Cars (film)
| Cars | |
|---|---|
| File:Cars High-Rez Final Poster.jpg Promotional poster for Cars | |
| Directed by | John Lasseter co-directed by Joe Ranft |
| Written by | story by John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Jorgen Klubien; screenplay by Dan Fogelman, John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Kiel Murray, Phil Lorin, Jorgen Klubien |
| Produced by | Darla K. Anderson |
| Starring | Owen Wilson Paul Newman Bonnie Hunt Larry the Cable Guy Cheech Marin Tony Shalhoub Guido Quaroni Jenifer Lewis Paul Dooley Michael Wallis George Carlin Katherine Helmond John Ratzenberger Joe Ranft Michael Keaton |
| Cinematography | Jeremy Lasky, Jean-Claude Kalache |
| Edited by | Ken Schretzmann |
| Music by | Randy Newman |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
Release dates | June 9, 2006 (U.S.); (July 28, 2006 (U.K.) |
Running time | 116 minutes; 121 minutes (U.K.) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $120 million [1] |
Cars is an animated feature film presented by Walt Disney Pictures, produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. Its release date was June 9 in the US, 2006 and will be released on July 28, 2006 in the UK. This movie is the seventh Disney/Pixar feature film.
Directed by John Lasseter (Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2), the film is set in a world populated entirely by anthropomorphized cars and other vehicles, and 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.
Plot
The Piston Cup Championship is the only thing that has been on Lightning McQueen's mind for his entire life. Lightning McQueen is a rookie to the race track, and is as arrogant and overconfident as they come. Believing he is a one man show, despite the fact that his pit crew changes his tires and gas, he's fired three crew chiefs during the season. His only interest is winning the Piston Cup, by being the first rookie to do so. However, due to his tires blowing out after refusing to let his pit crew change them, McQueen barely finishes the race and ends up in a three-way tie with the cheater Chick Hicks and the veteran champion, "The King" Strip Weathers.
After the race, McQueen and his transport truck buddy, seemingly his only real friend, Mack, begin a journey across the country to California, where the tie-breaker race will be held. Wanting to get to California first in order to practice on the track and hang with Dinoco, currently the prestigious sponsor of the retiring King, Lightning refuses to let Mack stop for a rest at a nearby truck stop. With each mile Mack gets even more tired, eventually dozing off on the road completely. Four tricked-out street racers, Wingo, Boost, DJ, and Snot Rod, have fun with the sleeping rig, causing a toy in the trailer to hit the button which opens the back of the trailer, and a bump in the road causes a sleeping McQueen to roll onto the interstate highway. After a hair-raising escape of the highway, McQueen attempts to find Mack, but instead mistakenly chases a similar looking trailer, and is left alone on the road. Attempting to make it back to Interstate 40 without headlights, Lightning finds himself lost on Route 66. Zipping by a billboard, Lightning finds himself being followed by the Sheriff of Radiator Springs, who was resting behind the board. McQueen hears the Sheriff back-firing, sounds which make him think the Sheriff is shooting at him, and pursuit ensues, causing the hot rod to tear up the main street of Radiator Springs and McQueen to be caught up in some telephone wires. Next morning, McQueen awakens to find himself impounded, and after talking with Mater the tow truck, is taken to court. At first, the local judge and doctor, Doc Hudson, dismisses the case upon seeing the racecar, and demands that McQueen get out of town immediately, but then Sally, the town's attorney enters and convinces the town to make the race car stay and repair the road. With Doc's mind changed for him, he sets McQueen up to Bessie, the asphalt machine.
In the beginning, McQueen remains self-centered, obsessed with only leaving the town to make it to his race. After an escape attempt and a desperate failure at fixing the road, Doc Hudson challenges McQueen to a desert race at Willy's Butte. If McQueen wins, he leaves town and Doc fixes the road. If Doc wins, Lightning fixes the road Doc's way. At the race, Doc is left in McQueen's dust as the hot rod roars off at the start of the race. Doc remains at the starting line, before requesting Mater's help as they slowly go down the road. As Doc expected, McQueen overshoots a tight turn in the dirt, and winds up over a cliff in a cactus patch. Doc wins the race as Mater fishes McQueen out of the patch.
After the race, McQueen fixes half the road, amazing the townsfolk with its paved smoothness. Since he had ran out of asphalt, the Sheriff allows him to try to make the turn again, but he continues to fail. Doc hints that he is to use the opposite lock steering, but McQueen ignores his elder. After a time, he finds out Doc's biggest secret: he was the famous Piston Cup racer, the Hudson Hornet, winner of three consecutive trophies. Angered, Doc forces him out of the clinic's garage. He also reveals that his career ended prematurely because of a devastating crash. When he was fixed back up, no one wanted him anymore. Sally finally decides to take McQueen for a drive through Route 66, 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 decades ago. As time goes on, McQueen understands their troubles, and becomes friends with all of the residents. Doc tips off the media that McQueen is in their town after McQueen helps everyone out, and he is whisked away with Mack and a slew of reporters to the big race.
At the race in California, Lightning is distracted by thoughts of Sally and Radiator Springs. Lagging behind, McQueen finally revitalizes after half of Radiator Springs townsfolk arrive to become his pit crew, making it to the race, with Doc as the crew chief. This encouragement enables McQueen to catch up to the leaders and make a run for the race. On the last lap, Chick Hicks takes a desperate resort to avoid coming in last place, and rear-ends The King, sending him into the air, ending in a horrific end-over-end flip. Lightning, almost about to win, sees the screen and the wreck, hits his brakes, stopping just short of the finishing line. He sits there until Chick passes, before going back and pushing The King to the line to finish his career with dignity, knowing that he didn't want the fate that Doc suffered to happen to The King as well. Chick wins the Piston Cup, but is completely booed; everyone admires The King and McQueen. McQueen is offered the Dinoco endorsement, but turns it down to remain with his original sponsor, Rust-eze, saying that "they gave me my big break." But he does ask that Tex, the president of Dinoco, do him a favor and give Mater a ride in Dinoco's helicopter, to follow through on a promise he'd made. He then decides to move to Radiator Springs and build his racing headquarters there. Thanks to McQueen, Radiator Springs gets a boost of tourism again, revitalizing the town.
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."[2] Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post called the film "great fun" and gave it four stars (out of a possible four).[3] 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.[4] In her review, Christy Lemire of the Associated Press remarked extensively on the plot's striking similarity to 1991's Doc Hollywood.[5] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly also commented on this similarity in her review, however she was more positive and gave the film an A-.[6] Although the film acquired the lowest percentage thus far for a Pixar animated feature, it still boasts a "certified fresh" 76% rating at RottenTomatoes (as of June 15, 2006), with a 78% rating from the "Cream of the Crop" reviewers.[7]
Vehicles and voice cast
The vehicle characters seen throughout the movie and the actors that were used for their voices are:
Video game adaption / follow-up
Template:Spoiler The Cars video game features a story written by Pixar (with the late Joe Ranft as the Script/Story Lead) and the return of the majority of the voice cast. The game was developed by Rainbow Studios, THQ and Buena Vista Games with heavy involvement by Pixar, as it continues the story set forth in the movie through Lightning McQueen's second Piston Cup season. Despite heavy interference from Chick Hicks, McQueen wins the Piston Cup at the end of his second season after a grand prix is held in Radiator Springs. He leaves Radiator Springs on a celebratory cross-country trip with Sally and Mater, leaving his Piston Cup trophy alongside Doc Hudson's three trophies. Template:Endspoiler
Merchandising
Several companies released promotional products related to the movie. Kellogg's released a Cars-themed cereal, as well as promotional fruit snacks.
Furthermore, in the weeks before the movie's opening, there were also promotional tie-ins with AT&T [formerly SBC Communications] (using four cars to promote the diversity of its AT&T services), State Farm Insurance, The Hertz Corporation, and McDonald's.
The Mattel-produced die-cast cars are some of the most popular toys of the summer. Several stores are having trouble keeping the toys in stock, and some characters, such as Lizzie and Sarge, are difficult to find due to being shipped in lower numbers than other, more prominent characters. Some online Disney enthusiats 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.
Possibly the rarest of the models is Dinoco McQueen, NitroAde, Leakless, and Green Ramone, which just went in stock, but now they are rare. Dinoco McQueen is super rare due to it being a popular model.
On June 22nd, 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[9]. DCP reports that product expansion will take place in the fall alongisde 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.
Kelley Blue Book, the de facto resource for apprasing 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. [1]
Box office performance
The movie opened up strongly with $60.1M, making it the #1 movie on its debut weekend (June 9-11, 2006), and continuing Pixar's streak of #1 debuts for each of the company's feature films. It earned as much in its first weekend as the total domestic gross of Disney's earlier NASCAR movie Herbie: Fully Loaded. However, the film's performance was less than the previous two Pixar movies, The Incredibles and Finding Nemo which both managed to make over $70 million each their opening weekends, and this caused Disney's stock price to drop slightly.
In its second box office weekend, Cars again attained the #1 spot, earning approx. $33.7 million (a 43.9% drop from the previous week), beating out two debuting films that were competing for the youth audience, Nacho Libre and Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties. Comparatively, the previous Pixar film, The Incredibles, fell 28.7% its second weekend in November of 2004 and the previous Pixar Summer release, Finding Nemo dropped 33.7% in June of 2003.
In the third week, Cars dropped to #2 behind the Adam Sandler comedy Click, pulling in $23.3 million, a 31% drop from the previous week. The drop was less than that of the previous two Pixar releases.
The forth week saw the film drop to #4 with the opening of Superman Returns, taking in $14 million and dropping 39.7% from the previous week.
The film's total earnings currently stand at around $192 million domestic, $217 million worldwide (Through July 5th, 2006). It has made more money than Pixar's 1st movies Toy Story and A Bug's Life, but has yet to top other Pixar films.
Cars spent 13 days (non-consecutive) as the #1 movie in the domestic box office.
Awards
Cars was recognized by the Heartland Film Festival with the Truly Moving Picture award. [10]
Director John Lasseter won the 2006 Will Rogers Award[11] for the positive influence the film has had on Route 66.
DVD extras
The DVD release is planned for Fall 2006. According to interviews with John Lasseter and Larry the Cable Guy, it will contain a short film (5 min) called Mater and the Ghostlight.[12][13]
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. The film also had a working title of The Cars.
- The film 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 so it could receive a summer release and so that the DVD would be sold just in time for the holidays of 2006. Chicken Little was instead released on November 4.
- Cars is the last film made by the late Joe Ranft; the film was dedicated to his memory.
- The United States Department of Transportation has used scenes from the movie in a commercial regarding the Click It or Ticket campaign.
- Some of the sponsors of the Piston Cup include:
- Dinoco (primary sponsor of #43 Strip "The King" Weathers), from Toy Story,
- Rust-eze Medicated Bumper Ointment -Rear End Formula (primary sponsor of #95 Lightning McQueen),
- Hostile Takeover Bank (#86 Chick Hicks),
- Apple Computer, (#84 car),
- Bumper Save, (#90 car)
- Lightyear Buzzard Tires,
- Lil' Torquey Pistons,
- Leak Less Adult Drip Pans, (#52 car)
- RPM, (#64 car)
- Trunkin' Fresh,
- Retread Tire Deodorant (Roll-on),
- Clutch Aid,
- Nitroade Hi-Energy Drink, (#28 car)
- Mood Springs (#33 car),
- Fitzy Fuel (#56 car),
- ReVolting Alternator Repair, (#74 car)
- Octane Gain Turbo Vitamins, (#58 car)
- No Stall, (#123)car
- Vitoline (For Older Active Cars),
- Gasprin - Hood Ache Relief, (#70 car)
- Creme-Filled Gask-its, (#80 car)
- Easy Idle,
- and previous Pixar movies are also on sponsor stickers
- The original script was written in 1998 and the producers agreed that Cars would be the next movie after A Bugs Life, but that movie was scrapped and the production of Toy Story 2 took place. It was originally intended to be released in the earlier part of 1999.
- The track of the opening race (Motor Speedway of the South), was based on a real track, the Bristol Motor Speedway
- Although Lightning McQueen has no rear-view mirrors (racecars don't), the promotional poster shows the shape of them poking out from under the tarp.
- The offical name of the name of the movie is Disney/Pixar's Cars.
- The only Pixar films who were never given parodies to themselves during the credits of the film were Finding Nemo and The Incredibles.
- In the Video Game, The following Racetracks are spoofs of real Nextel Cup Racetracks:
- Palm Mile Speedway: Homestead-Miami Speedway
- Superspeedway of the South: A Shorten Indianpolis Motor Speedway
- Sunvalley International Speedway: Phoenix International Speedway
- Smashersvile Motorspeedway: Bristol Motorspeedway.
- Los Angeles International Speedway: Daytona International Speedway.
- The rules in the Piston Cup shown in the movie that differs with NASCAR include:
- In the movie, the point lead tie is settled by an extra race. In NASCAR, they have a tiebreaking system that will produce a champion without running an extra race.
- 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 would be penalized a lap for doing that.
- In the movie, when Chick Hicks crashed "The King" Strip Weathers, he still won the race, and the championship. In NASCAR (Unless there is not enough proof that a driver intentionally tried to do something), a driver would almost for certain be denied the checkered flag, and the finishing position that the driver finished in.
- In the movie, Lightning McQueen pushes the wrecked Weathers across the finish line. In NASCAR, both drivers would be pentalized 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 if the yellow flag is out)
Individual characters
The name of the main character, Lightning McQueen, is a tribute to Glenn McQueen, a Pixar animator who died in 2002. The name refers also to actor Steve McQueen who was famous for some of the greatest car and racing movies, including Bullitt and Le Mans, and topic of a Sheryl Crow hit song. Lightning McQueen's number is 95, the year Toy Story was released. His original number was 57, the same year director John Lasseter was born (this can be seen in several of the teaser trailers), but was changed before the movie came out.
Lightning McQueen is no car in particular, but has elements of many sports cars. His headlights are stickers, like in NASCAR, and he also has lots of decals on his sides, once again similar to NASCAR. Pixar was shown a Corvette by GM, which is what his nose and some reviews think he looks like. His overall profile was inspired, says Pixar, by the Ford GT40. His tail looks like a Viper, while the tail lenses and roof are consistent with a Ford Mustang. The full size tour car is based on a Firebird. His custom two-tone paint and tires are from a 50s Corvette. Overall, his appearance can be considered as something between a stock car and various other sports cars, but titled slightly towards the stock car style. Modern NASCAR bodies must all have nearly the same shape, differentiated mainly by the painting of headlights and grille. The Piston Cup features cars based on various NASCAR racers since the 1970s.
Sally, the romantic interest is a stock Porsche Carrera. A Carrera's tail will pop up at highway speeds, but it can also be raised by the driver manually, and it was raised when she showed a little striping. Pixar originally wanted a classic model, but Porsche persuaded them to use a 2002 model. A Carrera would be a typical car for a high profile Los Angeles lawyer.
Villain Chick Hicks is 86, a reference to Luxo Jr., released in 1986. Chick's body closely resembles the Quaker State Buick Regal that Ricky Rudd drove in the 1980s, though Pixar animators have said the character is a generic 1980's stock car. Michael Keaton was also in Herbie Fully Loaded, another NASCAR-themed Disney movie.
Rusty & Dusty Rust-eze (the cars seen in front of McQueen's trailer after the race) are direct parodies of Click & Clack, The Tappet Brothers from the radio show Car Talk. They even say their trademark phrase used to end their show, "Don't drive like my brother!" as Mack is leaving the track. They are also voiced by the Tappet Brothers themselves: Ray & Tom Magliozzi. The characters were also originally named Clink and Clunk. Dusty, the character voiced by Ray Magliozzi, is a 1963 Dodge Dart, a car Ray often reminisces about semi-fondly on Car Talk.
Former champion Doc Hudson's plate is "51HHMD," which stands for "1951 Hudson Hornet, M.D." His record of 27 wins in a single season is the same as that of the 1952 Fabulous Hudson Hornet racing team,[14] and his championships are the same years as the Hudson team.[15]
The sheriff is voiced by Michael Wallis, renowned author of The Mother Road series of books about historic Route 66. Sharp eyes will detect parking whiskers on his curb side which were used to detect promimity to a curb without the use of sonar sensors.
Fillmore, the VW Bus voiced by George Carlin, has license plate "51237" representing Carlin's birth date: May 12, 1937. His license plate dangles below his front bumper, forming a goatee typical of the 1960s hippies which the car represents. He lives in a geodesic dome with blacklight paint. Asian Week noted that Fillmore's character is actually an impression of half-Chinese Tommy Chong's hippie of the Cheech and Chong comedy record duo. The name Fillmore is a reference to Fillmore East and West - the concert hall where many artists during the 1960's and 1970's performed. The Fillmore is located in San Francisco which was considered a hippy haven in the 60's. Pixar missed an opportunity to get Cheech and Chong together, but Cheech in a recent review said he didn't want to do that team again.
Darrell Cartrip is played by Darrell Waltrip, a retired race car driver who does race commentary for the FOX network. He raced a 1976 Chevy Monte Carlo with stacked headlights. He often raced with the number 17. Darrell is fond of colorful flame paint schemes. "Boogity boogity boogity!" is what Waltrip utters at the start of every NASCAR race and during some restarts.
The #58 "Octane Gain" racecar in the film's first race appears to be a Toyota Camry, which NASCAR will start using in 2007.
The character Sarge is a possible reference to Sarge, the commander of the army men in Toy Story. Or simply a generic veteran. He lives in a Quonset hut.
A truck with a black and pink camper-trailer resembling Elvis Presley appears twice in the movie, in the RV park at the beginning, and behind the announcers at the Piston Cup Finale. On its side is "Elvis RV Cab"
Flo could be a possible reference to the fish Deb sees in the reflection in Finding Nemo or Al McWhiggin's Car in Toy Story 2.
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 sterotypical drawl of an American Hillbilly. Mater is named after Douglas "Mater" Keever, whom John Lasseter met at Lowe's Motor Speedway.[16] His character is comparable to Gilligan—not bright enough to pass any government-administered proficiency test, but possesses a heart of gold.
Den mother Flo 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 Dodge Dart (cockpit, deck lid, and tailfins). Flo is subtly played by Jenifer Lewis who is often cast as an African American mother figure.
Ramone is voiced by Cheech Marin. He is a 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. Shalhoub uses the same accent he used for the lead character, Primo, in the 1996 film Big Night. 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. [17]
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 Import scene cars are Japanese and the groupie twins are Miatas. Orange is the color of Japanese tractor maker Kubota. While there is a Japanese woman on the world news, Asian Week("Steamed at Cars") notes that there are no Asian American cast voices, prominent or otherwise.
Setting
The landscape in the distance behind Radiator Springs is made up of rock formations intentionally reminiscent of Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas.
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 other Ford trucks whose owners get the part and put it on their vehicles). Flathead also refers to this Ford V8, and was popular with hot rods. The neon spark plugs on the canopy flash in the right firing order.
The name of the Piston Cup racing series is a spoof of the Winston Cup, the premiere series in NASCAR (now known as the Nextel Cup).
The track that the opening race takes place on is actually an enlarged version of Bristol Motor Speedway. The track used for the Piston Cup Championship race is a clever knock-off of the Pasadena Rose Bowl as well as the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and (possibly) the Daytona International Speedway, the track that hosts season-opening races in several racing series. The dome on top of the entrance to the track appears to be a replica of Renaissance architect Filippo Brunelleschi's famous dome atop the cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy.
The film 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.
At one point in the movie, when many places are shutting down in anticipation of a big race, a sign can be read for a brief moment that reads: "City of Emeryville - Closed." This is a reference to Emeryville, California, where the Pixar studio is located.
References to previous Pixar movies
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. Here's a brief list of them:
- The number "2319" visible on a car is a reference to "23-19," the code used by the Child Detection Agency in Monsters, Inc. when a sock was found clinging to a monster's fur. The numbers 23 and 19 add up to "42", a number made famous by the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Series by Douglas Adams.
- Lightning McQueen is equipped with Lightyear Buzzard tires, a parody of Goodyear Eagle Tires and a reference to Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story and Toy Story 2
- The King's sponsor is Dinoco, the gas station from Toy Story, which itself is a pun on Sunoco, though the logo is closer to petroleum company Sinclair which features a dinosaur on its logo.
- Some of the racing cars in the teaser trailer have Toy Story 2 and A Bug's Life logos on the side as well as "JLP" for John Lasseter, the director, and CDA (Child Detection Agency from Monsters, Inc.).
- During the scene when Lightning is going to his trailer after the first race, the Apple Computer logo is seen on one of the trailers in the back. The logo also appears on a car in the race. The car's number is 84, a reference to the Macintosh computer's 1984 introduction.
- The birds from the Pixar short For the Birds can briefly be seen and heard on a telephone wire in the "Life is a Highway" sequence. (It's difficult to see since the screen passes them quickly.)
- The jackalope from Boundin' is depicted on the back of a motor home. One of Fillmore's bumper stickers reads "I brake for jackalopes"; another is "Save 2D Animation."
- Radiator Spring's founder Stanley is actually the same car seen in the Pixar short Boundin'.
- The Pizza Planet truck from Toy Story with a rocket on the roof can be seen at the entrance to the stadium in the final race sequence.
- When Mack is driving by the truck stop, one of the trucks' logos is "i, Inc." This is a reference to The Incredibles (the "i" is Mr. Incredible's monogram).
- There is a motor home in the second Piston Cup race at the end and he is surrounded by flamingos and a pool in reference to the short Knick Knack.
- 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, referring to the classroom number used by animation students at CalArts. Mater's license plate has the same number.
- 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, one from Monster Trucks, Inc. featuring John Goodman and Billy Crystal, and one from A Bug's Life featuring Dave Foley. John Ratzenberger is also featured in all three scenes, and his Cars character Mack comments on the recurrence, from supportive at first to disgust.
- The opening music in the original teaser trailer is from A Bug's Life.
- A highway sign in the interstate sequence reads "Andy's House", a reference to the child from Toy Story.
- During Lightning's dream in the begining of the film, The car that gets zapped on does the Wilhelm scream, The last Pixar feature to use a Wilhelm scream was Toy Story.
References to other movies
- In the teaser trailer to Cars, a little bee is seen flying around, a possible reference to Wally B.
- The flashback narrative of the final race scene along with the fact McQueen stops just before the finish line is a reference to the 1962 Tony Richardson movie The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.
- The action film that Lightning envisions himself starring in is similar to War of the Worlds.
- The scene where Lightning almost gets hit by a train is a reference to The Fast And The Furious, also the scene with the three Import Scene cars surrounding Mack.
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 had the classic blues piece "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" twice, once by Chuck Berry and a new version recorded specifically for the film's credits performed by John Mayer.
See also
References
- ^ Boxoffice Mojo Profile for Cars
- ^ Cars review by Roger Ebert at rogerebert.com
- ^ "Young and Fuelish" by Stephen Hunter, Washington Post, June 9, 2006 (free registration required)
- ^ "'Cars' Is a Drive Down a Lonely Highway" by Manohla Dargis, The New York Times June 9, 2006 (free registration required)
- ^ "Pixar's automotive tale drives a lot like 'Doc Hollywood'" by Christy Lemire, Associated Press, June 9, 2006
- ^ Cars review by Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly, June 7, 2006
- ^ RottenTomatoes Cars rating
- ^ "Car Dreams" by Dan Neil, Morning Call Online, June 8, 2006
- ^ " Disney Shows Muscle with Boys Properties" press release at Disney Consumer Products, June 22, 2006
- ^ "Truly Moving Picture" award page for Cars, created June 8, 2006
- ^ "Cars" director John Lasseter wins Will Rogers Award, June 24, 2006
- ^ "Pixar Mastermind John Lasseter" by Edward Douglas, June 3, 2006
- ^ "Exclusive: Larry the Cable Guy " by Edward Douglas, June 5, 2006
- ^ "Hudson Hornet" by Jack Nerad, Driving Today, June 5, 2000
- ^ "NASCAR champ Hudson Hornet now star of film" by Dan Jedlicka, Chicago Sun-Times, June 12, 2006
- ^ "Speedway guy gains fame at Pixar" by Joe Marusak, The Charlotte Observer, March 9, 2006
- ^ "Red Carpet interview with John Lasseter" by Michael Howe, Jim Hill Media, May 29, 2006
External links
- Official Cars website
- Official Pixar webpage for Cars
- Official Disney webpage for Cars
- Slant Magazine: Cars Review
- Cars review on Xdafied.com.au
- Cars Trailer at Funny Clip
- Cars at IMDb
- Cars at Rotten Tomatoes
- Cars Fan Forum
- Cars Fanclub on Sheezyart
- Official Cars Merchandise Catalog
- Decal Classics - Unofficial Cars Fan Forum
- Asian Week: Steamed at Cars casting and the Wikipedia