Cars (film)
Cars is a 2006 animated feature film produced by Pixar and directed by John Lasseter and the late Joe Ranft. It was the seventh Disney/Pixar feature film, and the final film by Pixar before it was bought by Disney. 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, as well as cameos by several celebrities.
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.
Cars premiered on
May 26, 2006 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina and was released
on June 9, 2006 to generally favorable reviews. It was nominated for two Academy
Awards, including Best Animated Feature, and won the Golden Globe Award for Best
Animated Feature Film. It was released on DVD in late 2006 and on Blu-ray Disc
in late 2007. Related merchanise, including scale models of several of the cars,
broke records for retail sales of merchandise based on a Disney-Pixar film, with
an estimated $1 billion in sales.
The Mattel-produced 1/55 scale die-cast 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.
As with other Pixar films, the characters represent diverse backgrounds and nationalities.
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.
Tagline : Ahhh- it's got that new movie smell.
Cast
Owen Wilson - Lightning McQueen
Paul Newman - Doc Hudson
Bonnie Hunt - Sally Carrera
Larry The Cable Guy -
Mater
Cheech Marin - Ramone
Tony
Shalhoub - Luigi
Guido Quaroni - Guido
Jenifer Lewis
- Flo
Paul Dooley - Sarge
Michael Wallis - Sheriff
George Carlin
- Fillmore
Katherine Helmond - Lizzie
John Ratzenberger - Mack / Hamm Truck / Abominable Snow Plow / P.T. Flea Car
Joe Ranft - Red / Peterbilt
Michael Keaton - Chick Hicks
Awards
Plot
Cars opens in the final race of the 2005 Piston Cup stock car racing season and championship in the Motor Speedway of the South, where a skilled but arrogant rookie racecar, Lightning McQueen, has overtaken his opponents, avoided a huge wreck, and built up a huge lead over the cup's defending (but soon retiring) nine-time champion, Strip "The King" Weathers, and perennial runner-up and cheater Chick Hicks. However, because of his refusal to make regular pit stops for new tires, his worn rear tires burst into flames on the final lap, causing him to skid and ultimately crawl to the finish line, barely managing to tie The King and Chick Hicks in a photo finish. Race officials announce that, because the three racers are also tied in overall season points, they will compete in one final tiebreaker race to be held at the Los Angeles International Speedway in one week.
While traveling down Interstate 40 to California, McQueen becomes separated from Mack, his transport truck, and while trying to catch up he becomes lost on U.S. Route 66, catching the attention of the local sheriff in the process. A chase ensues, during which McQueen crashes and gets tangled in wires, damaging part of the main street of a town called Radiator Springs. McQueen is taken to traffic court, where the town's attorney Sally Carerra pleads against McQueen. He is sentenced to repave the road using "Bessie", a non-anthropomorphic asphalt-laying machine. McQueen attempts to escape to California, only to find that his gas tank is drained to a minimum, much to his dismay.
McQueen rushes through his first day of paving; as a result, the new road surface is so bumpy, uneven, and unusable that he is told he must scrape it off and start again. When judge/doctor, Doc Hudson, offers McQueen the chance to leave, provided that he outrace Doc in a race around Willys Butte, McQueen eagerly accepts. He leaves Doc in the dust at the starting line, but loses control on a sharp turn in loose dirt and crashes into a cactus patch. While the town's tow truck, Mater, hauls McQueen out of the cactus patch in which he landed, Doc effortlessly cruises to the finish line, remarking that McQueen races as badly as he fixes roads. McQueen is compelled to scrape off the botched pavement and start paving again.
As the ensuing days pass, McQueen is disturbed by nightmares of Chick Hicks winning the Piston Cup and landing the Dinoco sponsorship currently held by The King. However, he starts to befriend the town's residents, from whom he learns that Radiator Springs was once a thriving town until completion of the nearby interstate bypassed it depriving it of its business traffic and visitors and ironically, depriving those passing visitors of the natural beauty found in the scenery along the old highway. He also learns how Sally left behind her rich but unhappy life as an urban lawyer and that Doc Hudson was once a famous racecar (the "Hudson Hornet") and a three-time Piston Cup champion. When the Doc catches him looking around his garage, McQueen asks why he left in the first place. Doc, suddenly offended by this, shows McQueen a newspaper article and states that a crash in 1954 ended his racing career. Doc bitterly refuses to reveal much about his past, dismissing his old trophies as "a bunch of empty cups". McQueen comes to realize that the same racing world that brought Doc fame eventually destroyed him.
By the time McQueen finishes repaving Radiator Springs's main road, he has formed a friendly bond with the town and its residents. Rather than immediately leaving for California (as he had initially been eager to do), he spends the day touring the town's businesses, receiving a fresh coat of paint and new tires in the process. When the town throws a cruise party that night, he is suddenly found by a multitude of journalists, then whisked away in his truck, Mack, without even a chance to bid farewell to Radiator Springs. The town's residents are sad to see him leave, while Sally, who has fallen in love with McQueen, is angry to learn that it was Doc who ultimately informed the media of McQueen's whereabouts.
The final race between McQueen, The King, and Chick Hicks is described by commentators as the "biggest race in history." McQueen is distracted by his memories of Radiator Springs, losing time to the other racers, but to his surprise, Doc arrives at the race with Mater and others from Radiator Springs to serve as his pit crew. With Doc's coaching, a record-breakingly fast and efficient pit stop for new tires and a few tricks learned from the small town's inhabitants, McQueen is not only able to overtake his opponents, but builds a considerable lead by the final lap.
As McQueen approaches the finish line, Chick sideswipes The King in a desperate attempt to avoid finishing behind him, sending The King into a terrible rollover crash. McQueen sees this on the Jumbotron and fears that The King's racing career will end in the same way as Doc's. McQueen comes to a full stop before the finish line—as Chick gleefully crosses, McQueen backtracks to push the The King across the finish line ahead of him, saying that "I think The King should finish his last race." Chick's official victory is hollow, as he is jeered and despised for taking out The King, while McQueen is cheered as a hero for his good sportsmanship. Dinoco offers to sponsor McQueen, but he respectfully declines, saying that his current sponsor Rust-Eze gave him his big break and he wants to continue with them.
Two days after the race, McQueen returns to Radiator Springs, announcing that he will establish his racing headquarters there, helping to revitalize the town, with the once-abandoned Route 66 being reclassified as "Historic Route 66." The film ends with McQueen and Sally about to kiss, until Mater interrupts them in the Dinoco helicopter.
Animation
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Family - Foreign
Language - Historical
- Horror - Musical
- Political
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