in the UK edition) a British/German car. In Finnish version former Formula1 champion Mika Häkkinen was the voice of the King.

Mario Andretti voices a 1967 Ford Fairlane 500 stock car, painted blue and gold with the number #11. Mario Andretti won the 1967 Daytona 500 with a car of the same appearance prepared by Holman-Moody.

Three of the Tuner Cars (minus Snot Rod) are Japanese imports; Mia and Tia are Mazda Miatas, and their names are a pun on Miata. Frank's predominant color, orange, is the color of Japanese tractor maker Kubota. There is a Japanese woman (a 1990s Mazda Kei-car) on the world news.

NASCAR differences

See also: NASCAR rules and regulations

The rules in the Piston Cup shown in the movie that differ from NASCAR include:

• In the movie, the same cars race in the Piston Cup year after year; Doc Hudson has won 3 Piston Cups, and it is stated that "The King" has been racing for years. While NASCAR drivers race year after year, the cars driven by NASCAR teams change each year. This results in the Piston Cup showcasing newer cars racing against older designs, something that could not happen in NASCAR outside of a promotional race or special event.
• In the movie, Chick Hicks made a pass just after the restart and by doing so, crossed the yellow line on the track. In NASCAR, that would be considered a pass "out-of-bounds" at Daytona and Talladega; and would be penalized by a black flag stop-and-go if the position is not given back. If a driver were forced below the yellow line, he would not be penalized.
• In the movie, the tie for the points lead is settled by an extra race. In NASCAR, the situation is settled by whoever has more wins. If the drivers have the same number of wins, it is decided by 2nd-place finishes and so on.
• In the beginning of the movie, when Chick is first shown on the screen, he intentionally spins out the #63 car and the race still continues. In NASCAR, the race would likely be put under caution, unless the spinning driver somehow regained control and continued at full speed.
• In the movie, Lightning McQueen appears to speed out of pit road to beat the pace car, and stay on the lead lap. In NASCAR, a driver could be penalized if judged guilty of that by being required to restart the race at the end of the longer of the two lines of cars that line up behind the pace car. During the final ten laps of the race, when the cars one or more laps down are not allowed to line up to the inside of the lead-lap cars, the penalty is to start at the end of the one line of cars. A counterargument is that McQueen did not actually speed in the pits. He only accelerated once he crossed the pit exit line. Had he broken the speed limit within the pits, he would have had to serve a stop and go black flag on the very next lap under NASCAR rules. The movie then depicts McQueen just catching up to the pack as the green flag is waved. NASCAR dictates the drivers be lined up before the green flag is issued.
• In the movie, Lightning McQueen pushes the wrecked Weathers across the finish line. In NASCAR, both drivers would be penalized for doing so in that situation, as in NASCAR, the race would be finished under the yellow flag, and under NASCAR rules, no driver can push a car in the last lap of the race. Bob Cutlass (in the film) even asks his broadcast partner if that is legal. The penalty, if issued, would be largely a pro forma matter in the situation depicted, in any event, as the penalty for receiving assistance on the last lap is to not have the final lap scored, resulting in the cars finishing one lap down—if the penalty was assessed there would therefore be no change in their ranking. However, it is reasonable that the symbolic gesture would be interpreted as such by NASCAR, as the last line in the rulebook reads, "Except in rare instances."
• Some cars in the film's first race have 3-digit numbers, while in NASCAR, 3 digit numbers may be registered for cars, but cars must sport a 1 or 2 digit number on their car. Prior to 1972 it was somewhat common for some drivers to sport 3 digit numbers on their cars.
• In the first race, when McQueen blew his tires, the race still continued. However, in NASCAR, if McQueen left significant debris on the track, the race would immediately end under caution, as McQueen had already taken the white flag when his tires blew. However, McQueen would not win the race or the Piston Cup, as he was unable to maintain the speed to cross the finish line.
• When McQueen came to a halt on the track, because the white flag (indicating the final lap of the race) had been displayed, the caution flag would have been displayed, immediately ending the race. However, McQueen would not have won the race (and thus the Piston Cup) as he was unable to maintain caution speed to cross the finish line, and thus would be scored as having ended the race as the last car on the lead lap.
• In NASCAR, sponsors and pit crew members are determined by the team owner, not the driver, unless the driver is the team owner.

Setting

The landscape in the distance behind Radiator Springs is made up of rock formations intentionally reminiscent of Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. The road map shown in the montage history of the town calls the area "Cadillac Range."

Radiator Springs is loosely based on Amboy, California in the Mojave Desert- a town that showed a decline in almost all traffic when I-40 opened in 1972. Sally references this in the film.

Nearby "Ornament Valley" (a reference to Monument Valley) is made of rock formations that project from the valley walls or rise from the valley floor and resemble the front ends of late 1930s to early 1940s American automobiles.

The Flo's V8 Cafe logo is similar to that used by the '32 Ford V8, the first V8 for mass marketed cars. This logo also appeared on Ford V8 in the sixties as well as Third-Generation Ford Explorers.

The track that the opening race (Motor Speedway of the South) takes place on is actually based on and an enlarged version of the real life Bristol Motor Speedway. The track used for the Piston Cup tiebreaker race is based on the Pasadena Rose Bowl as well as the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the California Speedway. Its banked turns and long backstretch resemble Daytona International Speedway, the track that hosts NASCAR's season-opener, the Daytona 500. The tiebreaker race is even the same number of laps (200) as the Daytona 500.

Route 66

Many characters and places in the movie are directly inspired on real Route 66 places and people.

To quote the Pixar crew:

"As we traveled on Route 66, we were privileged to visit many places and to meet a number of people who live and work alongside 'The Mother Road.' The following is a list of the places and people we wanted to honor by including their names in our 'Special Thanks' credits at the end of the film."

The soundtrack has two versions of the classic Nat King Cole jazz standard "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66", one by Chuck Berry and a new version recorded specifically for the film's credits performed by John Mayer.

Among the many references to Route 66 landmarks and personalities:

• The Cozy Cone Motel's design is based on the two Wigwam Motels along Rt. 66, in Holbrook, Arizona and Rialto, California. These were once two out of seven motels, with individual cabins shaped like teepees. The name "Cozy Cone" was inspired by the Cozy Dog Drive-In of Springfield, IL, which lays claim to being birthplace of the corn dog.

• The character "Fillmore", referring to the famous San Francisco music venue The Fillmore, was at one time to be named "Waldmire" after Bob Waldmire, a self-proclaimed hippie artist known to Rt. 66 fans for his detailed pen-and-ink maps and postcards of the route. Though Waldmire's family owns the Cozy Dog Drive-In, Bob, now a vegan, preferred not to see his name put on a character that would become a Happy Meal toy.

• Ramone's House of Body Art is based primarily on the U Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas. It opened in 1936 as Tower Conoco (from its distinctive Art Deco spire) with the U Drop Inn Cafe and a retail building attached. Many other establishments built along Route 66 in its heyday had Art Deco elements that might be reflected in the design of Ramone's.

Script references

References to other Pixar films

Many of the sponsors on the sides of the cars are references to past Pixar films or as puns on real-life automotive-related companies. They are listed here:

• The tires on the racecars say in small print "Gamma Quadrant Sector 4," a reference to where Zurg's base is located in Toy Story 2.
• The race cars in the movie are equipped with Lightyear Buzzard tires, a parody of Goodyear Eagle Tires and a reference to Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story and Toy Story 2
• Red is a reference to Red's Dream, a Pixar short film.
• Both races are covered by a Lightyear blimp, another nod to Toy Story and Goodyear tires.
• Robots blasting cars in Lightning McQueen's daydream is a reference to the omnidroid in The Incredibles.
• Mater's buckteeth seem resemble one of the student's teeth in Finding Nemo.
• Flo seems to be the same car driven by Al in Toy Story 2 and is also a reference to Finding Nemo where Deb the Humbug thinks her reflection is her twin sister named Flo.
• The King's sponsor is Dinoco, the gas station from Toy Story, which itself is a pun on Sunoco, today the official fuel supplier for NASCAR, though the logo is closer to petroleum company Sinclair which features a dinosaur on its logo.
• Radiator Spring's founder Stanley is the same truck that's seen in the Pixar short Boundin'.
• A Dinoco gas station can be spotted in the "Life is a Highway" scene, on the far right of the screen as Mack follows the sign to Interstate 40. It is difficult to make out accurately, but it appears to be the same Dinoco gas station seen in Toy Story.
• Lightning McQueen's number is 95; Toy Story was released in 1995.
• Chick's number is 86; Pixar produced Luxo Jr., its first short, in 1986.
• The Pizza Planet truck from Toy Story can be seen again at the entrance to the stadium in the final race sequence when Darrell says "You know, I've got a lot of miles on me but let me tell you something buddy, I never thought I'd see anything like this!"
• 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 (as a Ford Woodie) and Tim Allen. There is one from "Monster Trucks, Inc." featuring John Goodman and Billy Crystal. Finally, there is one from "A Bug's Life" featuring Dave Foley as a Volkswagen Beetle. John Ratzenberger is featured in all three scenes, portraying Car versions of his characters in these films, and his Cars character Mack comments on the recurrence, supportive at first, but ending in disgust: "They're just using the same actor over and over again! What kind of cut-rate production is this?"
• The snowman from a pixar short film knick knack is seen in a snowglobe when Lizzie shows the snowglobe to lightning, also in front of a motor home are some inflatible pools with flamingoes in them also taken from the same short film.
• Ramones' first paint style: purple with yellow flames could be a reference to gurgle the royal gramma from Finding Nemo who is coulored in a similar way.
• When Mack and Lightning McQueen are driving past the truck stop, a truck can be seen with the old signature "I" from The Incredibles also on that same truck next to the I signature it says Inc. a reference to Monsters, Inc.
• In Lightning's Dream,when he wakes up if you look closely you can see Remy and the Eiffel Tower from Pixar's next film Ratatouille, making this Remy's debut appearance before the film is released.
• Lizzie's comment about Big Al is a reference to Al from Toy Story 2 another reference to Toy Story 2 is when Lizzie slaps a bumper sticker on to the back of one of the "customers" that says: NICE BUTTE radiator springs and at the airport Buzz gets a sticker on his back that says: BUTTE.
• In the scene where Lightning and Mack begin their trek down I-40, after Mack makes funny faces with his reflection in the back of the tanker truck, it cuts to a shot of the side of the road whizzing by very fast. In the power lines, for a split second the birds from Pixar's short film For the Birds are shown.
• During the montage of the closed down cities at the beginning of the final race, the City of Emeryville is shown and Emeryville is the current location of the Pixar Headquarters.

Other references and trivia

• In the initial race scene, a car features a logo implying sponsorship by Apple Inc. (formerly Apple Computer) (Steve Jobs's "other company"). The car carries number 84, referring to the original Apple Macintosh's initial release in 1984. The car is similar in appearance to a Porsche 935 K3, a reference to Apple Computer's sponsorship of a Porsche 935 K3 driven by Bob Garretson, Bobby Rahal and Kees Nierop in the 1980 IMSA 100-mile race at Sebring.[8] The car can be seen approximately 7 minutes, 19 seconds into the film.
• According to Richard Petty, The King's crash at the end of the final race is a frame-by-frame recreation of Petty's 1988 Winston Cup accident at the Daytona 500. The 1988 accident however was not deliberately caused.
• In the scene where Doc Hudson and Lightning McQueen are racing, at the very beginning of the race, McQueen remarks "Float like a Cadillac, sting like a Bimmer." This is a reference to Muhammad Ali's line, "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
• The three cars that show up at Luigi's shop at the end of the film, a red Ferrari F430 (Michael Schumacher) and two 2004 Maserati Quattroportes one being white and the other green, form the colors of the flag of Luigi and Guido's homeland, Italy.
• Ray and Tom Magliozzi (from the NPR radio show Car Talk aka Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers) voice the Rust-eze owners. They give their trademark line "Don't drive like my brother".
• Fillmore's license plate number is 51237. George Carlin's birthday is (May 12, 1937).
• Darrell Cartrip is voiced by Darrell Waltrip, a real-life NASCAR commentator. The car closely resembles a 1977 Monte Carlo, one of the GM cars in the Winston Cup series during the years Waltrip was successful in the sport. He also uses his famous catchphrase, "Boogity Boogity Boogity!".
• The Piston Cup is a spoof of the cup awarded to the champion of NASCAR's top-level stock car series, which is named for the series' title sponsor (currently NEXTEL, previously Winston).
• Doc's racing colors are the same as the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, driven by Marshall Teague in the 1950s.
• Lightning's last name is a reference to Glenn McQueen, a Pixar animator who died in October 2002 of Melanoma.
• The sequence in which the King is assisted to the finish line by McQueen at the end of the race is similar to that of the 1976 Daytona 500, when after a collision with David Pearson near the end of the finish line, Petty was assisted to the finishing line as his car refused to start, but by his own pit crew. Like in the film as the King was in front of McQueen, Petty was given credit for second place.
• In the opening scene when McQueen goes airborne through a cloud of smoke, his tongue hanging out is a reference to Michael Jordan, whose signature move was hanging out his tongue while dunking. The commentator also uses the phrase "Spectacular move by Lightning McQueen", a reference to NBA commentator Marv Albert.
• Cars was originally going to be distributed by Dreamworks. However the idea was scrapped in 2001.
• In the Rust-eze scene, when everyone goes quiet, you can hear someone faintly shout, "Freebird!" in reference to the Lynyrd Skynyrd song which is requested by concert-goers by shouting this out.

Trailers

One Pixar tradition is to create trailers for their films that do not contain footage from the released film. Trailers for this film include:

• Mater talks to Lightning McQueen after hitting a baby bumblebee (the bee is possibly a reference to The Adventures of André and Wally B.), and then the two watch a racing movie in a drive-in theater.

See also

• Cars soundtrack
• List of Cars characters
• List of animated feature-length films

References

External links

• Official Cars website
• Official Pixar webpage for Cars
• Official Disney webpage for Cars
• 1958 International Harvester pickup - documentation for Mater's vehicle type, including photo
• Cars at IMDb
• Cars at Rotten Tomatoes
• Answers.com list of Cars characters