Cars (2006)

A hot-shot race-car named Lightning McQueen gets waylaid in Radiator Springs, where he finds the true meaning of friendship and family.

Directors:

John Lasseter, Joe Ranft

Writers:

John Lasseter (original story), Joe Ranft (original story),

Stars:

Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 19 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Owen Wilson	...	Lightning McQueen (voice)
Paul Newman	...	Doc Hudson (voice)
Bonnie Hunt	...	Sally Carrera (voice)
Larry the Cable Guy	...	Mater (voice)
Cheech Marin	...	Ramone (voice)
Tony Shalhoub	...	Luigi (voice)
Guido Quaroni	...	Guido (voice)
Jenifer Lewis	...	Flo (voice)
Paul Dooley	...	Sarge (voice)
Michael Wallis	...	Sheriff (voice)
George Carlin	...	Fillmore (voice)
Katherine Helmond	...	Lizzie (voice)
John Ratzenberger	...	Mack / Hamm Truck / Abominable Snow Plow / P.T. Flea Car (voice)
Joe Ranft	...	Red / Jerry Recycled Batteries / Peterbilt (voice)
Michael Keaton	...	Chick Hicks (voice)

Storyline

While traveling to California for the dispute of the final race of the Piston Cup against The King and Chick Hicks, the famous Lightning McQueen accidentally damages the road of the small town Radiator Springs and is sentenced to repair it. Lightning McQueen has to work hard and finds friendship and love in the simple locals, changing its values during his stay in the small town and becoming a true winner.

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Plot Keywords:

car | race car | friendship | california | route 66 | 

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Taglines:

Keep it Wheel

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Sport

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Buena Vista International [de] Disney [jp]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian Japanese Yiddish

Release Date:

9 June 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cars: Race to 3D

Box Office

Budget:

$120,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£2,668,968 (UK) (28 July 2006)

Gross:

$244,052,771 (USA) (13 October 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Guido is an Italian name. But it is also the Italian for "I drive".

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Goofs

It is announced at the beginning of the Dinoco 400 that Chick Hicks has never managed to beat the King, even though he ties in points with him and McQueen in the season. Apparently, the announcers meant that Chick never won the Cup (which is true), and not that he never won an individual race. In fact, the announcers' exact words were: "And as always in the second place spot we find Chick Hicks." This can be interpreted either way.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Lightning McQueen: Okay, here we go. Focus. Speed. I am speed. One winner, forty-two losers. I eat losers for breakfast. Breakfast? Maybe I should have had breakfast? Brekkie could be good for me. No, no, no, focus. Speed. Faster than fast, quicker than quick. I am Lightning.

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Crazy Credits

At the end, the couple that were looking for directions to the Interstate, end up all dusty and still looking for the Interstate. While credits roll, a series of short postscript scenes show the resurrection of the town, like cars are now passing the town, Flo's V8 café is full of customers, customers trying out Ramone's body art, Guido's tire shop is full, a museum of Doc Hudson's racing days opens, Sarge opens a boot camp for off-road vehicles (who have never been off-road), the reopening of the Wheel Well Motel, etc. One of them is the reopening of the Radiator Springs Drive-in Theater, where they show movies of previous Pixar productions but in a car context, like Toy Story (in the marquee it's Toy Car Story), with the actual voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, Monster Trucks, Inc., with the voices of John Goodman and Billy Crystal (Goodman is worried about the Boo mobile), and A Bug's Life, with the voice of Dave Foley. As an additional in-joke, Mack the truck praises the performances of Hamm in Toy Story, the Abominable Snowplow in Monster Trucks, Inc., P.T. Flea in A Bug's Life, which are all voiced, of course, by John Ratzenberger. Mack's final comment is they're voiced by the same actor and "what kind of cut-rate production is this" to reuse the same actor.

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Connections

Referenced in The Winner: Broken Home (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Songbird"
Written & Performed by Kenny G
Courtesy of Arista Records
By Arrangement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment

User Reviews

Truly Moving Picture

I saw this film on May 31st, 2006 in Indianapolis. I am one of the judges for the Heartland Film Festival's Truly Moving Picture Award. A Truly Moving Picture "…explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life." Heartland gave that award to this film.

The most famous streak in sports is probably Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak. The most famous hit streak in film entertainment is probably Pixar's feature film animation streak. With "Cars", it's seven in row for outstanding storytelling that is well executed and is (or will be) rewarded with blockbuster box office grosses. "Toy Story", "Toy Story 2", "Monsters, Inc.", "Finding Nemo", "The Incredibles", and "A Bug's Life" are the other six gems.

The story is about Lightning McQueen a rookie NASCAR-type racer. Of course, he is a car and not a human; or, he is a human in the form of the car. Take your pick. Either way, he is not an attractive persona. He is selfish, unappreciative, greedy, two-faced and has no real friends. But, he is a great driver and is tied for The Piston (read Winston) Cup annual championship with two other drivers. On the way to the runoff race in California, he accidentally gets off in a sleepy and forgotten town on Route 66 named Radiator Springs.

In this hillbilly hell of a town, he is punished for speeding and tearing up the road by the sheriff. As he serves his sentence with community work, he discovers the town is inhabited by rejects and misfits, who all have hearts of gold. Can they change Lightning and make him over to have positive traits like honesty, integrity, respect, honor, sacrifice, humility, and compassion? That's the drama that unfolds. Lightning is a hard case, and the outcome is always in doubt.

The cars/people are incredible. Shortly into the movie you forget that the people are cars or the cars are people, you suspend disbelief, and you just begin to watch an engaging story about real people. The windshields are their eyes, and the grilles are their mouths, and they display emotions as well as any human actor. The story is serious and light-hearted at the same time. The puns are too numerous to catch. And this is a must-see-twice-to-get-it-all movie.

FYI – There is a Truly Moving Pictures web site where there is a listing of past Truly Moving Picture Award winners that are now either at the theater or available on video.