Cars (film)

[edit] Race cars

Character	Vehicle Likeness	Gender	Eye Color	Color	Chief Sponsor	Number	Voice Actor
Lightning McQueen	LA Times: "A hybrid between a stock car and a more curvaceous Le Mans endurance racer."[6] (e.g., Lolas and the Ford GT40)	Male	Blue	Red	Rust-Eze Medicated Bumper Ointment	95	Owen Wilson
Chick Hicks	Pixar: "A generic 1980s stock car."[7] Strongly resembles a 78-88 General Motors G-Body such as Buick Regal or Grand National.	Male	Brown	Green	Hostile Takeover Bank (HTB)	86	Michael Keaton
The King	Richard Petty's 1970 Plymouth Superbird	Male	Brown	Blue	Dinoco	43	Richard Petty

[edit] Radiator Springs cars

Name	Vehicle Likeness	Gender	Eye Color	Color	License Plate #	Voice Actor
Doc Hudson	1951 Hudson Hornet, later revealed to be the Fabulous Hudson Hornet	Male	Blue	Navy Blue	51HHMD	Paul Newman
Mater	1951 International Harvester L-170 "boom" truck[8] with elements of a mid-1950s Chevrolet[7] One-Ton Wrecker Tow Truck.	Male	Hazel	Originally turquoise, but is now rusty.	A113	Larry the Cable Guy
Sally Carrera	2002 996-series Porsche 911 Carrera	Female	Green	Light Blue	301 PCE	Bonnie Hunt
Ramone	1959 Chevy Impala Lowrider	Male	Green	Various colors (purple with flames at the start of the movie, burnt orange and white in flashback, yellow by the end, dark blue in the "Mater and the Ghostlight" short)	LOWNSLO	Cheech Marin
Luigi	1959 Fiat 500	Male	Brown	Yellow	445 108	Tony Shalhoub
Sheriff	1949 Mercury Club Coupe (police package)	Male	Blue	Black and white	001	Michael Wallis
Fillmore	1960 VW Bus	Male	Brown	Light Green	51237	George Carlin
Sarge	A Willys model jeep, in the style used by the US Military.	Male	Brown	Military Green	41WW2	Paul Dooley
Flo	1957 Motorama show car	Female	Green	Minty Green	SHO GRL	Jenifer Lewis
Guido	Custom forklift, possibly an Isetta model	Male	Reddish Brown	Sky blue and white.	(none)	Guido Quaroni
Mack	1985 Mack Super-Liner	Male	Green	Red (Lightning McQueen Style Paint Job.)	RUSTEZ3	John Ratzenberger
Lizzie	1923 Ford Model T	Female	Grey	Black	MT23	Katherine Helmond
Red	1960s style fire truck (most closely resembles a mid-1960s Pirsch pumper but also resembles American LaFrance models)	Male	Brown	Red	002	Joe Ranft

[edit] Reception

Cars opened on June 9, 2006 to generally favorable reviews. William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer praised it as "one of Pixar's most imaginative and thoroughly appealing movies ever",^[9] and Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly called it "a work of American art as classic as it is modern." ^[10]

However, some critics expressed that Cars did not hold up to the standard of other Pixar films, especially after the acclaim received by The Incredibles, Pixar's previous film. "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."^[11] 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."^[12]

Rotten Tomatoes gave Cars a fresh 76% (with an average of 6.9) and it earned a 73/100 on Metacritic, both the lowest attributed to a Pixar film. In its opening weekend, Cars grossed $60.1 million, lower than previous Pixar films such as The Incredibles and Finding Nemo. In the United States, the film held onto the #1 spot for two weeks before being surpassed by Click and then by Superman Returns the following weekend. It went on to gross US$461,981,604 worldwide (ranking #6 in 2006 films) and $244,082,982 in the U.S. (the third highest-grossing film of 2006 in the country, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Night at the Museum). It was the highest-grossing animated film of 2006 in the U.S., but lost to Ice Age: The Meltdown in worldwide totals.^[13]

[edit] 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). The film also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, but it lost to Happy Feet. Cars was also selected as the Favorite Family Movie at the 33rd 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.

[edit] DVD and Blu-ray release

Cars was released on DVD in both wide-screen and full-screen editions on October 25, 2006 in Australia and New Zealand, on November 7, 2006 in the United States and Canada and on November 27, 2006 in the United Kingdom. It includes the short films Mater and the Ghostlight and One Man Band, as well as Inspiration for Cars, a 16 minute long documentary about Cars featuring John Lasseter, the director. It also had a version of the Pixar short Boundin' as an Easter Egg. According to the Walt Disney Company, five million copies of the DVD were sold in the first two days it was available.^[14]

Unlike previous Pixar DVD releases, there is no two-disc special edition, and no plans to release one in the future. According to Sara Maher, DVD Production Manager at Pixar, John Lasseter and Pixar were preoccupied with productions like Ratatouille,^[15]. Additional extras not seen on the DVD have since been released on the official DVD website.^[16]

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 inspiration and production of the movie. A two-disc edition was available from Australian retailer EzyDVD, but the second disc did not contain any animation information.

On November 6, 2007, Cars was released on Blu-ray.^[17]

[edit] Merchandising

The Mattel-produced 1/55 scale Toy Cars were some of the most popular toys of the 2006 Summer Season. Dozens of characters are represented, with some having multiple versions available. 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. Some of the die-cast cars are only readily available on eBay. On August 14, 2007, the die-cast Sarge car, made between May and July 2007, was recalled due to "impermissible levels of lead" used in the paint.^[18]

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.^[19] DCP reports that product expansion will take place in the fall alongside the DVD release of the film. Mattel has announced that Cars toys will continue through 2008 with the release of at least 80 new vehicles. A 36 car pack called "Speedway of the South" will feature most of the race cars seen during the opening race sequence 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 amounted to $600 million USD. Estimates put out in November by the Walt Disney Company peg total sales for the brand at around $1 billion.^[2]

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. [1]

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 tattoos.

In the U.S., 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 General Motors Astra, a Opel Meriva, and a General Motors 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.^[20] 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 only found in children's sizes.

In May 2007, the Cars video game was announced to be a "Platinum Hit" on the Xbox, "Greatest Hit" on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable, and "Player's Choice" on the Nintendo GameCube. A sequel is on its way to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii consoles.^[21]

A Cars-based attraction opened at Walt Disney Studios Paris in 2007 and scheduled to open in Disney's California Adventure in 2010.

In Japan, Disney Japan and Toyota backuped racing team Cars Racing replaced its racing car "Toy Story apr MR-S" and introduced the "Lightning McQueen apr MR-S" for the 2008 Super GT season. The car was based on the Toyota MR-S and the externals of the car were modeled on its of McQueen as much as possible.^[22]

[edit] Development

John Lasseter has said that the idea for cars was born after he took a cross-country road trip with his wife and five sons in 2000. When he returned to the studio after vacation, he contacted Michael Wallis, famed Route 66 historian. Wallis then led 11 Pixar animators in rented white Cadillacs on two different road trips across the route to research the film. Throughout the trip, the animators collected items they found by the roadside, like wheat, thistles, snake skin, and road kill. They attached the items, which they called "Okie hood ornaments" to the cars and at the end of the trips, they buried them in the desert during a ceremony.

For the cars themselves, Lasseter also visited the design studios of the Big Three Detroit auto makers, particularly J. Mays of Ford Motor Company. Lasseter learned how real cars were designed.

Computers used in the development of the film were four times faster than those used in The Incredibles and 1,000 times faster than those used in Toy Story. To build the cars, the animators used computer platforms very similar to a real carmaker's.^[23]

[edit] Settings

The track on which the opening race (Motor Speedway of the South) takes place is actually based on an enlarged version of the real life Bristol Motor Speedway. The venue for the Piston Cup tiebreaker race (the Los Angeles International Speedway) is a conglomeration of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena where the Rose Bowl is located, as well as the California Speedway in Fontana. The landscape in the background 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." Some of the mountain peaks in Cadillac Range, shown during the movie, resemble the quarter panels of late-50's Cadillacs, with their distinctive tailfins.

[edit] Radiator Springs and vicinity

The setting for the fictional town of Radiator Springs is situated between Gallup, New Mexico and Kingman, Arizona. However, the physical location of Radiator Springs in relation to I-40 is similar to that of Peach Springs, Arizona.

The story of 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.

A landmark, called Radiator Cap, overlooks the town, and has two white letters ("R" and "S") written upon it, similar to the white "T" painted on Tucumcari Mountain ^[24]. The style and relative positioning of these letters on the landmark closely resemble the "RS" badge used on the first-generation "Rally Sport" Camaros.

Willy's Butte resembles the landmark of Mexican Hat, Utah.

Nearby "Ornament Valley" (a reference to Monument Valley) is derived from the rugged Black Mountains (Arizona) and the famous Cadillac Ranch sculpture in Amarillo, Texas.

Sally’s Cozy Cone Motel in the film is a composite of the historic Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, N.M., and the teepee-shaped Wigwam Motels, with one in Holbrook, Ariz., and the other in San Bernardino, Calif.

Ramone’s body-art shop in the film is directly inspired by the U-Drop Inn, a recently restored Art Deco gasoline station and restaurant complex in Shamrock, Texas.

Lizzie’s Curio Shop in Radiator Springs resembles the crazy Route 66 jumble of memorabilia and knickknacks at Hackberry General Store in Hackberry, Ariz., and the SandHills Curiosity Shop, aka the City Meat Market building, in Erick, Okla.

The bridge that McQueen sees Sally driving on resembles several bridges on Route 66, including the Cyrus Avery Route 66 Memorial Bridge in Tulsa, the Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena, Calif., and the now-closed bridge over Diablo Canyon at Two Guns, Ariz.

The waterfall near Radiator Springs appears to be inspired by (Havasupai) Havasu Falls, which isn't accessible by road, but is directly northeast of Peach Springs, Arizona.

Flo's V8 cafe looks like a V8 engine head on,with a circular air filter, tappet covers, spark plugs and pistons and connecting rods as the supports for the shelter. (And the blinking neon lights on the spark plugs, blink in the firing order of a Ford flathead V8)

[edit] 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." ^[25]

The Cars soundtrack has two versions of the classic Bobby Troup jazz standard "Route 66" (popularized by Nat King Cole), 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 built motels (3 remaining; the third is in Wharton, Texas, south of Houston), with individual cabins shaped like teepees. The name "Cozy Cone" was inspired by the Cozy Dog Drive-In of Springfield, Illinois, 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 McDonald's Happy Meal toy.^[26]

• 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.

• In the background of one scene, there is a yellow billboard reading "HERE IT IS" and has an image of a Model T. It is based after the Jackrabbit Trading Post on Route 66.

• Sheriff is voiced by Michael Wallis, an American historian and author of Route 66: The Mother Road.

• The King is voiced by Richard Petty, an american race car driver in the Nascar. Though retired in 1992 season

[edit] Trailers

One Pixar tradition is to create one trailer for each of their films that contains no footage from the actual released film. The trailers for this film:

• Mater accidentally hits a little bumblebee while driving, and when Lightning McQueen tells him to forget about it, McQueen hits a swarm of bees. Mater laughs at his misfortune.

[edit] Similar films

Marcus Aurelius Canônico of Folha de S. Paulo described The Little Cars series (Os Carrinhos in Portuguese), a Brazilian computer graphics film series, as a derivative of Cars. Canônico discussed whether lawsuits from Pixar would appear. The Brazilian Ministry of Culture posted Marcus Aurelius Canônico's article on its website.^[27]

It has also been noted that the plot of Cars bears a striking resemblance to that of Doc Hollywood, the 1991 comedy which stars Michael J. Fox as a hotshot young doctor who, after causing a traffic accident in a small town, is sentenced to work at the town hospital, falls in love with a local law student and eventually acquires an appreciation for small town values.^[28][29]

[edit] Cars 2

This article or section contains information about one or more scheduled or expected films. The content will change as the film's release approaches and more information becomes available.

A sequel has been announced for a Summer 2012 release, simply titled Cars 2. Disney has confirmed that Brad Lewis will be the director.^[30] On April 9th, 2008, John Lasseter commented "the Cars are going international" in the sequel.^[31] Cars will become the second Pixar film to have a sequel, after Toy Story.

[edit] See also

• Cars soundtrack
• List of Cars characters
• List of animated feature-length films
• Cars (video game)
• Cars Mater-National
• Disney Pixar Cars Die-Cast Line
• Cars Mini Adventures

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Cars Disney DVD 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 the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Cars at the Internet Movie Database
• Cars at Rotten Tomatoes

Awards
Preceded by New award	Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film 2006	Succeeded by Ratatouille

Preceded by The Break-Up

Box office number-one films of 2006 (USA) June 11, 2006 – June 18, 2006

Succeeded by Click

v • d • e Cars (film series) Films Cars  • Cars 2  • Mater and the Ghostlight Video games Cars (video game)  • Cars: Radiator Springs Adventures  • Cars Mater-National Merchandise Disney Pixar Cars Die-Cast Line  • Cars Mini Adventures Related works Cars (soundtrack)  • List of Cars characters

v • d • e Pixar Animation Studios Feature films Toy Story (1995) • A Bug's Life (1998) • Toy Story 2 (1999) • Monsters, Inc. (2001) • Finding Nemo (2003) • The Incredibles (2004) • Cars (2006) • Ratatouille (2007) • WALL-E (2008) • Up (2009) • Toy Story 3 (2010)  • newt (2011)  • The Bear and the Bow (2011)  • Cars 2 (2012) Short films Luxo Jr. (1986) • Red's Dream (1987) • Tin Toy (1988) • Knick Knack (1989) • Geri's Game (1997) • For the Birds (2000) • Mike's New Car (2002) • Boundin' (2003) • Jack-Jack Attack (2005) • One Man Band (2005) • Mater and the Ghostlight (2006) • Lifted (2006) • Your Friend the Rat (2007) • Presto (2008) Compilations Tiny Toy Stories (1995) • Pixar Short Films Collection - Volume 1 (2007) Documentaries The Pixar Story (2007) • To Infinity and Beyond!: The Story of Pixar Animation Studios (2007) Products Pixar Image Computer  • Pixar's RenderMan • Marionette Related works The Adventures of André and Wally B. (1984) • Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins (2000) • Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000) People John Lasseter • Ed Catmull • Steve Jobs • Pete Docter • Andrew Stanton • Brad Bird • Lee Unkrich • Gary Rydstrom • Brenda Chapman • Brad Lewis • Bob Peterson • Joe Ranft See also Walt Disney Animation Studios • List of Disney theatrical animated features

v • d • e Walt Disney Consumer Products Disney Interactive Studios Disney Interactive · Touchstone Games Disney Publishing Worldwide Hyperion · Disney Adventures · FamilyFun · Wondertime · Miramax Books · Disney Press · Disney Editions · Disney Libri  · Disney Educational Productions Franchises 101 Dalmatians · Aladdin · Baby Einstein · Cars · Chronicles of Narnia · Disney Fairies · Disney Princess · Donald Duck · Haunted Mansion · The Lion King · The Little Mermaid · Lizzie McGuire · Mickey Mouse · The Mighty Ducks · Muppets · Pirates of the Caribbean · Pixar · Power Rangers · Roger Rabbit · Tweens (The Cheetah Girls, Hannah Montana & High School Musical) · Winnie the Pooh